Abdul El-Sayed Calls Drone Strike on 9/11 Architect al-Zawahiri ‘Concerning’ and a ‘Disguise’

Abdul El-Sayed articulated that the U.S. drone strike that resulted in the death of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, viewed as the architect of the 9/11 attacks, was “troubling.” He noted that this action, which took place in 2022, acted as a “fig leaf” masking the problematic U.S. exit from Afghanistan. El-Sayed’s commentary from 2022 was highlighted by the Washington Free Beacon.

In his article titled “Projecting Strength Abroad Isn’t Simply About Killing Terrorists. It’s About Standing Up to Despots, Too,” published in the New Republic on August 5, 2022, he criticized the CIA operation that successfully eliminated al-Zawahiri, suggesting that President Biden resorted to this strike to improve his domestic approval ratings amid declining numbers following the Afghanistan withdrawal. El-Sayed highlighted the strike’s role as a political tool for the administration in the run-up to midterm elections.