by Scott Shane
“The mosque’s objective in hiring Anwar” Johari Abdul Malik, interview, February 12, 2014.
told his father that he supported George W. Bush Nasser al-Awlaki, interview, February 1, 2014, Sanaa.
4. AN EXQUISITE WEAPON
video footage shot from fifteen thousand feet This account of the Afghan Eyes is from interviews with several participants, including the former CIA officials Henry Crumpton in 2012 and Charlie Allen in 2014. In his book The Art of Intelligence: Lessons from a Life in the CIA’s Clandestine Service (New York: Penguin, 2012), Crumpton described watching Bin Laden on “live video” in September 2000. Allen said that the Predator footage had actually been shot about two weeks before analysts spotted the Bin Laden figure and gave it to senior officials for review.
the Predator, a UAV, or an unmanned aerial vehicle reminiscent of a gangly intelligent insect On the development and history of the Predator, see Richard Whittle, “Predator’s Big Safari,” Mitchell Institute for Airpower Studies, August 2011, Mitchell Paper 7, http://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/AFA/6379b747-7730-4f82-9b45-a1c80d6c8fdb/UploadedImages/Mitchell%20Publications/Predator’s%20Big%20Safari.pdf.
Terrorism barely ranked on the issues that concerned Americans Lydia Saad, “Americans’ Fear of Terrorism in U.S. Is Near Low Point,” Gallup Politics, September 2, 2011, http://www.gallup.com/poll/149315/americans-fear-terrorism-near-low-point.aspx; detailed results at http://www.gallup.com/file/poll/149318/Nine_Eleven_Anniv_fear_terror_110902.pdf, 2–3.
on April 25, 2000, Richard Clarke, the White House counterterrorism adviser, had sent a memo 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 2004), 189 and 506 n. 112.
They saw the man they believed to be Bin Laden a second time Whittle, “Predator’s Big Safari,” 21.
At a meeting in a sixth-floor conference room at CIA headquarters in the spring of 2001 Charlie Allen, interview, October 15, 2013.
Clarke was having trouble persuading the new George W. Bush team to take up the Predator issue See Richard Clarke, Against All Enemies: Inside America’s War on Terror (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2004), 220–21, 237.
The first real-world Predator strike Whittle, “Predator’s Big Safari,” 8.
the descendant of generations of unmanned American aircraft Two accounts of the early UAVs—really compilations of oral history—are by William Wagner, Lightning Bugs and Other Reconnaissance Drones (Washington, DC: Armed Force Journal International; Fallbrook, CA: Aero Publishers, 1982) and, with William P. Sloan, Fireflies and Other UAVs (Arlington, TX: Aerofax, 1992). Wagner finished the first book in the early 1970s but could not get the government’s permission to publish it for nearly a decade. A very useful compact account of the pre-Predator drones is by Kenneth P. Katz, “Before Predator: The Early History of USAF Remotely Piloted Aircraft,” 2013, Society of Flight Test Engineers, http://www.sfte2013.com/files/75234565.pdf.
A young lieutenant named Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. “The First Kennedy Brother,” National Naval Aviation Museum, November 22, 2013, http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/history-up-close/from-the-cockpit-stories-of-naval-aviation/first-kennedy-brother/.
Among Radioplane’s assembly-line employees was eighteen-year-old Norma Jeane Dougherty Michael Beschloss, “Marilyn Monroe’s World War II Drone Program,” The New York Times, June 3, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/04/upshot/marilyn-monroes-world-war-ii-drone-program.html.
In a project code-named Have Lemon, the Air Force Flight Test Center Katz, “Before Predator”; a video of the early drone-fired missile tests, Early Video of Strike Drone (BGM-34A B), is at Military.com, posted March 23, 2012, http://www.military.com/video/forces/air-force/early-video-of-strike-drone-bgm-34a-b/1526913903001/.
the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems was a decade old See “History,” on the association’s “About” page, http://www.auvsi.org/about (accessed February 1, 2015).
At a press conference, the seventy-three-year-old Teller declared Benjamin F. Schmemmer, foreword to Wagner, Lightning Bugs,, xi.
his detailed remarks look prescient Edward Teller, “The Unmanned Vehicle System: The Defense of the United States,” speech presented to the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems, Washington, DC, July 21, 1981, reprinted in Vital Speeches of the Day, November 15, 1981, 94–96.
