The Obama administration faces a delicate balancing act in marking the one-year anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s killing.

The administration, which has been touting its role the death of the former al Qaeda head, will have to tread the fine line between gloating over ordering the operation that killed the most wanted man in the world and giving itself due credit for ending the reign of a terrorist who took nearly 3,000 American lives.

The one-year anniversary, coming at the end of this month, is the first taste of an issue that is likely to gain an increasing amount of attention on the national stage as the 2012 presidential race heats up. Obama and Republicans will both face the predicament of how to address a serious and somber, yet politically powerful subject.
A spokesman for the White House declined to say how the president was planning to recognize the one-year anniversary on May 1.

The Obama spokesman also declined to say whether the president’s mention of the killing of bin Laden in speeches would raise national security concerns by potentially inciting terrorist groups.

Obama was quick to put a photograph of bin Laden’s body under wraps last year for this very reason. After a U.S. special forces mission killed the al Qaeda leader in Pakistan, Obama addressed his decision to not release the picture publicly in an interview with CBS, saying, “We don’t need to spike the football.”

But in an attempt to bolster the White House’s foreign policy and national security record Obama has readily reminded voters and campaign donors about his role in ordering the risky attack that ultimately dealt the fatal blow to bin Laden, who evaded capture for nearly 10 years.

“Change is keeping the promise — one of the promises I made in 2008,” said Obama at a campaign event in a Washington D.C. hotel Thursday night to a roomful of applause.

“We ended the war in Iraq and we refocused our attention on those who actually attacked us on 9/11. And Al Qaeda is on its last legs, weaker than it’s ever been. And Osama bin Laden is no longer around. And we are transitioning out of Afghanistan. And we’ve raised America’s respect all around the world.”

Obama has made very similar comments in at least four New England campaign fundraisers last week, causing Republican strategists to ponder whether the president has crossed the line of appropriateness.

“There’s a limit to how much the Obama campaign can use it politically and we may be fairly close to reaching that limit,” said Matt Mackowiak, a GOP strategist and founder of the Potomac Strategy Group.

“If he’s planning on using that, it could potentially reach the danger zone in terms of shear opportunism. You don’t know where the line is until the line has been crossed.”

Mitt Romney, who holds the lead in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, and most of the GOP field have accused Obama of appeasing Iran and not fully supporting Israel.

In a December 2011 news conference, Obama retorted: “Ask Osama bin Laden and the 22 out of 30 top al Qaeda leaders who have been taken off the field whether I engage in appeasement or whoever is left out there.”

Romney’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on how he was planning to recognize the one-year anniversary of bin Laden’s killing or his thoughts on how the issue would impact the 2012 presidential election.

Republicans are going to have to acknowledge Obama’s role in signing off on the mission to kill bin Laden, said Mackowiak. The nighttime stealth mission invaded Pakistan’s air space without warning and acted on only partially solid intelligence that the al Qaeda leader was at the compound.

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