Yemeni Terrorist Al-Awlaki's New Threat

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright May 23, 2010
All Rights Reserved.                                

              U.S.-born 39-year-old Yemeni Cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, a member of al-Qaida in Yemen, called on Muslims to attack Americans civilians.  Al-Qaida’s media wing released al-Awlaki’s first video calling for killing of American civilians, blaming U.S. citizens for participating in the slaughter of 1 million Iraqis at the hands of the U.S. military.  “The American people, in general, are taking part in this an they elected this administration and they are financing the war,” said al-Awlaki, believed to have inspired U.S. 39-year-old Army psychiatrist Abdel Malik Hasan to massacre 13 U.S. soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, Nov. 5, 2009.  Reviews of Hasan’s e-mails indicate an ongoing relationship with al-Awlaki.  “Those who might be killed in a plane are merely a drop of water in a sea,” said al-Awlaki, showing his support to the Sept. 11 hijackers that killed 2,976 U.S. and foreign civilians.

            Escalating U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan by 30,000 or 40% Dec. 2, 2009, Presdient Barack Obama committed U.S. assets to Afghanistan, ignoring terrorist threats in Yemen, Somalia and other parts of East Africa.  Former President Bill Clinton had no coherent response following the downing, with al-Qaida’s help, of two Blackhawk helicopters in Mogadishu Oct. 3, 1993, killing 19 U.S. soldiers.   Five years later, al-Qaida bombed U.S. embassiesin East Africa Aug. 7, 1998, prompting Clinton’s throwaway missile attack against Bin Laden.  Al-Qaida’s East African attacks prompted former CIA Director George J. Tenet to declare war on Bin Laden, yet neither the CIA nor U.S. military were committed to the cause.  Two years later, al-Qaida struck the U.S.S. Cole Aug. 12, 2000 in Yemen’s Gulf of Aden, killing 17 U.S. sailors.  Despite al-Qaida’s terrorist activity in East Africa, the U.S. war continues in Afghanistan.

            New Mexico-born Al-Awlaki received his bachelors degree in civil engineering from Colorado State University in 1994 and a masters degree in Educational leadership at San Diego State University in 1996.  He dropped out of a doctoral program in Human Resource Development at George Washington University in 2001.  Shortly after Sept. 11, he returned to Yemen and received formal Islamic training.  While the dates are fuzzy, al-Awlaki was imprisoned in Yemen where he became a devotee of Wahhabist Sayyid Qutb, the originator of Islamic jihad against the West.  Al-Qaida’s Osama bin Laden subscribes to the same violent philosophy, where civilians are fair game in his  radical agenda.  U.S. authorities have known for some time that the English-speaking al-Awlaki was fomenting violent revolution from his Web site, encouraging young Muslims to attack Western targets.

            While U.S. troops prepare for an all-out offensive in Taliban-stronghold Kandahar, Obama must urgently reassess the mission and redirect U.S. assets to East Africa, especially Yemen and Somalia.  Al-Awlaki reportedly had direct contacts with Nigerian-born underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and Fort Hood shooter Army psychiatrist Abdel Malik Hasan.  “The president will continue to take action directly at terrorists like Awlaki and keep our country safe from their murderous thugs,” said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.  While House officials can’t explain a terrorism policy that focuses primarily of Afghanistan, when recent terrorism has originated from East Afrcia.  Like the U.S. is finding in Kandahar, terrorists quickly shift locations, staying several steps ahead of their pursuers.  U.S. terrorism policy must be more capable of switching gears.

            Despite promises from Yemen’s security services to track down and arrest al-Awlaki, the U.S. must pursue the U.S.-born traitor and terrorist with more vigor.  Insisting that the U.S. is “actively trying to find al-Awlaki, the CIA must have more boots on the ground.  Over-reliance on predator drone attacks in Pakistan has let renegades like Osama bin Laden and Mullah Mohammed Omar slip trough the cracks.  They must be pursued relentlessly if the U.S. has any chance of making progress in the war on terror.  Al-Awlaki, a son of U.S.- educated Yemen’s Agriculture minister, turned against the U.S. sometime around Sept. 11.  U.S. officials must do a better job of profiling young Muslims vulnerable to the temptations made by full-fledged terrorists like al-Awlaki.  Explaining why children of affluent families are drawn toward Islamic terrorism is anyone’s guess.

            White House officials must do a better job adapting U.S. assets to ever-shifting points of terrorism activity.  Since going to war against the Taliban in 2001, the U.S. has made some wrong turns, especially detouring into Iraq.  Sometime next year, Barack will fill a campaign promise to end the Iraq War.  He must do the same in Afghanistan before wasting more U.S. assets and lives.  “As for the Americans, I will never surrender to them,” said al-Awlaki..  :If the Americans want me, let them come look for me.  God is my protector,” daring Obama to go after Yemen and Somalia-based terrorists.  U.S. officials can’t afford to spread iassets too thin in Iraq and Afghanistan, when they’ve got more pressing priorities in East Africa.  Too much time has already elapsed with White House terrorism policy.  Al-Awlaki’s new threats warrant an urgent redirection in the U.S. fight against terror.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.