OUR PICKSAl-Qaeda after al-Zawahiri | Protecting Federal Data Centers | Alex Jones Concedes Sandy Hook Attack Was Real, and more
· Al-Qaeda after al-Zawahiri
· On the Legality of the Strike that Killed Ayman al-Zawahiri
· Zawahiri’s Legacy and the Prospects for an al-Qaeda Revival
· Reflections on the Death of Ayman al-Zawahiri
· Mohammed Khalifa, Canadian Who Narrated Violent ISIS Videos, Sentenced to Life in Prison By U.S. Judge
· National Guard Member Sought Out Extremists, Planned Attack on Police
· Bipartisan Legislation to Protect Federal Data Centers from Catastrophic Weather Events, Cyber-Attacks, and Other Potential Disasters
· Alex Jones Concedes Sandy Hook Attack Was Not a Hoax but ‘100% Real’
Al-Qaeda after al-Zawahiri (Daniel Byman, Lawfare)
Ayman al-Zawahiri, who led al-Qaeda since Osama Bin Laden’s death in 2011, is dead from a U.S. drone strikeon a residential area in Kabul. Al-Zawahiri’s death is an end of an era—he was an early member of al-Qaeda and an active jihadist for decades before that. The al-Qaeda he left behind endured despite an aggressive and devastating U.S. counterterrorism campaign, but it is also weak, with far less operational capacity and political influence than it had around the time of 9/11. A more charismatic and capable leader might revive the organization, but he will face many difficulties in trying to revive the once-dominant jihadist organization, not least of which is a well-institutionalized U.S. and global counterterrorism apparatus.
On the Legality of the Strike that Killed Ayman al-Zawahiri (Robert Chesney, Lawfare)
In the culmination of a manhunt that lasted almost 21 years, the U.S. government appears to have located and killed Ayman al Zawahiri. Here are the legal questions the Biden administration likely worked through before the strike.
Zawahiri’s Legacy and the Prospects for an al-Qaeda Revival (Barak Mendelsohn, Colin P. Clarke, Lawfare)
Bin Laden’s successor steered the organization through a tumultuous decade and left it stagnated, but the next leader will have new opportunities for growth.
Reflections on the Death of Ayman al-Zawahiri (John McLaughlin, Lawfare)
The success of the operation is a testament to the CIA’s unrelenting focus on terrorism over the past 20 years.
Mohammed Khalifa, Canadian Who Narrated Violent ISIS Videos, Sentenced to Life in Prison By U.S. Judge (CBS News)
A Canadian citizen who led propaganda efforts for the Islamic State group and personally executed two Syrian soldiers in widely circulated videos was sentenced to life in prison Friday by a U.S. judge. According to the Department of Justice, Mohammed Khalifa served as a lead translator in ISIS’s propaganda production and the English-speaking narrator on multiple violent ISIS videos. Prosecutors sought the life sentence for Khalifa, 39, a Saudi-born Canadian who held prominent roles for the Islamic State group from 2013 until his capture in 2019. (Cont.)
