AP sources: US operation killed al-Qaida leader al-Zawahri

[Scott]

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — A CIA drone strike has killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri in Afghanistan, according to five people familiar with the matter.

 

Current and former officials began hearing Sunday afternoon that al-Zawahri had been killed in a drone strike, but the administration delayed releasing the information until his death could be confirmed, according to one person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.

 

White House officials declined to confirm al-Zawahri was killed but noted in a statement that the United States conducted a “successful” counterterrorism operation against a significant al-Qaida target, adding that "there were no civilian casualties.”

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/biden-speak-operation-against-al-211414500.html

[SunnyinBangrak]

I can't help being concerned that Al-Quida could be strengthened by Biden's dumping of an estimated $85 billion worth of weaponry and planes(because abandoning them is cheaper than flying them out)? I would prefer to be attacked by a goatherder with a slingshot than one in an Apache helicopter all guns a-blazin' for sure.

 

 I am also concerned that the fears after Biden abandoned Afghanistan in scenes of pure chaos have come true. That Al Quida would be a thing again. During the Trump years radical Islam was basically forgotten about, he dealt with it perfectly. The spectacular attacks on Europe were a thing of the past. Sad to see another Trump success unwound by the current incompetents.

[stevenl]

6 minutes ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

I can't help being concerned that Al-Quida could be strengthened by Biden's dumping of an estimated $85 billion worth of weaponry and planes(because abandoning them is cheaper than flying them out)? I would prefer to be attacked by a goatherder with a slingshot than one in an Apache helicopter all guns a-blazin' for sure.

 

 I am also concerned that the fears after Biden abandoned Afghanistan in scenes of pure chaos have come true. That Al Quida would be a thing again. During the Trump years radical Islam was basically forgotten about, he dealt with it perfectly. The spectacular attacks on Europe were a thing of the past. Sad to see another Trump success unwound by the current incompetents.

You do realize it was trump's withdrawal plan?

[SunnyinBangrak]

4 minutes ago, stevenl said:

You do realize it was trump's withdrawal plan?

Trump planned to withdraw yet keep a small peacekeeping force there to ensure the chaos that Biden's sudden departure caused did not happen. This is 100% on Biden's head. Your statement is factually incorrect. Trump never planned the incredible display of American weakness and fear that Biden managed, which led to the rise again of AlQuida(the topic of this thread)

 

"He ran out of Afghanistan instead of following the plan our Administration left for him — a plan that protected our people and our property, and ensured the Taliban would never dream of taking our Embassy or providing a base for new attacks against America," he said in a statement.

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-blasted-biden-afghanistan-withdrawal-plan-american-troops-taliban-2021-8

 

 

Edited August 1, 2022 by SunnyinBangrak

[Credo]

17 minutes ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

I can't help being concerned that Al-Quida could be strengthened by Biden's dumping of an estimated $85 billion worth of weaponry and planes(because abandoning them is cheaper than flying them out)? I would prefer to be attacked by a goatherder with a slingshot than one in an Apache helicopter all guns a-blazin' for sure.

 

 I am also concerned that the fears after Biden abandoned Afghanistan in scenes of pure chaos have come true. That Al Quida would be a thing again. During the Trump years radical Islam was basically forgotten about, he dealt with it perfectly. The spectacular attacks on Europe were a thing of the past. Sad to see another Trump success unwound by the current incompetents.

The US equipment left behind was all disabled and communication equipment removed or destroyed.  Most Goat herders can't fly an Apache helicopter.  

 

[simple1]

12 minutes ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

Trump planned to withdraw yet keep a small peacekeeping force there to ensure the chaos that Biden's sudden departure caused did not happen. This is 100% on Biden's head. Your statement is factually incorrect. Trump never planned the incredible display of American weakness and fear that Biden managed, which led to the rise again of AlQuida(the topic of this thread)

 

"He ran out of Afghanistan instead of following the plan our Administration left for him — a plan that protected our people and our property, and ensured the Taliban would never dream of taking our Embassy or providing a base for new attacks against America," he said in a statement.

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-blasted-biden-afghanistan-withdrawal-plan-american-troops-taliban-2021-8

 

 

The URL you provided is fthe usual misinformation / lies by trump. Obama Administration set the strategy for the defeat of ISIS, not trump. During the trump era ISIS set themselves up in Afghanistan and have yet to be eliminated from Syria and Iraq. All the rest is just unproven claims by trump, we know trump was one of the worst negotiators on the international stage. In any case what were the propects for the Taliban to comply with any negotiated T&C's with Ghani as trump proposed? I suggest zero.

