On July 30, the United States killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man who helped plot multiple terror attacks, including 9/11.
- al-Zawahiri had been involved with the global jihad for decades and held the reigns for al-Qaeda for the last 11 years, according to Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
- Roggio said killing al-Zawahiri was a good thing but that killing one leader a year is not enough to impact the organization.
- He said it would have been impossible to collect intelligence by putting boots on the ground in Afghanistan.
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Osama bin Laden sits with Ayman al-Zawahiri during an interview with Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir at an undisclosed location in Afghanistan. (Photo by Visual News/Getty Images)
A U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper sits on the ramp at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, Sept. 3, 2020. Roggio said a Reaper drone was likely what was used to kill Ayman al-Zawahiri. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Haley Stevens)
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