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The Muslim community in America has been witnessing a gradual erosion and decline in core Islamic principles, so today many of your scholars and Islamic organizations are openly approving of Muslims serving in the US Army, to kill Muslims, joining the FBI, to spy against Muslims, and are standing between you and your duty of Jihad.

Soon afterward, Awlaki was interviewed in a video published online by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the first time he ever publicly associated with a terrorist organization.52 In July AQAP began publishing an English-language magazine for aspiring jihadists, which Awlaki was said to oversee (see chapter 11).

In November 2010 Awlaki went further still, releasing a video in Arabic that unequivocally called for killing Americans. “Do not consult anyone in killing the Americans,” he said. “Fighting Satan does not require a [religious ruling]. It does not require consulting. It does not need a prayer for the cause. They are the party of Satan.”53

Anwar Awlaki was no longer struggling to balance his inner darkness against the light. He had formally and finally embraced the role of terrorist.

THE MEASURE OF THE MAN

Awlaki’s status is nothing if not a moving target. When the Western media discovered him in late 2009, he was far more successful and influential among Muslims who are fluent in English or for whom English is a first language than he has with the Arabic-speaking Muslims who dominate the leadership of terrorist networks. His lectures and writings, beloved in the English zone, were rarely posted to the leading jihadist websites. Among hardcore jihadist ideologues and networked terrorists, he barely registered a blip.

Even as the U.S. media was throwing Awlaki a coronation, his terrorist protégés had mostly turned out to be embarrassing failures. (That is likely to change sooner or later, perhaps even during the space between this sentence being written and this book being published.)

His status began to change in April 2010, when U.S. officials revealed that Awlaki had been approved for targeted killing by the CIA. No American citizen had ever been added to the CIA’s target list, even though several other Americans held very important positions with al Qaeda’s central operation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. No rationale for Awlaki’s unique status was offered to the public.54

AQAP soon fired back with a statement in Arabic vowing to protect Awlaki from any U.S. attempt to capture or kill him.55 The interview followed quickly, and Awlaki began issuing statements in Arabic, which were enthusiastically received by the Arabic-speaking jihadist community. New fans began seeking out his older material, which was widely available from download sites and on both the Arabic- and English-language versions of YouTube.

At the end of October, AQAP planted two bombs in parcels and shipped them to the United States. The bombs were intercepted and defused before they reached their targets. Twenty days later AQAP published another issue of its English-language magazine detailing the attack and its goals. One article, printed under the byline “Head of Foreign Operations,” was believed by some analysts to have been penned by Awlaki, suggesting he had settled into a formal role within the organization as a fully operational terrorist.56

But is Awlaki the next Osama bin Laden?

It’s extremely important to understand Anwar Awlaki in context. There is no question that he is an important and dangerous figure who presents the United States with a serious and significant challenge. He has been directly involved in planning and executing terrorist attacks, and he has inspired a large number of would-be terrorists in the Western world.

Comparing him to bin Laden is dangerous, however, because it elevates Awlaki’s status based on a fundamental misunderstanding of each man’s role and capacity.

It’s certainly possible Awlaki was working for the core al Qaeda organization before September 11, and it’s virtually certain he was working with al Qaeda in the