WASHINGTON – A former top aide to General David Petraeus and Attorney General Mike DeWine both warned today that al Qaeda remains a threat to the West despite the death Sunday of its longtime leader, Osama bin Laden.

“It remains to be seen whether al Qaeda will come up with another leader of the magnetism that bin Laden had,’’ said Peter Mansoor, a professor of military history at Ohio State who as an army colonel served as Petraeus’ executive officer in Iraq. “If it does, it will continue. If not, it will splinter into a lot of operations.’’

DeWine, who as member of the U.S. Senate served on the Intelligence committee, said, “There is no one who has ever thought that killing bin Laden would totally end the war on terror.’’

“It’s important for symbolism and it’s important for morale, but there are a lot of terrorists out there,’’ DeWine said.

DeWine hailed President Barack Obama’s “decision to operate inside Pakistan despite Pakistan’s reluctance for us to do that. We had no choice but to do that. I think this whole thing, to state the obvious, has been great intelligence work and it’s a tribute to the men and women and the great work they have done.’’

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, agreed, saying that “while this is a milestone that we have all awaited, we must remember that al Qaeda and its affiliates are not dependent on one man and we must remain vigilant’’ in efforts to thwart future terrorist attacks.

Mansoor described the Navy Seal team that attacked bin Laden’s compound as doing “all the high-end counterterrorism. Along with the Delta forces, they’ll extremely well-trained. This was clearly a kill-or-capture mission and they killed him.’’

Mansoor also said “it makes sense’’ that the U.S. buried bin Laden at sea. “You don’t want the grave to become a shrine for Islamic militants or vandalized by people who hate Osama bin Laden. It’s the same reason Hitler doesn’t have a grave.’’

Petraeus currently commands U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Obama has nominated him to become director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Before his speech last night, Obama personally telephoned House Speaker John Boehner, R-West Chester. In a statement, Boehner called bin Laden’s death “great news for the security of the American people and a victory in our continued fight against al Qaeda and radical extremism around the world.’’

Boehner commended Obama “and his team, as well as President (George W.) Bush for all of their efforts to bring Osama bin Laden to justice.’’

Both Republican and Democrats from Ohio hailed Obama’s decision to kill bin Laden.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said that nearly 10 years after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the “world’s most wanted terrorist will no longer threaten our nation’s democracy and freedom.’’

Gov. John Kasich tweeted, “Congrats to Presidents Bush and Obama, but most especially to our military who worked tirelessly to achieve the goal. America prevails.’’

Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Columbus, congratulated Obama and Bush “and their teams for their efforts to bring bin Laden to justice,’’