“The Air Force is built around fliers” Schmemmer, foreword, xiii, xiv.
the Air Force would be training more drone pilots than fighter pilots and bomber pilots Walter Pincus, “Fine Print: Air Force to Train More Remote Than Actual Pilots,” Washington Post, August 11, 2009, quoting Air Force General Stephen R. Lorenz, commander of Air Education and Training Command, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/10/AR2009081002712.html.
“If you could have cut out a hunk of Iraq’s terrain around Baghdad” Matt J. Martin with Charles W. Sasser, Predator: The Remote-Control Air War over Iraq and Afghanistan: A Pilot’s Story (Minneapolis: Zenith Press, 2010), 17.
wingspan of fifty-five feet, nearly twice its length. It weighed, literally, half a ton US Air Force, “MQ-1B Predator,” Fact Sheet, July 20, 2010, http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/FactSheets/Display/tabid/224/Article/104469/mq-1b-predator.aspx.
At Creech, each Predator in the country’s growing fleet had a core team of two Several former drone pilots, confidential interviews, 2011–14.
One intelligence veteran who had spent years high up in the chain of command Former intelligence official, confidential interview, 2013.
told me that the armed drone was “an exquisite weapon” Michael Hayden, interview, October 15, 2013.
Lieutenant Colonel Matt Martin, for instance, whose book Predator makes clear his support Martin and Sasser, Predator, 53–54 and 211–12.
“Because operators are based thousands of miles away” “UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings Decries ‘Playstation’ Hits,” Reuters, June 4, 2010.
Matthew Atkins, an Air Force lieutenant colonel who after long experience believed in the value of drone strikes Lt. Col. Matthew Atkins, “The Personal Nature of War in High Definition,” Lawfare (blog), January 26, 2014, http://www.lawfareblog.com/2014/01/matthew-atkins-on-the-personal-nature-of-war-in-high-definition/.
Brandon Bryant, who had operated drones over Afghanistan “A Drone Warrior’s Torment: Ex-Air Force Pilot Brandon Bryant on His Trauma from Remote Killing,” Democracy Now!, October 25, 2013, http://www.democracynow.org/2013/10/25/a_drone_warriors_torment_ex_air.
The target was the head of Al Qaeda in Yemen, Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harithi A detailed account of the Harithi strike is in the most deeply reported study of Al Qaeda in Yemen, Gregory D. Johnsen, The Last Refuge: Yemen, Al-Qaeda, and America’s War in Arabia (New York: Norton, 2013), 119–23.
the American ambassador to Yemen, Edmund Hull, was on his way to Marib that very day Ambassador Edmund J. Hull (Ret.), High-Value Target: Countering Al Qaeda in Yemen (Washington, DC: Potomac Books, 2011), 59–62.
Associated Press and other news outlets reported accurately John J. Lumpkin, “U.S. Kills Senior al-Qaida Operative in Yemen with Missile Strike,” Associated Press, November 4, 2002.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld hinted gleefully “U.S. missile strike kills al Qaeda chief,” CNN, November 5, 2002, http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/11/05/yemen.blast.
The next day the deputy defense secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, made it official “Wolfowitz Hails Success of Missile Strike in Yemen,” Agence France Press, November 5, 2002.
I called Loch Johnson, who had
served as a staffer My article for the Baltimore Sun, “Pros, Cons of Assassination: Policy: Killing the Enemy Is Traditional, but the United States Can Expect the Practice to Draw Criticism, Retaliation and Other Complications,” appeared on November 8, 2002, http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2002-11-08/news/0211080279_1_qaida-surprise-attacks-political-scientist.
one Al Qaeda operative in Harithi’s car, Rauf Nassib, had survived Johnsen, Last Refuge, 122.
5. WE ARE THE BRIDGE
Congress had passed a joint resolution Senate Joint Resolution 23, Authorization for Use of Military Force, September 18, 2001, GovTrack.us, https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/107/sjres23/text.
President George W. Bush had stopped by Robert D. McFadden, “President, in New York, Offers Resolute Vows Atop the Rubble,” The New York Times, September 15, 2001, http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/15/nyregion/15BUSH.html.
