The drone strike on Zawahri was a good thing and those who executed it deserve our thanks. But was it timed primarily as a midterm political stunt? Former CIA and NSC staffer Fred Fleitz asks the question.
We owe a debt of gratitude to the brave Americans who took out the terrorist, Al Zawahiri.
The Biden admin must provide Congress with a briefing as soon as possible to discuss the resurgence of Al Qaeda in the region following his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) August 2, 2022
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Fleitz: President Joe Biden gave a rare primetime address Monday night to announce that the CIA, on his orders, conducted a drone strike that killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri. Zawahri is a longtime radical Islamist leader who succeeded Usama bin Laden as head of al Qaeda in 2011 and masterminded the deadly terrorist attacks against the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
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This drone strike may validate President Biden’s plan to target terrorists in Afghanistan with “over the horizon” strikes, something many experts questioned. In addition, the administration claims no civilians were killed in the attack. If this is all true, President Biden deserves credit for a major national security win. But I have questions about this strike.
The timing of this attack, coming one year after Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan and three months before the November midterm elections, is incredibly coincidental. Moreover, given the tendency of this president and his senior officials to make statements on national security that have proved too implausible or inaccurate and later need to be walked back, I want to see Congress fully investigate this attack.
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For example, why did this strike happen now? With no Western press on the ground, how can the American people be sure exactly what happened? Can we verify the U.S. actually got Zawahri and that there were no civilian casualties?
Another issue is whether killing Zawahri, who was 71 and in ill health, will make any difference in protecting the U.S. from terrorist attacks since there were plans to name a successor to Zawahri before he was killed.
A more important question is whether President Biden’s decision to take out Zawahri means his administration will finally recognize radical Islamist terrorist as a high priority national security issue instead of several trivial issues it has stressed in its national security policy such as climate change.
After President Trump’s leadership caused ISIS to suffered massive defeats in Iraq and Syria, loss of its caliphate on the ground, the terrorist organization is making a comeback in the Middle East and has established a major presence in Afghanistan and Africa.
ISIS is the world’s predominant terrorist organization, significantly larger and more influential than its predecessor, al Qaeda. Al Qaeda, however, remains a dangerous organization and is also undergoing a resurgence in Afghanistan and Africa.
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History shows that whenever terrorist groups like al Qaeda or ISIS establish strongholds, they will eventually use them as launching pads to spread their insurgency to other areas, often with major acts of terrorism. There is a high probability of this happening again.
Hopefully, President Biden’s decision to take out Ayman al-Zawahri is an indication that he and his senior officials recognize this and that the drone strike that killed him was not done principally to score political points.
This piece was written by Jim Gunner on August 2, 2022. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.
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While I fully support the brave men and women who defend this country every day, this illegitimate, incompetent, corrupt as hell administration deserves no credit for anything. Nothing they do is for the good of America, it is done only to further their misguided, woke-ass train wreck of an agenda and to further line their corrupt pockets. Thank you, US Military/ CIA for taking out a terrorist. Let’s Go Brandon/ FJB!
We were told al-Zawarhi was dead two years ago.