GREEN BAY, WI — Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), a member of the House Armed Services Committee and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, today released the following statement in response to the killing of terrorist Ayman Al-Zawahiri.
“Ayman al-Zawahiri was a ruthless terrorist with American blood on his hands. The United States and the world is safer now that this major figure in the global Salafi jihadist movement is off the battlefield. We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the national security professionals who helped make this mission a success.
“While Zawahiri’s death is cause for celebration, it also raises alarming questions over the Taliban’s relationship with al Qaeda. Predictably, contrary to Taliban assurances, Zawahiri was not hiding in some remote cave. He was in downtown Kabul, in the home of a senior advisor to the very Taliban leader who wrote in the New York Times that the Taliban government would not tolerate the presence of “disruptive groups.” This is a clear violation of the Doha Agreement and going forward, Congress must press the administration to ensure that Afghanistan does not once again become a safe harbor for international terrorism.”
