Quote Originally Posted by Flixy View Post
Deterrence? It takes ten years for the most powerful nation in the world to find their most wanted person - that doesn't sound very deterring to me to be honest.
An action need not be coupled temporally with a response as long as there's a clear connection between the two. Furthermore, perhaps the length of time they've been gunning for OBL (~13 years at least) speaks to the fact that once you're on our shit list, we don't give up.

That being said, I don't view this as 'deterrence' in the classic sense of the word that it's going to stop future terrorists or AQ leaders from attempting to carry out attacks. Rather, it will change their behavior in a way that may make it more difficult for them to carry out operations and may make them more agreeable to political rather than military solutions.