“I personally think it was horrible” Anwar al-Awlaki, e-mail from his Hotmail account to Ammar al-Awlaki, 12:14 a.m., September 15, 2001, provided by Ammar al-Awlaki.
the FBI’s written account of the interviews The FBI reports on three interviews with Awlaki, on September 15, 17, and 19, are included in the documents provided to J. M. Berger of Intelwire under the Freedom of Information Act; “Intelwire Releases Awlaki FOIA Files; Hijacker Travel Questions,” January 21, 2914, Intelwire, http://news.intelwire.com/2014/01/intelwire-releases-awlaki-foia-files.html. Though several later FBI documents refer to four interviews at this time, I have been unable to locate the notes of a fourth interview. The FBI reports generally use the spelling “Aulaqi.”
“He was enjoying the limelight” Johari Abdul Malik, interview, 2010.
“Most of the questions are, ‘How should we react?’ ” Susan Morse, “First Source of Comfort; When Events Overwhelm, Clergy, Not Doctors, Are on the Front Lines,” Washington Post, September 18, 2001.
attacked by a man with a baseball bat Debbi Wilgoren and Ann O’Hanlon, “Worship and Worry; Fear for Other Muslims Mixes with Support for U.S.,” Washington Post, September 22, 2001.
One neighbor, Patricia Morris Caryle Murphy, “For Muslims, Benevolence Prevails over Backlash,” Washington Post, October 6, 2001.
Awlaki posed for the Washington Post smiling alongside Morris Photo by Tracy A. Woodward, Washington Post, October 4, 2001, http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/patricia-morris-and-imam-anwar-al-awlaki-photographed-news-photo/97116568.
a condemnation of the attacks from a prominent Egyptian-born Islamist scholar, Yusuf al-Qaradawi Qaradawi’s statement condemning the 9/11 attacks can be found at “Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi Condemns Attacks Against Civilians,” Belief Net, September 13, 2001, http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Islam/2002/08/Sheikh-Yusuf-Al-Qaradawi-Condemns-Attacks-Against-Civilians.aspx.
“We came here to build” William Branigin, “When Terror Hits Close to Home; Mix of Emotions Sweeps over County Residents,” Washington Post, September 20, 2001.
“at 30 is held up as a new generation of Muslim leader” Laurie Goodstein, “Influential American Muslims Temper Their Tone,” The New York Times, October 19, 2001.
“sees himself as a Muslim leader” Mara Liasson, “Propaganda Wars,” Morning Edition, November 1, 2001, NPR, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1132470.
Some have greatness thrust upon them Shakespeare, Twelfth Night 2.5.
Awlaki—an Internet addict who had rushed to Best Buy Brian Handwerk and Zain Habboo, “Attack on America: An Islamic Scholar’s Perspective,” National Geographic News, September 28, 2001.
he sat down for questions from Ray Suarez of NewsHour on PBS Suarez described the interview in detail in a PBS interview in 2009, after Awlaki resurfaced in the news: Dave Gustafson, “Ray Suarez: My Post-9/11 Interview with Anwar al-Awlaki,” PBS NewsHour, November 11, 2009; http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/religion-july-dec09-alawlaki_11-11/.
four bricks and a note threatening Muslims Nick P. Davito, “Muslims in Virginia Report Backlash a Day After Attacks,” Associated Press, September 12, 2001.
Suarez later recalled Gustafson, “Ray Suarez.”
the resulting NewsHour segment PBS NewsHour, October 30, 2001.
Father Gerry Creedon Creedon, telephone interview, May 13, 2014.
Simon Amiel Amiel, telephone interview, 2010.
Awlaki agreed to star in a sort of Islam-101 film The five-minute edited video, originally posted at washingtonpost.com, can be found in many places on the web, including Travis Fox, From the Archive: Anwar al-Awlaki in “Understanding Ramadan,” 2001, http://vimeo.com/29837032.
“I would not have called Awlaki a moderate” Ahmed Younis, telephone interview, November 19, 2013.
Suarez of PBS included a snippet “American Muslim Community Since September 11,” video transcript, PBS NewsHour, October 30, 2001.
Looking back years later, Suarez Gustafson, “Ray Suarez.”
Awlaki told the Washington Times Ralph Z. Hallow and Vaishali Honawar, “Muslim Students Are Wary of the War; But Islamic Leaders Support Attacks,” Washington Times, October 11, 2001.
online chat with the Washington Post “Understanding Ramadan: The Muslim Month of Fasting,” with Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki, November 19, 2001, Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/liveonline/01/nation/ramadan_awlaki1119.htm.
