{"id":745554,"date":"2021-09-12T20:36:03","date_gmt":"2021-09-13T00:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=745554"},"modified":"2021-09-12T20:36:07","modified_gmt":"2021-09-13T00:36:07","slug":"ex-obama-cia-head-biden-actions-inspired-jihadists-all-over-world-taliban-harboring-al-qaeda-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ex-obama-cia-head-biden-actions-inspired-jihadists-all-over-world-taliban-harboring-al-qaeda-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Obama CIA Head: Biden Actions \u2018Inspired Jihadists All Over World,\u2019 Taliban \u2018Harboring Al-Qaeda\u2019 Now"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fex-obama-cia-head-biden-actions-inspired-jihadists-all-over-world-taliban-harboring-al-qaeda-now%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=745554&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/JB-scaled-1.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Michael Morell, former President Barack Obama\u2019s Acting CIA Director, said during a CBS News interview on Sunday that the Biden administration\u2019s actions in Afghanistan have \u201cinspired jihadists\u201d all over the world, and that the Taliban is already back to harboring al-Qaeda.<\/p>\n<p>Morell responded to the news that&nbsp;Ayman al-Zawahiri, the head of al-Qaeda, had issued a video on the twentieth anniversary of the 9\/11 attacks when asked by host Margaret Brennan if al-Zawahiri was living in Afghanistan, as a U.N. report recently said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe think so, which means that the Taliban is harboring Zawahiri today,\u201d Morell said. \u201cThe Taliban is harboring al-Qaeda today. And I think that\u2019s a very important point.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>WATCH:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"9.2364130434783\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MichaelJMorell?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MichaelJMorell<\/a> on keeping Al Qaeda threat at bay following Afghanistan withdrawal: \u201cWe have to figure out how we&#8217;re going to collect two types of intelligence \u2014 how we&#8217;re going to make sure that Al Qaeda is not rebuilding its capabilities and is planning on attacking us again.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/hA7JzJJbma\">pic.twitter.com\/hA7JzJJbma<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FaceTheNation\/status\/1437076826728321031?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 12, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Morell discussed the numerous issues that the U.S. is now facing since President Joe Biden pulled U.S. forces out of the country, noting that it\u2019s going to be significantly harder to collect intelligence and to execute operations aimed at eliminating threats.<\/p>\n<p>Morell also noted that al-Qaeda could completely \u201cbounce back\u201d within the next 12 months because of the safe haven that Afghanistan provides, and that makes Afghanistan the greatest long-term risk for the U.S. when it comes to terrorism.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that the Taliban winning the war in Afghanistan and then the way our exit happened has absolutely inspired jihadists all over the world,\u201d Morell later added. \u201cThe Taliban is saying we just didn\u2019t defeat the United States. We defeated NATO. We defeated the world\u2019s greatest military power ever. So there\u2019s a celebration going on. We defeated the Soviet Union. Then it fell. Now we\u2019ve defeated NATO. Right? Maybe they can fall, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think not only will jihadists be inspired, but a lot of them are going to come to Afghanistan to be part of the celebration, to be part of jihadist central,\u201d he added. \u201cSo after 9\/11, they all scattered from Afghanistan. I think we\u2019re going to see a flow back in, and that\u2019s one of the things that makes Afghanistan more dangerous than other spots on the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>WATCH:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"7.1320754716981\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Obama&#8217;s Acting CIA Director Michael Morell: Joe Biden\u2019s Afghanistan withdrawal \u201cabsolutely inspired jihadists all over the world\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4RKUW4E7HK\">pic.twitter.com\/4RKUW4E7HK<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RNCResearch\/status\/1437087600683139080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 12, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>TRANSCRIPT PROVIDED VIA <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/full-transcript-face-the-nation-09-12-2021\/\">CBS NEWS<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"125\">\n<p><em>MARGARET BRENNAN: Holly, thank you. For more analysis on the threats facing the country, we turn to Michael Morell. He\u2019s a former acting director of the CIA and a CBS News contributor. Great to have you here.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MICHAEL MORELL, OBAMA\u2019S ACTING CIA DIRECTOR: Great to be here, Margaret. Good to have you back.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MARGARET BRENNAN: Thank you. Ayman al-Zawahiri, the head of al-Qaeda, issued a video on the twentieth anniversary of the attacks. The U.N. said in July he\u2019s living in Afghanistan, is he?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MICHAEL MORELL: We think so, which means that the Taliban is harboring Zawahiri today. The Taliban is harboring al-Qaeda today. And I think that\u2019s a very important point.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MARGARET BRENNAN: So is that just a complete false premise then to say that pulling out of Afghanistan, we can still keep the threat from al-Qaeda at bay?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MICHAEL MORELL: We have a lot of work to do in order to do that, right? We have to figure out how we\u2019re going to collect intelligence \u2014 two types of intelligence. How are we going to make sure that al-Qaeda is not rebuilding its capabilities and is planning on attacking us again? And then we have to \u2014 if we do that, then we have to collect the kind of intelligence that gives you the precision you need to conduct strikes, right? Drones need to be told exactly where on the earth to go. What tells you that is precision intelligence. So, a lot of work for the intelligence community to do here going forward.