Republicans are slamming President Joe Biden for applauding the killing of Al Qaeda’s top leader, alleging his ‘disastrous withdrawal’ from Afghanistan paved the way for the group’s resurgence.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, who took over the terrorist group after founder Osama bin Laden’s death, was killed in a CIA drone strike in Kabul on Sunday.
Biden expressed hope Monday that Zawahiri’s death would bring ‘one more measure of closure’ to families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks, which he helped coordinate.
The president alleged Zawahiri will ‘never again allow Afghanistan to become a terrorist safe haven because he is gone’ and pledged his administration would ‘make sure that nothing else happens.’
However, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy blamed Biden’s botched exit from the Taliban-ruled country on the ‘possible re-emergence of Al Qaeda,’ alleging the US must take action to prevent terrorists from entering the nation.
GOP Sen. Marjorie Taylor Greene echoed McCarthy’s sentiment saying that even Americans will be glad Zawahiri is dead, ‘Joe’s victory lap is ridiculous.’
Meanwhile, 9/11 groups and families of victims are celebrating Zawahiri’s slaying, but argue there needs to be more accountability of those who plotted the attacks.
Republicans are slamming President Joe Biden’s ‘ridiculous victory lap’ after the killing of Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Zawahiri is pictured with Osama bin Laden in 2001
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (left) blamed Joe Biden’s (right) ‘disastrous withdrawal’ from Afghanistan for paving the way for the group’s resurgence
McCarthy demanded Biden’s administration meet to discuss the ‘steps we must take to keep our country safe and prevent terrorists from entering the United States’
Biden confirmed during a Monday evening address from the White House that Zawahiri was killed in a US drone strike in Kabul on Sunday, an operation he hailed as delivering ‘justice.’
US intelligence officials tracked Zawahiri to a home in downtown Kabul – owned by a top aide to senior Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani – where he was hiding out with his family.
‘He will never again, never again, allow Afghanistan to become a terrorist safe haven because he is gone and we’re going to make sure that nothing else happen,’ Biden declared. ‘This terrorist leader is no more.’
However, Biden’s critics allege the drone strike demonstrates the president’s failure to combat terrorism and his blatant lies to the American people, citing previous statements he made claiming Al Qaeda was not present in Afghanistan.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (pictured July 23) mocked the president for his ‘ridiculous victory lap,’ his ’embarrassing’ withdrawal from Afghanistan and overall poor performance as commander-in-chief
‘Today is further proof that our United States Military and Intelligence Community personnel will not stop pursuing those who threaten the United States of America and our interests,’ McCarthy said in a statement to DailyMail.com.
‘This news also sheds light on the possible re-emergence of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan following President Biden’s disastrous withdrawal a year ago,’ he continued.
‘The Biden administration must provide Congress with a classified briefing as soon as possible to discuss the resurgence of Al Qaeda in the region over the past year, the current foreign terrorist threat to America, and the steps we must take to keep our country safe and prevent terrorists from entering the United States.’
Rep. Mike Turner, the lead Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, argued the drone strike put an end to Zawahiri’s ‘reign of terror’ but also revealed Biden’s failure to address ‘rising threats’ in Afghanistan.
‘When US troops withdrew from Afghanistan last year, President Biden claimed Al Qaeda was gone from Afghanistan,’ Turner penned. ‘This strikes tells us otherwise.’
‘The United States has brought justice to al-Zawahiri and the world is safer for it. The President must now turn his attention to the rising threats in Afghanistan.’
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene mocked the president for his ‘ridiculous victory lap,’ his ’embarrassing’ withdrawal from Afghanistan and overall poor performance as commander-in-chief.
She accused Biden of using Zawahiri’s death to distract the American people from the ongoing issues directly impacting their families, such as the rising inflation rate.
Rep. Mike Turner, the lead Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, argued the drone strike put an end to Zawahiri’s ‘reign of terror’ but also revealed Biden’s failure to address ‘rising threats’ in Afghanistan
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene accused Biden of using Zawahiri’s death to distract the American people from the ongoing issues directly impacting their families, such as the rising inflation rate
Sen. Ted Cruz hailed Zawahiri’s death as an ‘important accomplishment’ that should serve as a warning to all terrorist groups
Sen. Lindsey Graham, citing his own prior statements, argued that when Biden withdrew US troops from Afghanistan it was ‘only a matter of time before the country became a safe haven for terrorism once again’
‘After embarrassing America with the failed military pull out of Afghanistan, spending nearly $60 billion in a proxy war with Russia that’s just killing more people, and Pelosi on the verge of causing China to invade Taiwan, it’s absurd Joe is going to try to act tough on TV,’ Greene tweeted Monday night.
‘Of course we want all terrorists that attack America dead, but no one in America has been sweating an attack from Al Qaeda lately or even heard a thing about them, but Americans are extremely stressed about affording groceries, gas, & the Democrats big tax hike coming soon.’
Greene then slammed ‘pathetic Democrat policies’ that she claims have led to ‘out of control inflation, an out of control border invasion and out of control crime sprees across America.’
‘But they have to roll Joe out on TV tonight while he’s Covid positive again so he can talk big without blinking,’ she added. ‘Joe’s victory lap is ridiculous.’
Some Republicans, including Senators Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz, applauded Biden’s win, but also used Zawahiri’s death as an opportunity to criticize the president’s leadership.
‘To the Biden Administration: congratulations on this operation, but your overall strategy of abandoning Afghanistan is going to come back to haunt America because Afghanistan is again going to be a safe haven for radical Islam,’ Graham wrote.
