White House chief national security spokesman John Kirby told Mediaite the killing of an ISIS-K terrorist shows “you don’t need boots on the ground to be able to go after the terrorists.”

The National Security Council announced Tuesday that the terrorist behind the deadly attack that killed 13 service members during the evacuation of Afghanistan had been killed by the Taliban.

Kirby held an on-the-record briefing with reporters via Zoom on Wednesday morning, during which I asked him to expand on his earlier remarks about the operation, and what it means to the U.S. in terms of fightigi terrorism without having troops on the ground:

TOMMY CHRISTOPHER: My first question was, I just want to know if you could talk a little bit more about what you think the killing of this ISIS-K leader says about the, you know, the ability to do things like this without having troops on the ground. And, you know, whether or not you see that as a vindication.

And I also wanted to ask you about the reaction in Russia to the firing of Tucker Carlson…

ADM. JOHN KIRBY: Those are two very different questions.

TOMMY CHRISTOPHER: Yes, sir.

ADM. JOHN KIRBY: Yes. On your first one, I go back to what I said before. We really have worked hard since we withdraw from Afghanistan to sharpen over-the-horizon capabilities. And I know when we talk about that, we tend to get focused on the strike capability, what we call the kinetic capabilities, the ability to reach out and hit somebody. And certainly that is the, that’s the pointy end of it.

But when we talk about over-the-horizon capabilities, it’s also about it’s also about being able to see things, to know things, to monitor things. And it is we have proven, I think, that that though more difficult in some places, if you don’t have boots on the ground, is not impossible. And again, the record speaks for itself. Just against ISIS, let alone other terrorists that we have removed from the battlefield in the last couple of years.

But to the nub your question, I mean, there’s no question that having this guy no longer able to plot and plan and conduct attacks is a good thing. It’s a good thing for everybody. It’s certainly a good thing for the families of those 13 service members whose lives were taken at Abbey gate, having them gone is a good thing.

And it is part and parcel. It does, part and parcel reflect the the president’s decision to leave Afghanistan that we don’t need, it does in fact, prove that you don’t need boots on the ground, you don’t need to remain in a particular field of battle to be able to go after the terrorists. We said that we’d be able to continue to defend ourselves from terrorist threats in Afghanistan and beyond.

And we’ve proven that in Afghanistan, by the way, by hitting Zawahiri. No, we didn’t have anything to do with this. And but these two groups are mortal enemies. They hate one another. They continue to attack one another. And the Taliban continues to conduct operations against ISIS. And one less ISIS leader walking the face of here is something I think we can all feel good about and and we don’t need. And this shows that we don’t need to always have a significant presence on the ground in order to be able to enjoy that particular element.

Watch above via Mediaite.

The post Biden Spox John Kirby Says ISIS-K Leader’s Killing Shows ‘You Don’t Need Boots On The Ground’ To Fight Terrorism first appeared on Mediaite.

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