Washington (CNN) -- A decade ago, al Qaeda operatives working out of a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan planned the terror attacks against New York and Washington.
Today, the Taliban has lost control of Afghanistan and al Qaeda's leader is dead.
Is it time for the United States to declare victory and bring the troops home? The death of Osama bin Laden may prove to be a pivotal moment for both Democrats and Republicans exhausted by the conflict and seeking greater fiscal restraint in a new age of austerity, according to some political analysts.
Others, however, argue the successful raid on bin Laden's Pakistani compound will only strengthen the hand of a president who has so far proven largely resistant to popular sentiment on the conflict.
The U.S. war in Afghanistan has long been unpopular with the public. Forty-two percent of Americans supported the war in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released earlier this week. Fifty-two percent were opposed.