The Taliban complained that the airstrike that took out Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri violated the Doha agreement. Secretary of State Blinken retorted that hosting the Al Qaeda leader in Kabul violated Doha.
Not that anyone in their right mind should have expected anything else.
The scam agreement, negotiated under the auspices of the Taliban’s Qatari state sponsors, was a hoax that allowed the Islamic terror group to take over even as it repeatedly violated the agreement.
The Haqqani network, which is effectively in charge in Kabul, was the interface between the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Al-Zawahiri was reportedly in a Haqqani safehouse when he was killed.
Al Qaeda and Al-Zawahiri these days are a lot less relevant than they used to be (and not just because Al-Zawahiri finally got his virgins), but the Taliban don’t do freebies.
Hosting the Al Qaeda leader was…
1. A statement of ideological support
2. Meant that Al Qaeda or its donors have been financially aiding elements of the Taliban
3. Represent an expectation that Al Qaeda will aid the Taliban militarily
All of this means that, as expected, Al Qaeda is comfortably ensconced with its allies who are in charge in Afghanistan.
Taking out Al-Zawahiri is a fine demonstration that we can still drone even in Kabul. But it also shows the depth of our defeat in Afghanistan. We’re right back to where we started. And we could have done it without the corrupt, rotten deal with the Taliban.
