President Joe Biden confirmed reports the United States had successfully killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike.
“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,” Biden said.
The president spoke to the country on Monday evening, delivering his remarks outdoors after again testing positive for the coronavirus.
Al-Zawahiri replaced Osama Bin Laden as the leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist network, which continues to spread terror around the world.
Osama bin Laden sits with his adviser Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian linked to the al Qaeda network, during an interview with Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir (not pictured) at an undisclosed location in Afghanistan. (Photo by Visual News/Getty Images)
Biden recalled that al-Zawahiri was involved in the bombing of the USS Cole, bombing embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and appearing in recent videos calling for renewed terrorist attacks against the United States.
“Now justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more,” Biden said.
He praised the “superb patriots” in the counterterrorism team for their successful operation.
“None of his family members were hurt and there were no civilian casualties,” he said about the “carefully planned” operation to kill al-Zawahiri in Kabul, which he authorized.
Biden used the news of the successful operation against al-Zawahiri as a defense of his withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“When I ended our military mission in Afghanistan almost a year ago, I made the decision that after 20 years of war, the United States no longer needed thousands of boots on the ground in Afghanistan to protect America from terrorists who seek to do us harm,” he said.
Taliban fighters collect military clothes near damaged Afghan military aircraft after the Taliban’s takeover inside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Sept. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Mohammad Asif Khan)
Biden also vowed that Afghanistan would not ever be a staging ground for future terrorist attacks.
“We will never again allow Afghanistan to become a terrorist save-haven,” he said.
During his speech, the president did not mention the 13 soldiers who were killed during his disastrous withdrawal from the country.
Biden recalled the attacks of 9/11 and said he hoped that families of the victims found “a sense of closure” in the news.
“We will never. We will never ever give up,” he concluded.
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