Hellfire rains down on bin Laden’s successor. Does that vindicate Biden’s ‘over-the-horizon’ strategy?
by Jamie McIntyre, Senior Writer |
| August 02, 2022 07:27 AM
NOT-SO-SAFE HOUSE: With the Americans gone and a friendly Taliban in charge, 71-year-old al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri felt comfortable enough to move back into the tony Sherpur area of downtown Kabul, into a “safe house” owned by a top aide to senior Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani.
U.S. intelligence located him in April, and on Sunday, two Hellfire missiles fired from a CIA drone struck al Zawahiri as he stepped out onto the balcony of the mansion, killing the man who — as deputy of Osama bin Laden and later his successor — was instrumental in conducting deadly attacks against U.S. citizens, including the 1998 embassy bombings in Kenya, the 2000 attack on the USS Cole, and the 2001 9/11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans.
On Twitter, former President Barack Obama said the elimination of public enemy No. 1 was a tribute to the counterterrorism professionals who were able to take al Zawahiri out without a single civilian casualty, and a vindication of President Joe Biden’s claim when he pulled U.S. troops out of Afghanistan a year ago that the fight against terrorists would continue with “over-the-horizon capabilities.”
“Tonight’s news is also proof that it’s possible to root out terrorism without being at war in Afghanistan,” Obama tweeted. “And I hope it provides a small measure of peace to the 9/11 families and everyone else who has suffered at the hands of al-Qaeda.”
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/hellfire-rains-down-on-bin-ladens-successor-does-that-vindicate-bidens-over-the-horizon-strategy
