Whatever people in the U.S. might think about the killing of al Zawahiri in the middle of the Afghan capital 7,000 miles away, safety and security are hardly likely to top the list.
By Phyllis Bennis, LA Progressive
President Joe Biden, to his credit, did not come out swaggering at his press conference announcing that the CIA had just killed al-Qaeda chief Ayman al Zawahiri. But he did make the dubious assertion that the assassination somehow “made us all safer.”
In reality, this killing will not end the war on terror, and is unlikely to make us safer. And meanwhile, the Biden administration and other top U.S. officials are taking actions that do threaten our security.
The U.S. is still spending billions of dollars arming Ukraine against Russia, while numerous experts around the world are discussing openly how the war escalates the danger of a nuclear exchange between the world’s two largest nuclear weapons states.
Another problem is that Biden spoke just as the third most powerful U.S. political leader, and second in line of succession to the presidency, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was about to land in Taiwan, deliberately provoking China in what looks an awful lot like the abandonment of Washington’s longstanding policy of recognizing only one China. An increasingly tense cold war between Washington and Beijing may be on the verge of rapidly heating up.
Recent Posts
Students On The Front Line For A Free Palestine
April 26, 2024
Take Action Now The Gaza protests are moral, brave, and part of a much broader struggle. by Richard (RJ) Eskow, The Zero Hour Report It’s…
Nuclear Power’s Lethal, Larcenous End Game
April 26, 2024
Take Action Now For the first time since 1954, no large new atomic reactors are under construction or on order in the United States. By Harvey…
200 Caring People Are Ready To Sail On The Freedom Flotilla To Gaza
April 25, 2024
Take Action Now For decades, corporations have used taxpayer-funded fellowship opportunities to help them secure billion-dollar defense contracts.…
Is The Iran Nuclear Deal Dead Forever?
April 25, 2024
Take Action Now Trump blew up the deal — why hasn’t Biden taken the opportunity to fix it? by Bob Dreyfuss, Tom Dispatch One, erratic and…