Tipsheet

So Much for "Cut[ing] the Head Off the Snake"

At risk of further disrupting the President's narrative about his successes in the war on Al Qaeda, it's worth pointing out, per Reuters, today's report that "Gunmen kill US embassy security chief in Yemen":

Masked gunmen shot dead a Yemeni security chief on his way to work at the U.S. embassy in Sanaa on Thursday, in an attack a Yemeni security source said appeared to be the work of al Qaeda. . . .

"This operation has the fingerprints of al Qaeda which carried out similar operations before," said the source, who asked not to be named.

Now recall remarks from John Kerry -- Obama's putative second-term Secretary of State -- who on September 4 delivered a speech declaring that:

The president's relentless pursuit of bin Laden and the al Qaeda network is a significant accomplishment. It has transformed the post-9/11 world into one where counterterrorism efforts are important but not the sole driver of our national security policy. . . .

The pursuit of bin Laden . . . transformed our national security interests on several levels. It cut the head off the snake, and it put al Qaeda affiliates on notice that the United States was not going to be deterred until the mission of eliminating them truly was accomplished. One of the most dangerous jobs in the world is to be in the upper echelons of al Qaeda leadership, because the United States keeps tracking them down and eliminating them.


In light of recent facts, perhaps John Kerry would like to channel Emily Litella: "Never mind."