by Scott Shane
Awlaki had formed a small “external operations” cell This notion was proposed by the Norwegian terrorism expert Thomas Hegghammer in an e-mail to a State Department official in November 2010 that Hegghammer provided to the author. In the e-mail, Hegghammer wrote: “My working hypothesis is that Awlaki, Khan and Asiri are core members of a cell that specializes in international ops and that keeps mostly to itself (though not necessarily in a single location). They need assistants, but not too many (for security reasons), hence the 5-20 estimate.” Analysts at the CIA and other agencies had reached basically the same conclusion by late 2009, in part on the basis of intercepted Al Qaeda communications (multiple government officials, confidential interviews, 2013 and 2014). As explained later in this chapter, the US intelligence identification of Awlaki as head of AQAP’s “external operations”—those directed at the United States and other targets outside Yemen—appeared to be corroborated by an essay entitled “The Objectives of Operation Hemorrhage” in a special issue of Inspire (November 2010) that was almost certainly by Awlaki and whose author was identified as “The Head of Foreign Operations.”
Asiri fitted his own brother, Abdullah, with a bomb that he could wear either inside or very close to his body Many news accounts suggested that the bomb fit inside Abdullah al-Asiri’s rectum, but the terrorism expert Peter Bergen reported that Saudi investigators concluded that it was actually hidden in his underwear. Peter Bergen, “Saudi Investigation: Would-Be Assassin Hid Bomb in Underwear,” CNN, September 30, 2009, http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/09/30/saudi.arabia.attack/index.html.
On September 8, the administrator of his website posted the transcript This and some other later posts on Awlaki’s blog are archived in a single page at cryptome.org, a snapshot of Google’s cache of http://www.anwar-awlaki.com/?feed=rss2 as it appeared on November 9, 2009: http://cryptome.org/anwar-alawlaki/09-1109-2.htm.
On September 20, Awlaki’s blog wished his readers Eid Mubarak Ibid.
On October 7, Awlaki himself reappeared on the blog This post, “Could Yemen Be the Next Surprise of the Season?” is missing from the archive at cryptome.org but is preserved in several other places, including here: http://azelin.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/anwar-al-awlaki-could-yemen-be-the-next-surprise-of-the-season.pdf.
he was spotting and hearing the Predators cruising over his tribal territory Saleh bin Fareed al-Awlaki, interview, January 28, 2014, Aden.
So he decided to leave Al Saeed for more remote hideouts in the Al-Kur Mountains Nasser al-Awlaki, interview, February 1, 2014, Sanaa.
some of Awlaki’s followers began a debate in comments posted on his website See comments at the bottom of the post “Response to Abdullaah bin Abdur-Rahmaan al-Jarboo,” October 11, 2009, http://www.anwar-alawlaki.com, archived at http://cryptome.org/anwar-alawlaki/09-1011.htm.
On November 9 he weighed in with what would be his last and most infamous post “Nidal Hassan Did the Right Thing,” http://www.anwar-alawlaki.com, archived at http://cryptome.org/anwar-alawlaki/09-1109.htm.
“a heartless beast, bent on evil, who sells his religion for a few dollars” Blog entry by Awlaki, “Fighting Against Government Armies in the Muslim World,” http://www.anwar-alawlaki.com, July 14, 2009. This is missing from the Cryptome archive on Awlaki’s website but is preserved at http://anwar-awlaki.blogspot.com/2011/10/fighting-against-government-armies-in.html.
He posted a lengthy disclaimer on the site distancing himself from Awlaki’s views See http://cryptome.org/anwar-alawlaki/anwar-alawlaki.htm.
he was back the next day with a chipper promise “Website Coming Back Online,” http://www.anwar-alawlaki.com, November 11, 2009, archived at http://cryptome.org/anwar-alawlaki/09-1111.htm.
