“In an official statement published on the group’s website, the current leader of Al Qaeda said that Congress’s conduct during the so-called ‘fiscal-cliff’ showdown convinced the terrorists that they had been outdone. Mr. al-Zawhiri said that the idea of holding the entire nation hostage with a clock ticking down to the end of the year ‘is completely insane and worthy of a Bond villain.’ ‘As terrorists, every now and then you have to step back and admire when someone else has beaten you at your own game,’ he said. ‘This is one of those times.’”
