The news sources are reporting a CIA targeted drone strike killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri (sometimes spelled Zawahiri), who was the successor to Osama ben Laden. Al-Zawahri was located at a house near Kabul in Afghanistan. Al-Zawahri had a hand in the 9-11 attacks as well as the embassy bombings in Africa and the attack on the USS Cole.
Fox News' Bret Baier called the killing "a major get." That is an unusual use of journalistic slang; "a major get" normally means securing an important on-the-record interview. I suppose an assassin also could use the phrase for a successful hit.
I'm reasonably certain when a terrorist leader is targeted for death, POTUS has to sign off on it. The otherwise feckless Barack Obama got (and deserved) credit for approving the killing of Osama bin Laden. Donald Trump got (and deserved) credit for our taking out Iranian general Soleimani.
The even more feckless Joe Biden will get (and deserve) credit for killing al-Zawahri. Our leaders need to keep approving hits on those who lead chants of "Death to America" and whose actions match their words. The consequences need to be commensurately serious.
