NYC Fire Commissioner on 9/11 Throws Cold Water on al-Zawahiri Killing on CNN: ‘He Eludes You For 20 Years and You Call It a Success’
The killing of Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahiri has earned President Joe Biden praise from both sides of the political aisle, but not everyone is celebrating.
Former FDNY Commissioner Thomas Von Essen joined CNN’s New Day on Tuesday morning and though he was happy to see the Al Qaeda leader gone, he questioned calling the drone killing an “intelligence success.”
“When I hear people describe it as an intelligence success, I don’t understand how you can have a $25 million bounty on someone, he eludes you for 20 years and you call it a success. I think it shows what a low bar we have for our intelligence today, to me,” Von Essen bluntly stated during the interview.
Von Essen did offer praise to the drone operation itself, saying authorities did a “great job” taking out the “thug” Al Zawahiri without civilian collateral damage.
“I think that’s a tremendous accomplishment, and I hope that will continue to be the way we function over there,” he said.
The former commissioner, whose department lost 343 firefighters on 9/11, described the killing as “symbolic” though and said families of 9/11 victims have other worries and concerns at the moment, including former President Donald Trump’s embrace of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tournament.
“It’s symbolic for me. I try to look at through the eyes of the families. I don’t think the families are going to be celebrating it,” Von Essen said.
In a statement on the Zawahiri killing, Biden said the terrorist was “deeply involved” in the planning of 9/11 and now “justice has been delivered.”
“Justice has been delivered. This terrorist leader is no more. People around the world no longer need to fear the vicious and determined killer. United States demonstrated our resolve and capacity to defend the American people against those who seek to do us harm,” the president said.
Watch above via CNN
