Anwar Al Awlaki: Linked to 9/11, Fort Hood Shootings, and the Alleged Bomber of Flight #253

Anwar al Awlaki was born in New Mexico. He was raised in the United States. He was an imam at a mosque in Northern Virginia. He is now deeply involved in spreading anti-American sentiment via the use of rhetoric about jihad throughout the world via the Internet. He has had direct interactions with known terrorists.

He left the United States in 2003 or 2004 according to CNN. Then he served as an imam in the UK. He now lives in Yemen. His parents were originally from Yemen and then moved to America. He is believed to be a key player in al Qaeda's planning of terrorist attacks against America. He claims to be a man of peace. However, it now seems clear he is strongly involved in strategy and recruiting young men to train for attacks on America.

CBS reports that Awlaki "counseled three of the 9/11 hijackers and traded a series of Internet messages with accused Fort Hood gunman Major Nidal Hasan. After the shootings Awlaki praised Hasan as a hero."

The emails between Major Hasan and Anwar al Awlaki were intercepted by American intelligence agencies and should have set off warning bells. However, for some reason unknown, the government did not fully investigate if Hasan may be on the path to becoming a terrorist.

Anwar al Awlaki was also involved in the planning of the attempted bombing of flight #253 on Christmas day. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab told the American government he met Awlaki in Yemen during training for terrorist events according to CBS.

Abdulmatallab is only age 23. He is an example of how al Qaeda is finding young men who are adrift in the world and leading them astray to the path of jihad. The speeches by Anwar al Awlaki online are used as a recruiting tool for Al Qaeda; they are inflaming young men to join the cause of terrorism. Al Qaeda is stealing the lives of young men and using them for their demonic cause of jihad.

The Wall Street journal reports that Awlaki communicated with terrorism recruits via Facebook. Al Qaeda seems adept at using the Internet to spread their message of jihad.

The WSJ adds that Awlaki announced on his blog this October "that Yemen was about to become a key player in global jihad. And when this new front of Jihad starts in Yemen it might become the single most important front of Jihad in the world."

Let's hope the government is now keeping an eye on that blog, as that announcement seems to make it clear that al Qaeda is openly announcing their plans for ongoing terrorism.

There were rumors that Awlaki may have been killed in Yemen recently. MSNBC reports that the house where he had lived, and is believed to have met with the flight #253 alleged bomber was recently destroyed in a bomb attack. However, now it is believed he is still alive.

Sources:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/31/eveningnews/main6042932.shtml?tag=contentBody;featuredPost-PE

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/31/abdulmutallab.terror.radical.cleric/index.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34650399/ns/world_news-washington_post/

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/01/us/01imam.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126222205417710939.html?mod=rss_Today's_Most_Popular