After Al-Zawahri

Congratulations are in order to President Biden, our military, and our covert forces for the fell swoop that ended the career of the leader of Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahri. The deed was done with a drone strike over the weekend at Kabul, Afghanistan. Mr. Biden announced it last night in a straightforward way, and he and the forces under his command deserve credit for the operation’s success.“Zawahri,” Mr. Biden said, “was bin Laden’s leader. He was with him the whole time. He was his number-two man, his deputy at the time of the terrorist attack of 9/11. He was deeply involved in the planning of 9/11, one of the most responsible for the attacks that murdered 2,977 people on American soil. For decades, he was a mastermind behind attacks against Americans, including the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000.”The attack on the Cole killed 17 American sailors, the president noted. Al-Zawahri, he said, also had a role in the bombing of our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224 and wounding over 4,500 others. “He carved a trail of murder and violence against American citizens, American service members, American diplomats, and American interests,” Mr. Biden said. Al-Zawahri acceded to leadership of Al Qaeda after we found Bin Laden.Since then, Mr. Biden said, al-Zawahri has been Al Qaeda’s “leader from hiding,” coordinating Al Qaeda’s branches all over the world. American intelligence, Mr. Biden said, had been “relentlessly seeking Zawahri for years under Presidents Bush, Obama, and Trump” and finally located him at downtown Kabul, where he’d reunited with members of his immediate family. Even in recent weeks, he’d called for attacks on America.Mr. Biden put the operation over the weekend in the context of other American attacks against Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. Then he turned to the broader picture in Afghanistan, noting that when he surrendered to the Taliban he’d made “a promise to the American people that we’d continue to conduct effective counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan and beyond.” He added: “We’ve done just that.”Mr. Biden went on to warn that Afghanistan “can’t be a launching pad against the United States” and vowed, “We’re going to see to it that won’t happen.” He characterized “this operation” as “a clear demonstration that we will, we can, and we’ll always make good on the solemn pledge. My administration will continue to vigilantly monitor and address threats from Al Qaeda, no matter where they emanate from.”We don’t want to begrudge Mr. Biden any of the credit for the success in hunting al-Zawahri, yet it was disappointing that Mr. Biden had nothing to say in respect of two other fronts in Afghanistan — the battle of the Afghan National Resistance Front in Panjshir and other areas in the north where the heirs of Ahmad Shah Massoud are battling the Taliban and, not to put too fine a point on it, feel abandoned by the American administration.Nor did Mr. Biden have anything to say about the efforts to rescue from Afghanistan those who sided with — and helped — America during the war in myriad jobs from soldiers to drivers to translators to technicians to government bureaucrats. They are now in hiding or on the lam, fearing capture by the Taliban. The Biden administration has abandoned them, and their rescue is being pursued independently by American Special Forces veterans.Finally, Mr. Biden was silent on the struggle that families of American victims of 9/11 are waging in court here at home. They have won and been trying to enforce a judgment of $7 billion in funds belonging to the pro-American Afghan regime that collapsed when Mr. Biden surrendered to the Taliban. Incredibly, the Biden administration proposes to send half the $7 billion back to the — wait for it — Taliban.So much as Mr. Biden and our covert forces deserve credit for the raid that found al-Zawahri, the administration’s overall performance has been bitterly disappointing. As has the failure of the Republican candidates maneuvering in the political arena to make an issue of the administration’s abandonment of our cause — and erstwhile allies — in Afghanistan. It deserves to be picked up as an issue as we hurtle toward 2024.

After Al-Zawahri

More from the New York Sun

Alabama Lawmakers Consider Bill That Would Make It a Felony To Intentionally Disrupt a Church Service

‘High Spirits’ Brings a Forgotten Musical Back From the Dead

Former Beauty Queen Booted From White House Religious Liberty Panel After ‘Hijacking’ Antisemitism Hearing

More from the New York Sun

Alabama Lawmakers Consider Bill That Would Make It a Felony To Intentionally Disrupt a Church Service

‘High Spirits’ Brings a Forgotten Musical Back From the Dead

Former Beauty Queen Booted From White House Religious Liberty Panel After ‘Hijacking’ Antisemitism Hearing

Jobs Surge in January Deals Blow to Trump’s Push for Interest Rate Cuts

New Ransom Note Sent to TMZ as Investigators Experience Progress and Setbacks in 10-Day Search for Nancy Guthrie

House Democrats Announce Plans To Host Field Hearing with Epstein Victims in Trump’s Back Yard

America Plummets to All-Time Low in Global Corruption Index

FAA Abruptly Bans All Flights Around El Paso for 10 Days, Lifts the Restrictions Within Hours