Let no one shed a tear for al-Zawahiri who played a significant role as Osama bin Laden's right hand man in the terrorist attacks against the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and, of course, during the attacks of September 11, 2001. After bin Laden was killed in 2011, al-Zawahiri succeeded him.
Of course, it is worth noting that al-Zawahiri was killed in Kabul which tells the world the Taliban is reviving its alliance with al-Qaeda contrary to their assurances. For his part, Biden said the United States would "never again allow Afghanistan to become a terrorist safe have because he is gone." The President added, "We're going to make sure that nothing else happens--you know, it can't be a launching pad against the United States,"
While I certainly hope President Biden is right, I also know that never is very, very long time and the Taliban and al Qaeda play the long game. The killing of al-Zawahiri will destabilize al Qaeda in Afghanistan in the short term. But the Taliban will likely rule for decades to come which gives plenty of time for al Qaeda to regroup.
Of course, other terrorist groups can fill the void as was the case with the emergence of ISIS following bin Laden's death. Former President Obama derisively referred to ISIS as the "JV squad" but it would not be long before this "JV squad" would behead Americans and control parts of Iraq, Syria and Libya.
Again, I shed no tears for al-Zawahiri. An opportunity presented itself to President Biden and he gave the order. This battle has been won, but the war against Islamic terrorism will never truly be over.
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