#ActInTimeDEADLINETime left to limit global warming to 1.5°C 4YRS110DAYS07:09:56 LIFELINEWorld's energy from renewables14.787704396%Finland's last active coal-fired power and heat plant shuts down | Repairing peats could prevent Glasgow's tap water turning brown | Community-based conservation cuts thresher shark fishing by 91% in Indonesia | Colombia creates landmark territory to protect uncontacted Indigenous groups | Britain’s GHG fell 4% in 2024, government data shows | Renewables made up more than 90% of new power installed globally in 2024 | Mali embraces solar power for rural areas | Agroforestry can help fight climate change | More European oil refineries to close, convert in next 10 years | European cities are designing streets to push cars out | Finland's last active coal-fired power and heat plant shuts down | Repairing peats could prevent Glasgow's tap water turning brown | Community-based conservation cuts thresher shark fishing by 91% in Indonesia | Colombia creates landmark territory to protect uncontacted Indigenous groups | Britain’s GHG fell 4% in 2024, government data shows | Renewables made up more than 90% of new power installed globally in 2024 | Mali embraces solar power for rural areas | Agroforestry can help fight climate change | More European oil refineries to close, convert in next 10 years | European cities are designing streets to push cars out |

Aug 2, 2022

Worst "POTUS" Ever

There's no intro for this. I can't. I Just fucking can't.


Trump had the chance to kill Al Qaeda's leader but didn't because he didn't recognize the name, report says

President Donald Trump had the chance to kill the leader of Al Qaeda but didn't because he didn't recognize the terrorist leader's name, NBC News reported in 2020.

Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a US drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Saturday, President Joe Biden announced Monday.

His death, which has been praised by many world leaders, is the biggest blow to Al Qaeda since its founder, Osama bin Laden, was killed by US Navy SEALs in 2011.

But plans for al-Zawahiri's execution could have been carried out far earlier, according to an NBC News report published in February 2020.

Intelligence officials briefed Trump many times about senior terrorist figures the CIA wanted to track down and kill, mentioning al-Zawahiri, NBC News reported.

Two people familiar with the briefings told NBC News that Trump chose not to pursue al-Zawahiri because he didn't recognize his name and instead suggested targeting bin Laden's son, Hamza bin Laden.

"He would say, 'I've never heard of any of these people. What about Hamza bin Laden?'" one unnamed former official told NBC News.

A Pentagon official also told the news outlet: "That was the only name he knew."

The Department of Defense and a spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

Even though bin Laden's son was widely seen as an emerging figure in the terrorist group, he was not believed to be planning any attacks at the time, NBC News reported.
'The president's preference for a "celebrity" targeted killing'

Trump confirmed in 2019 that the younger bin Laden had been killed in a US counterterrorism operation earlier on in his presidency.

"Despite intelligence assessments showing the greater dangers posed by Zawahiri, as well as his Iran-based lieutenants al-Masri and Saif al-Adil, and the unlikelihood Hamza was in the immediate line of succession, the president thought differently," the former CIA official Douglas London wrote in Just Security in 2020.

He added that Trump's "obsession" with bin Laden's son "is one example of the president's preference for a 'celebrity' targeted killing versus prioritizing options that could prove better for US security."

Labels: ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)