The Death of Anwar al-Awlaki

al-Qaeda is having a bad year. On May 1st al-Qaeda's founder and earliest financier Osama bin Laden met his well-deserved end by the hand of the elite SEAL Team Six. Now Anwar al-Awlaki, sometimes referred to as the "bin Laden of the Internet" for his use of 21st century electronic media to spread the jihadist message, has joined bin Laden in the great big harem in the sky. The CIA and United States Joint Special Operations Command wiped the influential terrorist off of the map with a drone strike in Yemen earlier today.

It can be argued that the death of the fiery cleric (a term which now applies quite literally to al-Awlaki) will have a greater operational impact on al-Qaeda than the death of bin Laden almost exactly six months ago. For those of you unaware of al-Awlaki's terrorist resume, he was an incredibly influential imam who was the spiritual mentor of many notorious terrorists. In 2000 al-Awlaki was preaching at a mosque in San Diego attended by Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, two of the 9/11 hijackers. He was investigated by the FBI, but they quickly decided he had no relevant connections to terrorist groups. In early 2001 he moved to Falls Church, Virginia. There he would serve as the spiritual guide for Nawaf al-Hamzi and Hani Hanjour, a third 9/11 hijacker. After praising the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki spent a brief stint in the UK before leaving for sunny south Yemen. In 2006 he spent eighteen months in prison on charges of conspiracy to kidnap an American military attache. But al-Awlaki really hit the big time between December 2008 and June 2009 when he exchanged a series of e-mails with Fort Hood jihadist Nidal Hasan discussing the ethics of engaging in the jihad. Hasan, who attended al-Awlaki's mosque in Falls Church at the same time as 9/11 hijackers al-Hamzi and Hanjour, would go on a murderous rampage that would leave thirteen dead and thirty more injured. In December of 2009, about a month after Fort Hood, a Nigerian man named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (known more commonly as the "Underwear Bomber") tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines jetliner headed for Detroit. Intelligence later revealed that al-Awlaki was involved in the day-to-day operational side of that attack. Abdulmutallab was personally sponsored into a jihadist training camp by al-Awlaki, who then taught the Nigerian techniques for avoiding detection and the precise time to detonate the bomb for maximum casualties. Remember that if someone tries to tell you that al-Awlaki was just a cleric who never actually engaged in terrorism himself.

While al-Awlaki's death has been making the headlines, another important jihadist was killed by the drone strike. Samir Khan, also an American citizen, was the co-editor of al-Qaeda's web magazine "Inspire" before meeting his end courtesy of an American Hellfire missile. Anwar al-Awlaki made a name for himself utilizing the Internet as a recruiting tool for terrorists. His Salafist sermons inspired many zealous Muslims to head to the Middle East and become jihadists. With the release of "Inspire" al-Qaeda was able to give aspiring shaheed, or martyrs, worldwide a training tool that would update regularly. Wannabe terrorists would be able to learn how to execute advanced bombings and other attacks without having to actually go to Yemen or Pakistan (and thus leave a trail for American intelligence agencies). The actual success of "Inspire" is a topic of debate. But whatever way you look at it, the sharp increase in homegrown jihadist threats, such as the attempted bombing of Times Square in May 2010, shows that al-Qaeda hit upon a growing trend. Khan may not get the attention in the media, but he represented a danger to the United States and his work should not be ignored by anyone serious about national security.

Of course, there are those who have released statements condemning the attack. Ron Paul has come out against the strike, telling MSNBC, "I don't think that's a good way to deal with our problems." He added, "But if the American people accept this blindly and casually that we now have an accepted practice of the President assassinating people who he thinks are bad guys, I think it's sad." To quote Gomer Pyle, "Surprise, surprise, surprise!" Ron Paul also came out against the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, saying the attack "absolutely was not necessary." The main concern in the al-Awlaki case seems to be the fact that the cleric is, or was, a citizen of the United States and thus, the argument goes, an assassination order would violate the Sixth Amendment's right to a trial. And I would agree... to a point. It would be incredibly dangerous to give the President or any government entity the authority to assassinate anyone it deems troublesome. But there are a couple of other points to be made. The Sixth Amendment pertains to criminal prosecutions, not attacks on strategic targets in a time of war. As far as al-Awlaki's citizenship is concerned, the US Code states that voluntarily serving in the armed forces of a nation at war with the US is cause for loss of citizenship. Anwar al-Awlaki ran away from the United States to work more directly with al-Qaeda. While al-Qaeda is not a nation-state, they are an organization that is certainly at war with the United States. Under that classification, he has engaged in an action that would cause the loss of citizenship. If he forgot to sign a couple of forms, it was because he was too busy inspiring and training people to murder his former countrymen. This type of warfare has no real precedent, and it is situations like this which will decide what actions the United States will be able to take in the future. Operating by the same hidebound traditions designed to fight a different kind of threat led to disaster on 9/11, and a failure to adapt to a savvy enemy will lead to continued defeat. The targeted assassination program should continue, but there should be severe limitations on who can be put onto it. There is no doubt, however, that the world is a better place without the "bin Laden of the Internet" or his cohorts in jihad.

Because there was no post last week, I will put up another post on Monday along with a new poll.