CIA Takes Out al-Qaeda Chief Zawahiri, Mastermind of 9/11
August 2022 - Late last month America's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) carried out a secret operation that killed Ayman al-Zawahiri. Zawahiri was one of the al-Qaeda leaders who played a key role in planning the 9/11 attacks on America. He took over as head of al-Qaeda after Osama bin-Laden was killed in 2011.
 (bin Laden & Zawahiri - image from Reuters)
Zawahiri and his family had been living in an Afghan safe house in an upscale neighborhood of Kabul, where he frequently had been seen standing on his balcony. He was standing there again, enjoying the fresh air (which over 3,000 Americans have been unable to do since 9/11), when a Hellfire missile fired from a drone took him out. No one else in the building, or in the immediate area, was hurt in the attack.
U.S. President Joe Biden, who had authorized the operation, spoke to the nation following the successful attack, saying:
"Justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more. People around the world no longer need to fear this vicious and determined killer."
"The United States continues to demonstrate our resolve and our capacity to defend the American people against those who seek to do us harm."
"We make it clear again tonight that no matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out. We will never forget. We continue to mourn every innocent life that was stolen on 9/11 and honor their memories."
 (Biden discussing the CIA operation with planners, national security team - image from the White House)
For the past three months, Mr. Biden had attended meetings on the proposed operation. He examined a model of the safe house and asked detailed questions about the accuracy of the CIA intelligence identifying Zawahiri, the legality of the proposed operation, factors affecting the operation's success, and the safety of innocent civilians in the immediate area. Convinced on all accounts, he approved the operation on July 25.
In an interesting bit of irony, the same weekend the CIA targeted Zawahiri, Donald Trump was hosting a Saudi-backed golf tournament and entertaining numerous Saudi officials at his New Jersey golf club. You may recall that 15 of the 19 terrorists participating in the 9/11 attacks were Saudis and, in 2016, Mr. Trump had blamed 9/11 on Saudi Arabia. Many, if not most, of those 15 Saudi terrorists also are believed to have been educated in the Saudi's state-supported Wahhabi schools that teach an extremely fundamentalist brand of Islam.
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