Some Republicans, including Senators Ted Cruz (left) and Lindsey Graham (right), applauded Biden’s win, but also used Zawahiri’s death as an opportunity to criticize the president’s leadership
A Taliban fighter stands guard during Friday prayers in the Abdul Rahman Mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan on July 29, 2022
‘If you think this drone strike has stopped the threat to our homeland coming from Afghanistan, you have missed a lot of history.’
Graham, citing his own prior statements, argued that when Biden withdrew US troops from Afghanistan it was ‘only a matter of time before the country became a safe haven for terrorism once again.’
‘I did not believe in my wildest dreams that Al-Zawahiri would go to Kabul to live with family members as President Biden suggested. What a brazen show of an alliance between al-Qaeda and the Taliban,’ he stated. ‘Al-Zawahiri may be dead in Afghanistan, but al-Qaeda is not gone.’
Graham warned that contrary to Biden’s remarks, the US military’s ability to combat growing terrorist threats in Afghanistan are ‘on the margins.’
‘There are al-Qaeda training camps emerging in Afghanistan like before 9/11.’
Sen. Cruz said Americans should ‘breathe easier today knowing Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of Al-Qaeda, has been eliminated.’
He said hailed Zawahiri’s death as an ‘important accomplishment’ that should serve as a warning to all terrorist groups.
‘This strike should be a message to terrorists near and far: if you conspire to kill Americans, we will find and kill you,’ Cruz said.
Al-Qaeda is enjoying a ‘safe haven’ in Afghanistan under the Taliban, a UN report has warned. Pictured: A Taliban special forces soldier stands guard in Kabul in April
Taliban officials are seen as spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid holds a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan on September 7, 2021
Planning for the operation to kill Zawahiri began six months ago, but intensified in the last two months, US officials revealed.
Intelligence officials had tracked Zawahri to a home in downtown Kabul where he was allegedly hiding out with his family.
Biden approved the operation last week and it was carried out on Sunday. A CIA ground team and aerial reconnaissance conducted after the drone strike confirmed the terrorist’s death.
Zawahiri, an Egyptian surgeon who had a $25 million bounty on his head, helped coordinate the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
His whereabouts – variously rumored to be in Pakistan’s tribal area or inside Afghanistan – had been unknown until the air strike.
The leader’s death marks the biggest blow to the militant group since bin Laden was killed by US special forces in 2011.
Ayman al-Zawahiri (left) and Osama Bin Laden the leader (right) are pictured together after a press conference on May 26, 1998
US intelligence officials tracked Zawahri to a home in downtown Kabul where he was hiding out with his family. The house was owned by a top aide to senior Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani (pictured speaking during a police cadet graduation ceremony in March 2022)
His killing comes after the United Nations reported in June that Afghanistan has been serving as a safe haven for Al Qaeda under the Taliban and that an undisclosed number of the group’s members were living in Kabul’s former diplomatic quarter.
Communications from Zawahiri also showed he believed ‘he may be able to lead more effectively than was possible before the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.’
Experts earned in the intelligence report to the UN Security Council that the country could become a base for terrorist attacks, The Guardian reported.
However, they added neither IS nor Al Qaeda ‘is believed to be capable of mounting international attacks before 2023 at the earliest, regardless of their intent or of whether the Taliban acts to restrain them.’
Nonetheless, it said the presence of IS, Al Qaeda, and ‘many other terrorist groups and fighters on Afghan soil’ is raising concerns in neighboring countries and the wider international community.
The experts said in the report to the U.N. Security Council that the country could become a base for international terrorist attacks once again (Taliban patrol in Kabul)
However, they added neither IS nor al-Qaeda ‘is believed to be capable of mounting international attacks before 2023 at the earliest, regardless of their intent or of whether the Taliban acts to restrain them’
There are also concerns about the Taliban’s inability to keep its promise not to allow terrorist groups to operate in Afghanistan.
The panel said the Haqqani Network, a militant Islamist group with close ties to the Taliban, moved quickly after their takeover to gain control of key portfolios and ministries including interior, intelligence, passports and migration.
It now ‘largely controls security in Afghanistan, including the security of the capital, Kabul,’ the report stated.
‘The Haqqani Network is still regarded as having the closest links to al-Qaeda,’ and the relationship between the Taliban and Al Qaeda also remains close.
The experts pointed to the reported presence of Al Qaeda’s ‘core leadership’ in eastern Afghanistan, including Zawahri.
Zawahiri, an Egyptian surgeon who had a $25 million bounty on his head, helped coordinate the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people
With other senior Al Qaeda members, Zawahiri is believed to have plotted the October 12, 2000, attack on the USS Cole naval vessel in Yemen which killed 17 US sailors and injured more than 30 others, the Rewards for Justice website said.
He was indicted in the US for his role in the August 7, 1998, bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people and wounded more than 5,000 others.
Both bin laden and Zawahiri eluded capture when US-led forces toppled Afghanistan’s Taliban government in late 2001 following the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
Biden’s decision to kill Zawahiri is sure to be compared to the cautious stance he initially took in meetings that led to then-President Barack Obama’s order for the Pakistan raid that killed bin Laden in 2011.
Biden, who was then vice president, has acknowledged that he advised Obama to take more time. But he also told him to ‘follow your instincts’ and ultimately supported his decision to go ahead.
Obama, in his memoirs, wrote that Biden was concerned about ‘the enormous consequences of failure’ and counseled the president to ‘defer any decision until the intelligence community was more certain that bin Laden was in the compound.’