[SunnyinBangrak]

1 hour ago, Credo said:

The US equipment left behind was all disabled and communication equipment removed or destroyed.  Most Goat herders can't fly an Apache helicopter.  

 

False.

 

"The helicopter was   seized days before by the Taliban from the Afghanistan Air Force, the outlet reported. 

Talib Times also shared another clip that it bragged was the “first flight of black hawk,” after the Islamic militant group was earlier filmed making doomed attempts to take flight in one of the US choppers seized when they took power."

https://nypost.com/2021/08/31/video-shows-man-hanging-below-black-hawk-flown-by-taliban/

[Credo]

24 minutes ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

False.

 

"The helicopter was   seized days before by the Taliban from the Afghanistan Air Force, the outlet reported. 

Talib Times also shared another clip that it bragged was the “first flight of black hawk,” after the Islamic militant group was earlier filmed making doomed attempts to take flight in one of the US choppers seized when they took power."

https://nypost.com/2021/08/31/video-shows-man-hanging-below-black-hawk-flown-by-taliban/

Wrong.  The helicopter belonged to the Afghani military.  It wasn't ours nor is any of the equipment given to the Afghan gov't.   

 

[EVENKEEL]

1 hour ago, simple1 said:

The URL you provided is fthe usual misinformation / lies by trump. Obama Administration set the strategy for the defeat of ISIS, not trump. During the trump era ISIS set themselves up in Afghanistan and have yet to be eliminated from Syria and Iraq. All the rest is just unproven claims by trump, we know trump was one of the worst negotiators on the international stage. In any case what were the propects for the Taliban to comply with any negotiated T&C's with Ghani as trump proposed? I suggest zero.

When biden took the watch in Jan he should already have had a plan in place for the withdrawl. Plus he had another 6 months to fine tune the USA withdrawal plan. To blame Trump is lame. When you take over the watch everything is on you. 

 

 

[Credo]

13 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

When biden took the watch in Jan he should already have had a plan in place for the withdrawl. Plus he had another 6 months to fine tune the USA withdrawal plan. To blame Trump is lame. When you take over the watch everything is on you. 

 

 

Well, apparently you are saddened by taking out Zawahari?  I don't know what this topic has to do with the withdrawal.  It seems we have pretty good intelligence in place.  

[EVENKEEL]

15 minutes ago, Credo said:

Well, apparently you are saddened by taking out Zawahari?  I don't know what this topic has to do with the withdrawal.  It seems we have pretty good intelligence in place.  

Please refer to post I responded to. I didn't start the off topic but I responded.

[placeholder]

3 hours ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

I can't help being concerned that Al-Quida could be strengthened by Biden's dumping of an estimated $85 billion worth of weaponry and planes(because abandoning them is cheaper than flying them out)? I would prefer to be attacked by a goatherder with a slingshot than one in an Apache helicopter all guns a-blazin' for sure.

 

 I am also concerned that the fears after Biden abandoned Afghanistan in scenes of pure chaos have come true. That Al Quida would be a thing again. During the Trump years radical Islam was basically forgotten about, he dealt with it perfectly. The spectacular attacks on Europe were a thing of the past. Sad to see another Trump success unwound by the current incompetents.

And what exactly did Trump do to stop it in Europe? But I guess that whatever you allege he did, Biden must be doing it too since radical Islam hasn't been much of a problem lately.

 

As for Afghanistan, US intelligence didn't foresee the collapse of the Afghani armed forces. But the reason in the first place that the US was withdrawing from Afghanistan is that the Trump administration negotiated with the Taliban. The result of those negotiations was a  withdrawal date of May 1, 2021. Biden managed to extend the withdrawal until Aug 31, 2021. And one eason that the Taliban was able to overrun Afghani govt forces so quickly is that Trump withdrew substantial numbers of troops before he left office.  From 4500 to 2500.  Why the rush? What kind of message did that send the Taliban?

[EVENKEEL]

9 minutes ago, placeholder said:

And what exactly did Trump do to stop it in Europe? But I guess that whatever you allege he did, Biden must be doing it too since radical Islam hasn't been much of a problem lately.

 

As for Afghanistan, US intelligence didn't foresee the collapse of the Afghani armed forces. But the reason in the first place that the US was withdrawing from Afghanistan is that the Trump administration negotiated with the Taliban. The result of those negotiations was a  withdrawal date of May 1, 2021. Biden managed to extend the withdrawal until Aug 31, 2021. And one eason that the Taliban was able to overrun Afghani govt forces so quickly is that Trump withdrew substantial numbers of troops before he left office.  From 4500 to 2500.  Why the rush? What kind of message did that send the Taliban?

https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-biden-was-warned-by-top-officials-against-quick-afghanistan-withdrawal

 

President Joe Biden was repeatedly warned against a quick withdrawal from Afghanistan by some of his top officials, according to new reports, but he decided to go against their advice.