“Either you are with us” George W. Bush, “Address to a Joint Session of Congress and to the American People,” September 20, 2001, White House Archives, “News and Policies,” http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/s09/20010920-8.html.
outtakes of the Washington Post video Travis Fox, From the Archive: Anwar al-Awlaki (Additional Footage), 2001, http://vimeo.com/29838071.
Asked by NPR to discuss Liasson, “Propaganda Wars.”
the religion reporter for The New York Times called Goodstein, “Influential American Muslims.”
Awlaki’s comments on IslamOnline.net “Muslim American Scholars Speak Out Against Terrorism: Dialogue 4,” September 17, 2001, printout by author in 2010; the exchange has since been removed by IslamOnline.net.
“Statement of Purpose” in application for doctoral program This document, transcripts of Awlaki’s undergraduate and graduate studies, his résumé, his acceptance letter, and other documents submitted to George Washington University were collected by the FBI and provided to J. M. Berger of Intelwire under the Freedom of Information Act, available at Intelwire, “Intelwire Releases Awlaki FOIA Files.”
“I convinced him that he should have a career in education” Nasser al-Awlaki, telephone interview, October 18, 2014.
Umar Lee Umar Lee, telephone interview, February 14, 2014.
Hale Smith, a San Francisco attorney Hale Smith, telephone interview, 2010; Smith also provided a trip roster and other documents related to the hajj.
He extolled the Prophet Muhammad Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet, PBS documentary film, Unity Productions Foundation and Kikim Media, 2002.
a local Islamic institute that helped train Muslim chaplains Glenn Simpson, “A Muslim School Used by Military Has Troubling Ties,” Wall Street Journal, December 3, 2003.
spoke at a conference named “Allah’s Final Revelation to Mankind” Online announcement, posted at the newsgroup soc.religion.islam on August 16, 2001, https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/soc.religion.islam/wmyoxbx6sqg.
he delivered a speech entitled “Tolerance: A Hallmark of Muslim Character” Islamic Society of North America, 2001 conference program, available at http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/658.pdf.
a fund-raiser for Jamil al-Amin and Awlaki’s taxi ride from Washington’s National Airport Joe Ca
ntlupe and Dana Wilkie, “Former San Diego Islamic Spiritual Leader Defends Mosque,” Copley News Service, September 28, 2001.
copyright on his lecture series “Lives of the Prophets” On file at the Copyright Catalog, Library of Congress.
Al Fahm Inc. and Sam Eulmi “Articles of Incorporation of Al Fahm Inc.,” filed with the Nevada Secretary of State, February 18, 2000; Sam Eulmi, interview, 2010.
Homaidan al-Turki, who would later go to prison Kieran Nicholson, “Saudi Gets 28 Years to Life in Nanny Abuse,” Denver Post, September 1, 2006.
Awlaki’s “Lives of the Prophets” Like other lecture series by Awlaki, they are hard to find on CD but widely available on the Internet; see, for example, “Complete Archive of Sheikh Imam Anwar Al-awlaki Audio (Lectures 2010),” Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/Anwar.Awlaki.Audio.Archive, and “Lectures, Islam All in One, by Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki” http://www.enjoyislam.com/lectures/AnwarAlAwlaki/lectures.html (accessed February 1, 2015), as well as at YouTube.com.
Awlaki was translating and retelling Al Bidayah wa’an-Nihayah Al Basheer Company for Publications and Translations, flier for “Lives of the Prophets,” available in FBI documents at Intelwire, “Intelwire Releases Awlaki FOIA Files.”
“These are the best of stories” Awlaki, “Lives of the Prophets,” vol. 1, lecture 1.
he got an unusual invitation Catherine Herridge, “Al Qaeda Leader Dined at the Pentagon Just Months After 9/11,” Fox News, October 20, 2010, http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/10/20/al-qaeda-terror-leader-dined-pentagon-months/. Fox News also acquired the Defense Department and FBI documents associated with this event; see Catherine Herridge, Pamela Browne, Cyd Upson, and Gregory Johnsen, “New Details Emerge of Radical Imam’s Lunch at the Pentagon,” Fox News, May 20, 2011, http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/05/19/exclusive-new-details-emerge-al-qaeda-terror-chiefs-lunch-pentagon/.