President Joe Biden announced on Monday that al-Qaida leader Hyman al-Zawahri was killed in Kabul, Afghanistan by a missile strike from a CIA drone. Hyman al-Zawahri succeeded Bin Laden when he was killed in Pakistan by a team of Navy Seals. He and Bin Laden were the masterminds of the September 11,2001 terror attack on the U.S. that killed over 2000 Americans. Both were brought to justice by a democratic administration that made the effort to do so a priority.
And once again the capability of American intelligence made a difficult job possible to bring those to justice who take it upon themselves to harm America with the use of terror tactics. President Biden displayed his wisdom in having the U.S. keep its focus on terror activity in Afghanistan after withdrawing our troops and ending the United States longest war. Most never gave al-Zawahri much thought since he was not the outspoken leader that Bin Laden was when he was in the media news almost every day when he was alive and leading al-Qaida. But the threat was there and the intelligence community and the President were well aware of the threat.
The successful operation that brought al-Zawahri to justice should also be a reminder that the U.S. does not need to have troops stationed every where to protect our country and its people and find those that wish us harm. Hopefully the President can see a way to end our troop presence in Iraq and bring them home and out of harm's way. Nineteen years and four months is long enough to be sitting on a powder keg waiting to explode.
The President should now make the withdrawal from Iraq one of his next priorities. Congratulations to the President and his team who closed out another chapter on another al-Qaida leader.
This commentary written by Joe Lorio