[placeholder]

3 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-biden-was-warned-by-top-officials-against-quick-afghanistan-withdrawal

 

President Joe Biden was repeatedly warned against a quick withdrawal from Afghanistan by some of his top officials, according to new reports, but he decided to go against their advice.

A quick withdrawal? You mean the withdrawal was done ahead of schedule. If he had delayed the withdrawal, ya think maybe the Taliban might have had some objections. How might that have played out for the US troops in Afghanistand whose numbers had been cut almost in half by Trump?

And I notice you have no defense for your claim about Trump putting a stop to Islamist terrorism in Europe. Do you have any evidence for that at all?

[EVENKEEL]

5 minutes ago, placeholder said:

A quick withdrawal? You mean the withdrawal was done ahead of schedule. If he had delayed the withdrawal, ya think maybe the Taliban might have had some objections. How might that have played out for the US troops in Afghanistand whose numbers had been cut almost in half by Trump?

And I notice you have no defense for your claim about Trump putting a stop to Islamist terrorism in Europe. Do you have any evidence for that at all?

I'm stating facts, biden was warned.

Washington (CNN)President Joe Biden ordered the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan over the advice of some of his senior-most advisers in the Pentagon and State Department, leaders who are now charged with carrying out the particulars of the complicated drawdown.

 

 

[placeholder]

3 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

I'm stating facts, biden was warned.

Washington (CNN)President Joe Biden ordered the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan over the advice of some of his senior-most advisers in the Pentagon and State Department, leaders who are now charged with carrying out the particulars of the complicated drawdown.

 

 

Yes he was warned. Does that mean it would have been a good idea to delay the withdrawal again?

And can you share with us any more details, well, actually any details, about how Trump saved Europe from Islamist terrorists?

[EVENKEEL]

10 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Yes he was warned. Does that mean it would have been a good idea to delay the withdrawal again?

And can you share with us any more details, well, actually any details, about how Trump saved Europe from Islamist terrorists?

I never once posted a word about Trump or Europe.

[ballpoint]

Bin Ladan taken out on Obama's watch, Ayman al-Zawahri on Biden's. All Trump did was coddle up to the Taliban.

[Eric Loh]

11 minutes ago, ballpoint said:

Bin Ladan taken out on Obama's watch, Ayman al-Zawahri on Biden's. All Trump did was coddle up to the Taliban.

Coddle up he did by planning to invite terrorists to Camp David. His Foreign policy team was aghast and Bolton quit.Trump's stunt aborted.

[DezLez]

32 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

I'm stating facts, biden was warned.

Washington (CNN)President Joe Biden ordered the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan over the advice of some of his senior-most advisers in the Pentagon and State Department, leaders who are now charged with carrying out the particulars of the complicated drawdown.

 

 

Yes he would have been warned against withdrawing by senior-most advisors but at the same  time he would be being warned that he must withdraw by equally senior-most advisors!

[candide]

5 hours ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

Trump planned to withdraw yet keep a small peacekeeping force there to ensure the chaos that Biden's sudden departure caused did not happen. This is 100% on Biden's head. Your statement is factually incorrect. Trump never planned the incredible display of American weakness and fear that Biden managed, which led to the rise again of AlQuida(the topic of this thread)

 

"He ran out of Afghanistan instead of following the plan our Administration left for him — a plan that protected our people and our property, and ensured the Taliban would never dream of taking our Embassy or providing a base for new attacks against America," he said in a statement.

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-blasted-biden-afghanistan-withdrawal-plan-american-troops-taliban-2021-8

 

 

The problem is that it seems Trump had no plan. It was initially scheduled in May and Biden found out he had to delay it more until the last possible moment (August). This kind of operations need to be prepared long time in advance.

The problem is not the withdrawal itself, but the preparation of the Afghan army. They were simply not prepared enough by the Trump administration.

Then Biden had a choice: either apply the agreement or fight again with the Talibans. I guess it is not what Americans wanted. If Biden had chosen to fight again, I have no doubt you would have complained about war mongering Biden, while Trump had negotiated the perfect peace agreement.

Edited August 2, 2022 by candide

[candide]

3 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

When biden took the watch in Jan he should already have had a plan in place for the withdrawl. Plus he had another 6 months to fine tune the USA withdrawal plan. To blame Trump is lame. When you take over the watch everything is on you. 