In early December, he helped arrange the filming of Abdulmutallab’s martyrdom video “USA v. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, Government’s Sentencing Memorandum,” February 10, 2012, posted at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/documents/umar-farouk-abdul-mutallab-sentence-brief.pdf, 14.
“The Americans just scored a big own goal,” Awlaki wrote to Morten Storm Storm, Agent Storm, 190. While Storm preserved many of his exchanges with Awlaki, this message is from his recollection.
The Yemeni embassy in Washington put out a statement Statement from the Embassy of the Republic of Yemen, December 24, 2009.
“But there was a prominent Awlaki exception,” said one analyst then assigned to Yemen Former US intelligence analyst, confidential interview, 2014.
“We were pretty good at knowing where he was yesterday” American official, confidential interview, 2013.
Morten Storm, who had become disillusioned with militant Islam Storm, Agent Storm, 182–84.
it took cryptographers nine months to decipher three hundred messages London Metropolitan Police Service, statement, February 28, 2011.
Karim had used encrypted Word documents that were digitally compressed Paul Cruickshank, “Did NSA Leaks Help al Qaeda?,” CNN, June 25, 2013, http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2013/06/25/did-nsa-leaks-help-al-qaeda/.
the first issue of a breathtakingly brazen, English-language AQAP https://archive.org/stream/inspr1to10/Inspire_1. All of the issues of Inspire are available at the Internet Archive, archive.org.
British intelligence attempted a clumsy dirty trick Paisley Dodds, “British Spies to Terrorists: Make Cupcakes Not War,” Associated Press, June 3, 2011; Duncan Gardham, “MI6 Attacks al-Qaeda in ‘Operation Cupcake,’ ” June 2, 2011, Telegraph, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/8553366/MI6-attacks-al-Qaeda-in-Operation-Cupcake.html.
“It was Awlaki’s baby” American official, confidential interview, 2013.
for anyone who had followed the unlikely career of Samir Khan See Michael Moss and Souad Mekhennet, “An Internet Jihad Aims at U.S. Viewers,” The New York Times, October 15, 2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/15/us/15net.html, and the accompanying video; and J. M. Berger, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam (Washington, DC: Potomac Books, 2011), 190–92. Jihad Recollections magazine is available at https://archive.org/details/EnglishJihadMagazine1stEdition.
NSA found a way to intercept the copies before they went online Two former counterterrorism officials, confidential interviews, 2014.
“Inspire magazine really rattled the people inside the government” Will McCants, interview, February 18, 2014.
A number of scholars, in fact, consistently argued that Western journalists were exaggerating See, for instance, Gregory Johnsen’s essay in The New York Times on November 19, 2011: “A False Target in Yemen,” http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/20/opinion/20johnsen.html., as well as Thomas Hegghammer’s reply in Foreign Policy four days later: “The Case for Chasing al-Awlaki,” http://foreignpolicy.com/2010/11/24/the-case-for-chasing-al-awlaki/.
When Wuhayshi, the AQAP leader, proposed in a letter to Bin Laden Letters from Abbottabad: Bin Laden Sidelined? (West Point, NY: Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, May 2012), 19.
Awlaki’s personal contribution to the very first issue of Inspire Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaki, “May Our Souls Be Sacrificed for You!,” Inspire, no. 1 (January 2010): 26–28.
she drew a satiric poster designating May 20 as “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” The poster is preserved on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Everybody_Draw_Mohammed_Day.jpg.
“I wasn’t savvy,” Norris told City Arts magazine Patrick Oppmann, “FBI Warns Seattle Cartoonist About Threats from Radical Cleric,” CNN, July 14, 2010.
Obama “wa
s very focused on him” Ben Rhodes, interview, October 15, 2014.
Storm, who recounts the yarn in his 2014 memoir Agent Storm Storm, Agent Storm, 195–221.
