Richard Cohen's "Does death of bin Laden signal a new Obama?"

Even then, he quickly flipped the hot potato to NATO, which is a sturdy acronym but a flaccid fighting force.

It was as if Obama thought he could charm these guys, reason with them — that their antipathy toward him was based on some sort of misunderstanding or maybe something personal (see how charming I am) and not, as it was and remains, their ideology.

He wanted accommodation, less belligerence — as if the crackpot regime, fascist in all but name, might misunderstand us or we them.

It can do little with bigots who loathe America’s culture of tolerance — for all religions, for gays, for lesbians and, of course, for women.

He seized the spotlight , as he did the moment, offering us a crescendo of the word “I” — “I directed” and “I was briefed” and “I met repeatedly” and “I determined.”

For a while, NATO dithered and the United States withheld the maximally efficient A-10 aircraft, sending Moammar Gaddafi a mixed message: We want you out, but not all that much.

After all, it was being planned and rehearsed while elsewhere the president was dawdling in Libya, waiting for NATO approval, Arab League endorsement and U.N. authorization.

He wanted accommodation, less belligerence — as if the crackpot regime, fascist in all but name, might misunderstand us or we them.

Even then, he quickly flipped the hot potato to NATO, which is a sturdy acronym but a flaccid fighting force.

I was in downtown Manhattan when the World Trade Center collapsed, first one tower and then the other — a tsunami of crushed building materials and, inevitably, of pulverized people hit me full in the face.

I literally inhaled 9/11 and I immediately — and to my surprise — wanted revenge.

It can do little with bigots who loathe America’s culture of tolerance — for all religions, for gays, for lesbians and, of course, for women.

A martyr has been made.

The United States can do little to mollify Islamists and others who seek the obliteration of Israel and the return of holy Jerusalem to the Muslim fold.

Our nominal allies in the fight for Afghanistan, the unreliable and unpredictable Pakistanis, were kept in the dark.

I was in downtown Manhattan when the World Trade Center collapsed, first one tower and then the other — a tsunami of crushed building materials and, inevitably, of pulverized people hit me full in the face.

The president has redeemed my vow of 9/11.

He wanted accommodation, less belligerence — as if the crackpot regime, fascist in all but name, might misunderstand us or we them.

Their sovereignty was violated, they lost face, and the United States, as a consequence, lost some cover.

Even then, he quickly flipped the hot potato to NATO, which is a sturdy acronym but a flaccid fighting force.

He’s earned his bit of swagger — and bin Laden his bloody end.

But it is late in coming, no longer hot but tepid, a reminder that in the past something went awfully wrong.

The president has redeemed my vow of 9/11.

Once again, we have been much too nice with a murderous regime, offering praise where none was warranted or earned.

For a while, NATO dithered and the United States withheld the maximally efficient A-10 aircraft, sending Moammar Gaddafi a mixed message: We want you out, but not all that much.