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After the recent announcement that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in a U.S. special forces operation in Pakistan, I spoke with CNBC about what this means for the terrorist organization and for our own counterterrorism efforts going forward.

We as Americans owe great thanks to our military and intelligence professionals who found and removed this blight on our way of life, the World’s Most Wanted Terrorist, Osama bin Laden. Along with the best military in the world, we also have the best law enforcement agencies in the world here at home protecting us every day. But they cannot be everywhere at every moment. Now is a time for the public to be on alert for signs of threats.

It’s important to recognize when a company puts moral responsibility ahead of quarterly profits. Such is the case of Anheuser-Busch, which, following the aftermath of last month’s deadly tornadoes that killed more than 300 people in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, began filling beer cans with the world’s greatest substance: water.

Here’s Part 3 of my conversation with Virginia Task Force 1 where they talk about the conditions in which their team operated in Ofunato, Japan; what they knew about the leaking radiation coming from Fukushima nuclear power plant; what concerns they had about radiation exposure; and the survivability conditions of the area following the earthquake and tsunami.

You may not have heard about the news conference held by Pakistan’s army and intelligence chiefs claiming credit for finding Osama bin Laden. Me either. But I got word of it second-hand and have a transcript. It’s fascinating. Check it out.

So as it turns out, tiny disparate pieces of information learned from a few Guantanamo Bay GITMO detainees four years ago led to the identification of a trusted Osama bin Laden associate in Pakistan. Although it may seem obvious, there is a significant lesson to be learned here for domestic U.S. law enforcement, especially those involved in intelligence collection operations. Every piece of information counts.

Last week, news reports indicated that 18 pirates apprehended after attacking a Singaporean vessel in the Indian Ocean were released to “an undisclosed location” because no nation was willing to detain or prosecute them. Why? The first problem was that while the pirates attacked a Singaporean vessel, they were saved by a Finnish one. And this isn’t the first time this has been a problem.

Somehow I find it appropriate for my first Security Debrief contribution to comment on the death of Osama Bin Laden. Make no mistake about it; Bin Laden was a mass murderer of men, women and children. They were Muslims, Christians, Jews, Agnostics and Atheists. He really didn’t care about their religious on non-religious affiliations because he was a fanatic who only cared about world domination and political power.

Nearly ten years after the attacks of September 11, and a year to the day after the failed Times Square bomb plot, U.S. Special Forces killed al Qaeda chief Usama bin Laden in a safe house some 40 miles north of Islamabad, Pakistan. As I think about what news of bin Laden’s death really means, I am convinced it is important is so many ways, and irrelevant in others. Here are some thoughts on the near term implications of bin Laden’s death for al Qaeda, its franchises and followers as well as for counterterrorism and intelligence efforts going forward.

Usama bin Laden is dead, a significant blow to al Qaeda. Yet on this first day after his death, much remains to be done — al Qaeda and legions of jihadists remain a threat. As President Obama announced the outcome of American actions in the Abbottabad Valley, he was correct in his assessment that, “The cause of securing our country is not complete…”

I will be one of a million people who opine on the death of Usama bin Laden, announced late Sunday evening. Many will be experts, many will be politcos, and many will have a “personal” stake in it, through a heartfelt loss. Last night, acting on information gleaned from interrogations of detainees (gee, I guess that was worth something), they found him, and the President authorized action. Obviously, it will be a while before all the details come out, but a high-risk, very small operation was executed in the heart of a troubled, but allied country, and it was successful.

Osama Bin Laden is dead. Those are the words we’ve all wanted to hear. For as happy as we may be to cheer the demise one of the world’s great mass murderers, there is every reason for us to be cautious and concerned. Bin Laden may have been one man who met his end courtesy of a bullet from one of America’s finest, but as an iconic figure, he has inspired countless individuals who believe in his perverse message and the murderous means to carry it out. The need for vigilance cannot be underestimated here.

President Barack Obama announced Sunday that Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al Qaeda terrorist organization, is dead