She showed the stolen ID of a student at Sanaa University Mark Mazzetti, Robert F. Worth and Eric Lipton, “Bomb Plot Shows Key Role Played by Intelligence,” The New York Times, October 31, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/01/world/01terror.html.
a Saudi militant with an intriguing history, Jaber al-Faifi “Wanted Terror Suspect Surrenders,” Saudi Gazette, October 16, 2010, http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.PrintContent&action=Print&contentID=0000000085421; “Second Terror Surrender Announcement Soon,” Saudi Gazette, October 18, 2010, http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2010101885580; and Hamza Hendawi and Ahmed Al-Haj, “Yemen: Al-Qaeda Insider Told Saudis of Bomb Plot,” Associated Press, November 1, 2010.
John Brennan visited the president in the White House family quarters at 10:35 p.m. Press Briefing by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan, October 29, 2010, White House, Briefing Room, http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/10/29/press-briefing-press-secretary-robert-gibbs-and-assistants-president-home.
“There was a five-alarm fire in the middle of the night” Ben Rhodes, interview, October 27, 2013.
The names of the addressees were notorious anti-Muslim figures Mark Mazzetti and Scott Shane, “In Parcel Bomb Plot, 2 Dark Inside Jokes,” The New York Times, November 2, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/03/world/03terror.html.
“It was just a further indication that AQAP was very committed to homeland plotting” Ben Rhodes, interview, October 15, 2014.
Obama appeared in the press room for just four minutes Statement by the President, October 29, 2010, White House, Briefing Room, http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/10/29/statement-president.
Gerald Feierstein, the US ambassador to Yemen, said in an interview with Al Arabiya “Yemeni Radical Cleric Behind Parcel Bombs: U.S. Ambassador,” Xinhua, November 26, 2010.
With hindsight, the Americans realized that several packages containing books, CDs, and other items Scott Shane and Robert F. Worth, “Earlier Flight May Have Been Dry Run for Plotters,” The New York Times, November 1, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/world/02terror.html.
AQAP later claimed it had been responsible for the destruction of an earlier UPS flight Inspire, no. 3 (November 2010): 4. Two detailed reports on the accident are Federal Aviation Administration, “Freighter Airplane Cargo Fire Risk Model,” September 2011, http://www.fire.tc.faa.gov/pdf/11-18.pdf; and General Civil Aviation Authority of the United Arab Emirates, “Air Accident Investigation Interim Report,” Accident Reference: 13-2010, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Boeing 747-44AF, September 3, 2010.
The root of the word, the Latin verb terrere, means “to cause to tremble” Douglas Kellner, entry for “Terrorism,” Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology Online.
“Letter from the Editor,” presumably written by Samir Khan Inspire, no. 3 (November 2010): 3.
in the same Inspire issue, the unnamed “Head of Foreign Operations” elaborated Inspire, no. 3 (November 2010): 7.
his lengthy discussion on his blog in 2008 of his reading of Great Expectations “Book Review 9: English Novels,” http://www.anwar-alawlaki.com, August 6, 2008, http://cryptome.org/anwar-alawlaki/08-0806.htm.
In October 2009, when Yemeni authorities sought the help of American intelligence David Ignatius, “For Lack of Hard Evidence, a Terrorist Evaded Capture,” Washington Post, March 26, 2010, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/25/AR2010032503634.html.
“Anwar al-Awlaki has to us been always looked at as a preacher” Dale Gavlak, “Yemen Not Going After Radical US-Born Cleric,” Associated Press, April 10, 2010.
Yemeni prosecutors brought a terrorism case accusing Awlaki Mazzetti and Shane, “In Parcel Bomb Plot.”
The State Department spokesman, Philip J. Crowley, offered a curt public nod Assistant Secretary Philip J. Crowley, Daily Press Briefing, November 2, 2010, US State Department, http://m.state.gov/md150291.htm.
“It was an option and it was extensively discussed” Senior American official, confidential interview, 2013.