 

 

The problem was that the Afghan army was not ready to operate alone. It takes long time (years) to train and prepare such an army, and the Trump administration did not do it properly.

Edited August 2, 2022 by candide

[EVENKEEL]

8 minutes ago, candide said:

The problem was that the Afghan army was not ready to operate alone. It takes long time (years) to train and prepare such an army, and the Trump administration did not do it properly.

83 billion spent on training which started way before Trump.

[candide]

Just now, EVENKEEL said:

83 billion spent on training which started way before Trump.

Right, lots of money spent for nothing. Events have shown they were not ready, and further analyses have identified that they were used to fight in complement to the U.S. army, not as stand-alone army. 

But it's Trump who made the deal. The Obama administration did not train the Afghan army in order to be able to apply Trump's deal. So Trump made a deal while one key element of it was not ready to play its role (and also not allowed to participate in the peace talks). Poor job from Trump.

 

 

[Bluespunk]

9 hours ago, Scott said:

A CIA drone strike has killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri in Afghanistan,

As ye sow, so shall ye reap. 

[placeholder]

5 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

I never once posted a word about Trump or Europe.

My mistake. It was 

 

9 hours ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

Trump planned to withdraw yet keep a small peacekeeping force there to ensure the chaos that Biden's sudden departure caused did not happen. This is 100% on Biden's head. Your statement is factually incorrect. Trump never planned the incredible display of American weakness and fear that Biden managed, which led to the rise again of AlQuida(the topic of this thread)

 

"He ran out of Afghanistan instead of following the plan our Administration left for him — a plan that protected our people and our property, and ensured the Taliban would never dream of taking our Embassy or providing a base for new attacks against America," he said in a statement.

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-blasted-biden-afghanistan-withdrawal-plan-american-troops-taliban-2021-8

 

 

This is false. The Trump Administration negotiated a May 1, 2021 withdrawal. Biden extended it to Aug 31, 2021. And because Trump claimed he had a plan, that means there was one? This is the guy who claimed before his inauguration he had a great health insurance plan that was almost ready to be released.  This is the guy who cut the number of American troops in Afghanistan almost in half in the last few months of his adminstration. Why would anyone believe his claims about anything?

[placeholder]

9 hours ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

I can't help being concerned that Al-Quida could be strengthened by Biden's dumping of an estimated $85 billion worth of weaponry and planes(because abandoning them is cheaper than flying them out)? I would prefer to be attacked by a goatherder with a slingshot than one in an Apache helicopter all guns a-blazin' for sure.

 

 I am also concerned that the fears after Biden abandoned Afghanistan in scenes of pure chaos have come true. That Al Quida would be a thing again. During the Trump years radical Islam was basically forgotten about, he dealt with it perfectly. The spectacular attacks on Europe were a thing of the past. Sad to see another Trump success unwound by the current incompetents.

What exactly did Trump do to stop the attacks of radical Islam in Europe? You ever hear of the logical fallacy post hoc ergo propter hoc? Which means after this therefore because of this. And has there been a resurgence of radical Islam in Europe since Trump has left office?

 

Afghan Officials: Islamic State Fighters Finding Sanctuary in Afghanistan

PENTAGON — November 18, 2017 5:45
Battered and beaten in Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State terror group is surging fighters into Afghanistan, rebuilding its presence and perhaps setting up a new base for attacks on both the West and Russia.

Afghan officials tell Voice of America that Islamic State may now have as many as 3,000 foreign fighters in the country, many of them coming from Pakistan and Uzbekistan. They also fear those numbers are only likely to increase as IS fighters from Iraq and Syria leave those countries as part of an effort to regroup.

https://www.voanews.com/a/afghan-officials-islamic-state-finds-sanctuary-in-afghanistan/4122270.html

 

US Policy and the Resurgence of ISIS in Iraq and Syria

October 21, 2020

ISIS attacks in Iraq and Syria have increased significantly in 2020, demonstrating both a capacity and a willingness on ISIS’s part to retake territory, populations, and resources.

In the wake of COVID-19 and the drawdown of U.S. forces, security gaps have worsened, allowing ISIS to move more freely, conduct prison breaks, carry out more sophisticated attacks, and smuggle fighters across borders.

https://www.mei.edu/publications/us-policy-and-resurgence-isis-iraq-and-syria

[placeholder]

6 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

I never once posted a word about Trump or Europe.

I apologize. My mistake. It was another poster who made that claim. 

[Scott]

This guy had a $25 million bounty on his head.  I wonder if anybody is collecting it?   The intel seems to be particularly good and accurate.

I believe it's the highest bounty ever offered on someone.