The Daily Signal - al Qaeda's Leader Is Dead. Now What?

Starting point is 00:00:06 Hi, DailySignor listeners. This is Samantha Inc with a bonus episode of the Daily Signal podcast. President Joe Biden shared the news Monday that the United States had killed al-Qaeda leader, I'm in Zawahari, in a drone strike last week. Joining me today to discuss this news, what this means for the future of al-Qaeda and terrorist ops in the Middle East, is Jeff Smith, a research fellow here at the Heritage Foundation's Asian Study Center. Jeff, thank you so much for joining me today. That's great to be with you. Now, President Joe Biden announced Monday that the United States had killed Al-Qaeda leader

Starting point is 00:00:41 Ayman Zawahari in a drone strike on July 30th, ending a 21-year manhunt. So first and foremost, Jeff, who exactly was Zawahari and what is the significance of his death? Well, he was widely considered to be Osama bin Laden's deputy and al-Qaeda's number two in command. and responsible, frankly, for the planning and operation of the 9-11 terrorist attack. So Zawahiri has been a high-level target of the United States, one of the most wanted people in the world for over 20 years. His terrorist activities predated 9-11. He's an educated Egyptian who went on to join the anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan alongside bin Laden. and the two gradually developed al-Qaeda into one of the world's most notorious terrorist outfits.

Starting point is 00:01:39 Zawahiri has since been hiding likely somewhere inside of Pakistan, releasing videos periodically urging global jihad, you know, expressing extremist sentiments, and U.S. intelligence caught wind that Zahawahiri's family had moved into Afghanistan in the capital Kabul earlier this year and later confirmed that he was also on the premises. And when they found an opportunity to strike, they took it. And now what is the future of al-Qaeda? Is there someone who is next in line to essentially replace him? There's always a next-in-line. Al-Qaeda does continue to enjoy some influence, both in the Athpac region and globally.

Starting point is 00:02:29 But really, it's become part of this broader mixture of terrorist groups that operate in the region, alongside of the Taliban, alongside of the Haqqqqqaeda, both of which are now in control of Afghanistan, both of which are aligned with al-Qaeda. You also have factions of the Islamic State in Afghanistan, which are aligned with this nexus, and they sort of are all, in some ways, integrated with one another. And so I would say the capabilities of al-Qaeda Central have certainly been downgraded since 9-11 through a exhaustive drone campaign in Afghanistan and Pakistan's tribal areas. We've sort of whittled away their leadership and much of their rank and file, but they do continue to operate within this broader nexus of terrorist groups. And the bigger concern, frankly, is that since the withdrawal from Afghanistan under the Biden administration, the Taliban and Hakani network now running Afghanistan, the concern is that they're going to offer a more permissive environment to al-Qaeda and these other international terrorist groups. And, you know, the presence of Zawahiri in a posh neighborhood in the Afghan capital living in a guest house run by Saraj Haqqqqqqqqqqqq.

Starting point is 00:03:57 who's a major Taliban leader, suggests that, you know, those fears were correct. And it's already evident that they're providing space for al-Qaeda to operate. So this is a very concerning trend. And just speaking of the fall of Afghanistan and we're coming up on that one year of the Taliban takeover there, what do you think is the future of counterterrorism ops in the Middle least given Iran's growing aggression and also the Afghanistan withdrawal. Yeah, well, I guess in a way that we got some good news and some bad news out of this operation. And the good news is that we are still capable of launching air strikes inside

Starting point is 00:04:43 of Afghanistan. And one of the questions, frankly, many of us have is how exactly was this operation carried out? You know, was Pakistan used? either as a launching pad or did we use its airspace? And if so, did we have its permission to do so, or did we launch the raid without its permission? You know, you might recall that we launched a raid against Osama bin Laden found inside Pakistan less than a mile from a premier Pakistani military academy. We launched that operation into Pakistan without their permission. And that could have been done again in this case.

Starting point is 00:05:24 it's also possible the drone flew in through Central Asian countries. The point is, though, that we do have limited access now. After withdrawing, we don't have nearly as many boots on the ground, eyes on the ground, and ways to launch these types of operations. But clearly we do maintain some capability. Whether that capability is enough to match the likely growing threat of terrorism, coming from Afghanistan is a different story. And we're going to have to find new arrangements in the future to do these counterterrorism

Starting point is 00:06:04 operations. One of my biggest issues with the Afghan war was that we sort of allowed Pakistan to play this double game where they let us use their territory and airspace. But the entire time, they were supporting, defending, protecting the Taliban. and al-Qaeda. So we have to avoid getting into a similar type arrangement where we're sort of perpetuating the long-term problem. Well, Jeff, those are all the questions that I have for you. Thank you so much for joining the podcast today. Again, joining us today was Jeff Smith of the Asian Study Center here at the Heritage Foundation. Thanks again. Thank you. As I approached the walkway

Starting point is 00:06:48 from around the back of the building, they had taken crow bars to almost all of our windows, two of our doors, and just shattered all of the glass. That's the voice of Susan Campbell, executive director of Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center. In the early hours after Roe v. Wade was overturned, v. Vandals smashed windows and spray-painted threatening messages outside the center. I'm Virginia Allen. Next week, we're releasing a documentary about what happened to the Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center, and we take a deep dive into the violence and attacks against other pregnancy centers across the country. Stay tuned and make sure you're subscribed to the Daily Signal's YouTube channel

Starting point is 00:07:33 to watch this documentary and other videos from The Daily Signal. And that'll do it for today's episode. Thank you so much for listening to The Daily Signal podcast. If you have not done so already, be sure to subscribe to the Daily Signal podcast on Google Play, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and IHeart Radio, or wherever you get your podcasts. and please leave us a review and a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and encourage others to subscribe. Thanks again for listening and we will be back with you all tomorrow. The Daily Signal podcast is brought to you by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation.

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The Daily Signal - al Qaeda's Leader Is Dead. Now What?

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