A day after President Barack Obama delivered a speech that was met with celebration by Yale students, Yale professors shared their reactions to the news of Osama bin Laden’s death.

Charles Hill

Hill, a lecturer in International Security Studies and a former adviser to Henry Kissinger and Ronald Reagan, first heard the news after waking up this morning, but said he was not surprised bin Laden had been killed. Here are some of his thoughts:

“It enhances the reputation of the capacity we have to run an operation like this that is very difficult and succeed.”

“It will mean to other leaders of Al Qaeda and other terrorist leaders that if we say we are going to come and get you, we are going to come and get you.”

“I think it’s been evident for some time that a specter of the Pakistani establishment has been in cahoots with Al Qaeda.”

Stuart Gottleib

Directory of Policy Studies at the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs Gottlieb wrote a post for Politico last night regarding the news. In the article, he recognized the symbolic importance of bin Laden’s death but offered a reminder that the “violent religious-ideological movement” bin Laden helped fuel continues to exist. He shared some more with the News:

“It almost seemed like just a matter of time before they nailed him.”

“In some ways, it was getting less and less important to kill him over the past few years.”

“On the one hand, [Al Qaeda and other radical Islamic movements] would like to strike back as quickly as possible. On the other hand, for symbolic reasons, this organization is extremely patient and they’d much rather just wait for the right time and the right operation.”