Although, I have always doubted the omni-tentacular, ubiquitous, far-reaching character ascribed to Al Qaeda as an all-powerful international terrorist conspiracy. It's not that I doubt its existence per se, it's just that I know damn well that every shadowy international conspiracy ever raised by any government has been vastly exaggerated into a comically gassy caricature of its real self, vide the International Communist Conspiracy of yore.

Edit: In a way, bin Laden's death is probably a net loss for the American military and foreign policy establishment (does there even need to be an 'and' there?). So much propaganda mileage was squeezed from him that I am sure there is some ambivalence as to whether he's more valuable dead as some bullshit "vindication" vs. alive as a perpetual bogeyman.