Welcome back to the re-education.

I'm Eli Lake, and our topic today is the demise of Iman Al-Zawahiri, the leader of Al-Qaeda,

and a key planner of the 9-11 attacks.

My guest is Foundation for Defense of Democracy's senior fellow Bill Rogio, who has been one of the best and most plugged-in journalists following America's war against jihadist terror.

We make it clear again tonight that no matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out.

We just heard Joe Biden on a rare good day for his presidency. He was announcing the successful drone strike against al-Qaeda's leader,

Iman al-Zawahiri, in Kabul on July 30th. That strike is a testament to the determination of the CIA

to find and kill the leaders of the organization that felled the Twin Towers

and destroyed a wing of the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

Iman El Zawarri was a vile fanatic. He deserved his fate. He was not, though,

driven to his fanaticism through deprivation or oppression. That is a pleasant myth.

Many U.S. leaders believed in the years following 9-11, the view that if we created

open societies in the Islamic world, young listless men would not be tempted to join the death

cult that is al-Qaeda or ISIS. Here's former State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf,

making this point nearly eight years ago.

Where there are places around the world, where there's a lack of governance, a lack of economic

opportunity. President George W. Bush talked about poverty, being one of the drivers that leads

people to extremism. Where there are lacking in these kinds of opportunities, we need to talk

about how to make that different,

how to help our partners around the world give young men in that vulnerable age group a different

path in life, show them that there's a different chance for them than joining a terrorist

organization.

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