Nearly a year after former Vice President Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, his administration is portraying the killing of Al Qaeda’s Ayman Al-Zawahiri as a victory for the United States, while trying to downplay the significance that Al-Zawahiri was in Afghanistan in the first place.
Biden, on Monday night, announced Al-Zawahiri had been killed and “justice has been delivered.” However, it is important to note that Al Qaeda is in Afghanistan.
According to analyst Bill Roggia, “The killing of Al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri will be sold as a counterterrorism success. But that narrative masks the undeniable truth that Taliban-controlled Afghanistan is a safe have for Al Qaeda.”
1) The killing of Al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri will be sold as a counterterrorism success. But that narrative masks the undeniable truth that Taliban-controlled Afghanistan is a safe have for Al Qaeda. https://t.co/CGc5Fs8oMw
— Bill Roggio (@billroggio) August 2, 2022
Roggia went on to say, “Zawahiri could not operate in Afghanistan – particularly in Kabul – without the consent of the Taliban. He wasn’t in the remote mountains of Kunar, Nuristan, or Nangarhar, or distant provinces of Ghazni, Helmand, or Kandahar. He was in the Taliban’s capital.”
International Security Professor Max Abrahms echoed the importance of this by highlighting how the Taliban was supposed to prevent Al Qaeda leaders from hiding…”
Taking out #Zawahiri isn’t the categorical win Biden says. The Taliban was supposed to prevent Al Qaeda leaders from hiding out there for goodness sake.
— Max Abrahms (@MaxAbrahms) August 1, 2022
Tim Kennedy chimed in saying, “There was a reason that Ayman al-Zawahiri was in Kabul. Serving as the #2 to Bin Laden in al Qaeda he took advantage of our failed evacuation of Afghanistan and the power vacuum. It is a safe haven for terrorists all around the world. This is a byproduct of what we created.”
There was a reason that Ayman al-Zawahiri was in Kabul. Serving as the #2 to Bin Laden in al Qaeda he took advantage of our failed evacuation of Afghanistan and the power vacuum. It is a safe haven for terrorists all around the world. This is a byproduct of what we created.
— Tim Kennedy (@TimKennedyMMA) August 2, 2022