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MARGARET BRENNAN: And we\u2019ve seen some of that. If you follow headlines, the CIA director in Pakistan this week, he\u2019s already said under oath, Bill Burns, that you will have fewer intelligence tools if you pull out U.S. troops. So what exactly do we need, and isn\u2019t building up in the region the opposite of what the president intended to do, which was look at Asia and threats elsewhere?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MICHAEL MORELL: So we have China, right? China is a big problem. It\u2019s the big strategic threat facing the United States. We got to \u2014 we have to \u2014 we have to pivot to that, but we also have to keep our eye on terrorism. And there\u2019s terrorists in a lot of different places in the world. The president is right about that. But I think the place where we are most at risk from over the long-term, and the intelligence community is saying twelve months, so the long-term is kind of short here, is Afghanistan, right? So al-Qaeda could bounce back in as quickly as twelve months in Afghanistan if we don\u2019t do what we need to do.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MARGARET BRENNAN: So when I talk to sources about this, what they say to the argument you just laid out is, well, why Afghanistan? Why regroup there? Why shouldn\u2019t we be as worried about Central Africa and al-Qaeda\u2019s presence there? What\u2019s your response to that?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MICHAEL MORELL: So right now, the places I\u2019m most worried about are ISIS in Africa and al-Shabab in Somalia. But longer-term, I worry most about al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and \u2014 and ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Why? Because at the end of the day, the most important thing that a terrorist group can have, the most important determinant of their success is safe haven.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MARGARET BRENNAN: Mm-Hm.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MICHAEL MORELL: Right? And you have safe haven in Afghanistan that you really can\u2019t have anywhere else because you\u2019re being harbored now by the Taliban. And Afghanistan is a big place. It\u2019s tough to get to. It\u2019s tough to find partners. We just heard about that earlier in the show. So that\u2019s why I worry more about Afghanistan.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MARGARET BRENNAN: So are we more at risk then without the military presence there?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MICHAEL MORELL: We are more at risk, without a doubt, because we haven\u2019t yet, as we heard from Representative Kinzinger, we haven\u2019t yet put together a strategy for how we\u2019re going to do the two things. So one, right, is to collect that intelligence that I talked about. The intelligence community\u2019s got to figure that out. Then the Department of Defense has to figure out this over the horizon capability, right? So when the intelligence community says, Mister President, they\u2019re rebuilding again, they\u2019re getting to the point where they can attack the homeland again. And the president says, take action. The military has to be able to reach in and degrade al-Qaeda, right? We haven\u2019t figured those two things out yet.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><i>\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n<p><em>MARGARET BRENNAN: The Secretary of State will sit for questions tomorrow. For the very first time the administration is going to have to explain this chaotic withdrawal. You hear about the Taliban effect, that jihadists looked at this, looked at American troops exiting and said, it\u2019s possible that they are inspired by this. How much should we be concerned about that now?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MICHAEL MORELL: I think that the Taliban winning the war in Afghanistan, and then the way our exit happened has absolutely inspired jihadists all over the world. The Taliban is saying we just didn\u2019t defeat the United States. We defeated NATO. We defeated the world\u2019s greatest military power ever. So there\u2019s a celebration going on. We defeated the Soviet Union. Then it fell. Now we\u2019ve defeated NATO. Right? Maybe they can fall, too. I think not only will jihadists be inspired, but a lot of them are going to come to Afghanistan to be part of the celebration, to be part of jihadist central. So after 9\/11, they all scattered from Afghanistan.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MARGARET BRENNAN: Mm-Hm.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MICHAEL MORELL: I think we\u2019re going to see a flow back in, and that\u2019s one of the things that makes Afghanistan more dangerous than other spots on the planet.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MARGARET BRENNAN: We will keep an eye on it.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MICHAEL MORELL: Yes.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MARGARET BRENNAN: Mike Morell, thank you for your analysis.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>We\u2019ll be right back.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><i><span>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i><span>member<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Michael Morell, former President Barack Obama\u2019s Acting CIA Director, said during a CBS News interview on Sunday that the Biden administration\u2019s actions in Afghanistan have \u201cinspired jihadists\u201d all over the &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-745554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=745554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745554\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=745554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=745554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=745554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}