12. THE TIME FOR REAPING
Ammar al-Awlaki was at the end of a long day Ammar al-Awlaki, interview, January 25, 2014, Sanaa.
“I actually consider Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula” Michael Leiter, testimony to the House Homeland Security Committee, February 9, 2011, Understanding the Homeland Threat Landscape: Considerations for the 112th Congress, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-112hhrg72212/pdf/CHRG-112hhrg72212.pdf, page 26.
American officials offered money privately but did not publicize the reward To the surprise of many people following the hunt for Awlaki, no reward appeared on the Rewards for Justice website, http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/, operated by the State Department to attract tips on tracking down wanted terrorists. Nor did the FBI add Awlaki to its “Most Wanted Terrorists” list, http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/wanted_terrorists. This was not unprecedented, and in a traditional, tribal society like Yemen, publicizing a reward might have generated a backlash that could intimidate tipsters. CIA officers, however, spoke of a $5 million reward to Morten Storm, Ammar al-Awlaki, and others.
one person centrally involved in directing the search replied, “Everything, right?” Senior American official, confidential interview, 2014.
the State Department weighed in with its own modest contribution State Department cable to US embassy in Sanaa, March 24, 2011; the cable was obtained by Judicial Watch in response to a Freedom of Information Act request and can be seen at Politico, http://images.politico.com/global/2012/11/28/binder1.html.
tribal chant that declared, “We are the sparks of hell” Patrick Cockburn, “Threats to Yemen Prove America Hasn’t Learned the Lesson of History,” The Independent, December 31, 2009, http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/patrick-cockburn-threats-to-yemen-prove-america-hasnt-learned-the-lesson-of-history-1853847.html.
“Even in the Awlaki clan Anwar was controversial” American official who worked on Yemen policy, confidential interview, 2013.
In an interview with the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat “Q & A with Shabwa Governor Ali Hasan al-Ahmadi,” interview by Abdulsattar Hatitah, Asharq Al-Awsat, December 1, 2010, http://www.aawsat.net/2010/01/article55252195.
Abdullah al-Jumaili, a tribal sheikh in Al Jawf Abdullah al-Jumaili, interview, January 28, 2014, Sanaa.
In his interview with Al Malahem, AQAP’s media arm SITE Intelligence Group, “AQAP Releases Interview with Anwar al-Awlaki,” May 23, 2010, https://news.siteintelgroup.com/Multimedia/awlaki52310.html.
He wore the jambiya in a lengthy video message in November 2010 SITE Intelligence Group, “Awlaki Urges Support of Mujahideen, Killing of Americans,” November 8, 2010, https://news.siteintelgroup.com/Multimedia/awlaki-urges-support-of-mujahideen-killing-of-americans.html.
the nerdish American sought to project a more martial image A Google image search for “Awlaki” turns up a selection of portraits, including those in which he is wearing a jambiya, holding a ceremonial dagger, or holding a weapon.
“I remember hearing—he’s in Shabwah” American counterterrorism official, confidential interview, 2014.
President Obama caught the bracing promise “Remarks by the President on Egypt,” February 11, 2011, White House, Briefing Room, http:
//www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/02/11/remarks-president-egypt.
I called a range of experts All the remarks that follow are from my article on expert views of the Arab Spring and Al Qaeda at The New York Times, “Al Qaeda Finds Itself at a Crossroads,” http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/28/world/middleeast/28qaeda.html.
One in five Americans clung to the false belief that he was Muslim Jon Cohen and Michael D. Shear, “Poll Shows More Americans Think Obama Is a Muslim,” Washington Post, August 19, 2010, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/18/AR2010081806913.html.
he dispatched one of his closest aides, Denis McDonough “Remarks of Denis McDonough Deputy National Security Advisor to the President, ADAMS Center, Sterling, Virginia,” March 6, 2011, White House, Briefing Room, http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/03/06/remarks-denis-mcdonough-deputy-national-security-advisor-president-prepa.