By Howard Kleinhendler. Hooray for Team 6! The Navy’s elite unit showed the world how it’s done. And, Osama had it coming a thousand times over. In fact, the bullet above his left eye ended his life far less painfully than the lives he took through his madness and mayhem. To those who say we should have brought him back in a cage for a show trial; get a life. He was fair game anywhere and anytime. I wasn’t in Abbottabad, but I have no doubt he didn’t go down waiving a white flag.

Now that the news has settled, the fanfare has waned and the world’s attention has shifted elsewhere, we must not let down our guard against those that still seek to harm Americans. Although it took ten years to nail him, taking out Osama was the easy part. He was a known figurehead, residing at a fixed address whose guilt was beyond question. But the bad guys of today don’t hide out in walled estates while limiting their communications to snail mail and couriers. They don’t send videos of themselves to Al Jazeera or sit around at home with multiple wives. They are the operatives, organized in layered and autonomous cells, who hide behind the phonies like Bin Laden, Nasrallah and Meshaal, and who manage sophisticated networks using the latest technologies.

Unlike the old guard, like Arafat and his disciples, who simply showed up in Riyadh for a check, today’s bad guys make billions through sophisticated criminal enterprises in cigarette smuggling, credit card theft, prostitution and narcotics. They’re linked with organized crime in South America and Jersey City who act as willing counter-parties to hide and launder their money. In short, Bin Laden’s death has not dented global terrorism. While it was critical to show the world that we don’t forgive and forget — a page out of the Israeli playbook that they have used quite well since Munich — it was more of a feel good accomplishment than a tactical victory. For with the terrorist fanatics who think they are acting for a higher purpose, cutting off the head of the Hydra only leads to several more growing back.

The war on global terror, first and foremost, has to be waged right here at home. One way to make it more difficult for the bad guys is to enforce our immigration laws. The illegals aren’t just the guys who pull the trigger. In fact, the more dangerous ones are those who inspire, motivate, train and arm those who actually do the killing. While I’m not sure that Arizona has the right answer, wherever the debate over immigration ultimately shakes out, whether it be strict enforcement or some type of limited amnesty (and, I favor the latter), law enforcement and anti-terror units must be allowed to track and infiltrate terrorist cells wherever they may be.

The terrorists try to take advantage of our love for freedom and privacy; but none of that is going to do us much good if some crazy is able set off a dirty nuclear device or infect a town with a biological agent. Those types of mass murder are not devised by lone, deranged individuals like the guys who shoot up colleges and public schools. The huge hits, like 9/11, are the product of long laid plans, substantial financing and training, and practiced execution. Those groups have so far been unable to do much harm here since September 11. But now that we took out Bin Laden, there are more Jihadists looking to get into the terrorist hall of fame. Let’s make sure that everyone entering this country, especially those who arrive here illegally, is documented and accounted for. Otherwise, the heroics of our Navy SEALs will have gone for naught.