"But to use, or rather misuse, the term "war" is not simply a matter of legality or pedantic semantics. It has deeper and more dangerous consequences. To declare that one is "at war" is immediately to create a war psychosis that may be totally counterproductive for the objective that we seek. It will arouse an immediate expectation, and demand, for spectacular military action against some easily identifiable adversary, preferably a hostile state: action leading to decisive results."
Sir Michael Howard, Professor emeritus of military and naval history at Yale University
October 2001

And so, even if Bin Laden is killed or caught, it's never over. Someone else will do something brilliant and cheap that will cause havoc and tragedy upon millions.