PRESIDENT BIDEN'S FAILURE: al-Qaeda's Afghanistan Resurgence

The U.S. Intelligence community deserves congratulating today, particularly the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) which led the operation that resulted in the assassination of an al-Qaeda leader and the mastermind behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

As reported, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda since the death of Osama Bin Laden, was killed by a U.S. drone strike.

He was a horrific man and quite frankly, the world is safer without him. And I don’t say that lightly. When the U.S. has enemies like this, bloodthirsty radicals who slaughter innocent civilians, we hunt them down and we take them out.

The problem is, U.S. Intelligence didn’t track this monster to a cave somewhere in the desert or in some remote village in the middle of nowhere. He was just hanging out on a balcony in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, as if he didn’t have a thing to fear.

As Senator Lindsey Graham tweeted last night after congratulating President Biden and those responsible for taking out al-Zawahiri:

Unfortunately, we have learned that killing terrorists like bin Laden, al-Baghdadi and al-Zarqawi doesn’t end terrorism. What unnerves me is that Al-Zawahiri felt comfortable enough being out in the open in the Kabul area after the Taliban takeover. So much for the Taliban rejecting al-Qaeda. This is proof positive that Afghanistan has once again become a safe haven for international terrorists.

One year ago this month, President Biden abandoned Afghanistan, allowing the Taliban to return and quickly seize power once again. That is the same, allegedly improved, Taliban that said it rejects al-Qaeda. And yet American forces discovered the architect of one of the most devastating attacks, killing thousands of Americans and other innocents, even children, living safely in the Aghan capital.

As ACLJ Senior Counsel Andy Ekonomou put it, echoing the words of Sen. Graham, under the Taliban, Afghanistan is now a safe haven for terrorists:

I think Senator Graham is correct . . . . If you’re in such a prominent position, back in your family’s home, back sitting on the balcony, don’t tell me that the Taliban didn’t know he was there. They obviously knew that he was there, that he was flourishing, that he was in the community, and that he was hiding or doing additional terrorist work. He used to be a surgeon, interesting thing, but is continuing to do the work that he was really cut out to do, and that’s being a terrorist. So it does seem to me that the great victory that the President is touting is somewhat tempered by the fact that they are, that al-Qaeda and the Taliban are still working together.

We know what the Taliban really is, and it’s not a legitimate, democratic government. My brother Logan Sekulow made a documentary series called Revenge of the Taliban which features interviews with numerous experts including former U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, and former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft among others, on the impact of Biden’s disastrous failed U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the resurgence of the Taliban. And yes, unsurprisingly, al-Qaeda plays a significant role.

ACLJ Senior Advisor for National Security and Foreign Policy Ric Grenell also appears in Revenge of the Taliban and as I said to him, this was great work by our intelligence community, tracking down al-Zawahiri and executing him. But what it also says to me is that while we took advantage of al-Zawahiri letting his guard down, knowing he was in a friendly place, the message has clearly gone out that Kabul, and the Taliban, welcomes terrorists to come find shelter, regroup, and start planning more attacks.

Ric, the former Acting Director of U.S. National Intelligence, shared his insights on the Taliban and al-Qaeda:

Let’s be clear on what this was, an al-Qaeda terrorist was the guest of a cabinet member in Afghanistan. This is sad. This is outrageous. Think of all of the people in the United States, taxpayers, our soldiers who’ve been on the frontlines, think of all of the sacrifices that Americans have made over the twenty years of trying to do something good in Afghanistan. And yet Joe Biden evacuated us out in a reckless way, and we clearly see now that those twenty years of trying to do some good was wiped out because of the fleeing that Joe Biden did.

Politicians undercut American servicemen, American taxpayers, it’s so outrageous to see what’s happening. And I have to say that Joe Biden being proud that he got 90% of Americans out, leaving 10% behind, is perhaps one of the reasons why he’s got the lowest popularity of any president in the history of polling. 

How many more shows of weakness on the part of this Administration can we endure? Our enemies are watching. This is why elections matter. This is why we keep saying elections have consequences. The Taliban, al-Qaeda, they were all on the run. In just one year they’ve both returned, and they’re both regaining strength. How long before al-Qaeda or some other faction plots another deadly attack on American soil? We need to start showing our strength again. Taking out al-Zawahiri was a good start, but it raises other questions, and in the end the answers point back to the Biden Administration and its incompetence in Afghanistan.

Today’s full Sekulow broadcast includes further in-depth discussion on the removal of this evil terrorist, and more with ACLJ Senior Advisor for National Security and Foreign Policy Ric Grenell.

 Watch the full broadcast below: