A 2019 Washington Free Beacon Man of the Year winner is almost certain to receive the honor again in 2022 after playing a leading role in the assassination of a prominent al Qaeda terrorist.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, who succeeded Osama bin Laden as the leader of al Qaeda in 2011, was torn to shreds Monday by an R9X Hellfire missile fired by an unmanned CIA drone operating in Afghanistan. The R9X Hellfire—aka "ninja bomb" or "flying Ginsu"—is the perfect ordnance for targeted assassinations. The missile does not kill terrorists by blowing them up but by slicing them to death with metal blades that shoot out moments before impact.
The Free Beacon honored the R9X Hellfire in 2019 for its role in the fatal eviscerations of several leading terrorists in Syria and Yemen, including the jihadist asshole behind the 2000 attack on the USS Cole. At the time we predicted the blade-wielding missile—a marvel of American ingenuity—would "continue to eliminate our enemies" in the most gruesome yet humane fashion. Indeed it has.
Rest in pieces, Ayman.