Michael Morell, former President Barack Obama’s Acting CIA Director, said during a CBS News interview on Sunday that the Biden administration’s actions in Afghanistan have “inspired jihadists” all over the world, and that the Taliban is already back to harboring al-Qaeda.

Morell responded to the news that 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.

“We think so, which means that the Taliban is harboring Zawahiri today,” Morell said. “The Taliban is harboring al-Qaeda today. And I think that’s a very important point.”

WATCH:

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’s going to be significantly harder to collect intelligence and to execute operations aimed at eliminating threats.

Morell also noted that al-Qaeda could completely “bounce back” 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.

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