Dirty Wars (68 page)

Shaye asked Awlaki, “Do you think Yemen's government would facilitate your assassination?”

“The Yemeni government sells its citizens to the United States, to
earn the ill-gotten funds it begs the West for in return for their blood. The Yemeni officials tell the Americans to strike whatever they want and ask them not to announce responsibility for the attacks to avoid people's rage, and then the Yemeni government shamelessly adopts these attacks,” Awlaki replied. “The people of Shabwah, Abyan and Arhab have seen the Cruise missiles, and some people saw cluster bombs that did not explode. The state lies when it claims responsibility, and it does so to deny collaboration. US drones continuously fly over Yemen. What state is that which allows its enemy to spy on its people and then considers it as ‘accepted cooperation'?”

In Yemen, Awlaki was now completely underground and was having difficulty posting any sermons. His blog had been shut down by the US government, and drones hovered in the skies over Shabwah. While US media outlets, terror “experts” and prominent government officials were identifying Awlaki as a leader of AQAP, those allegations were dubious. Awlaki had entered dangerous territory in openly praising terrorist attacks on the United States and calling for Muslims in America to follow the example of Nidal Hasan. But the available evidence regarding al Qaeda's relationship with Awlaki in 2010 suggests that Awlaki was not an operational member of the group but was seeking out an alliance with like-minded individuals. Some, like his uncle, even argued that he was pushed into an alliance with AQAP after he was marked for death alongside its leaders.

Sheikh Saleh bin Fareed had been Anwar's protector in Yemen. It was bin Fareed's tribal leadership that allowed Awlaki safe passage through Shabwah and other tribal areas. But the sheikh was under great pressure from the Yemeni regime to bring in Anwar. Awlaki's father, Nasser, was convinced that Anwar would remain in hiding and that the US government would continue to try to kill him. Bin Fareed decided to give it one more try. He went to visit Anwar in Shabwah. When he arrived, he said he saw drones “
circling our valley twenty-four hours
—not one minute they were stopped. Of course we see them when the sun is out—but we can hear them very clearly. And they were after, I think, Anwar,” he told me.

When bin Fareed met his nephew, Anwar told him that he had heard that Obama had marked him for death. “In Sana'a now, I think they are under pressure,” bin Fareed told Anwar. “Now the president gave the order that they either capture you or kill you.” Awlaki told bin Fareed that he had not been charged with any crime by the US government and would not turn himself in to face charges that didn't exist. “You tell them, I have nothing, until today, I have nothing to do with al Qaeda,” Anwar told his uncle. “But if [Obama] will not withdraw his [order], and I am wanted, maybe they'll drive me to hell. I have no choice.”

Bin Fareed told me he believed that the threats against Anwar inadvertently drove him closer to AQAP. “Of course, we realized that [Anwar] had no choice. And really, they did drive him to hell.” The announcement by the US government that Anwar was marked for death, bin Fareed told me, “was a very, very big mistake.”

On May 23, 2010, al Qaeda's media wing in Yemen, al Malaeim, released a video titled “
The First and Exclusive Meeting
with Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki.” In the video, Awlaki thanked his interviewer, a bearded man dressed in all white, for “taking all these pains in order to reach here.” Awlaki was dressed in traditional Yemeni garb, sitting before a bookshelf filled with religious books. On his waist was a
jambiya
dagger, a tribal symbol worn by many men in Yemen. In the interview, Awlaki praised a recent speech given by al Qaeda's number-two man, Ayman al Zawahiri, but also referred to “you people in Al Qaeda” and did not claim to be a member of the group. The interviewer, who repeatedly thanked him for giving them an “exclusive” interview, did not address Awlaki as a fellow member of al Qaeda.

The interviewer for this al Qaeda propaganda video was remarkably direct, asking Awlaki many questions about the targeting of civilians, his relationship with Nidal Hasan and Abdulmutallab and his interpretation of various fatwas. He also asked Awlaki about the reports that he had been targeted. Speaking in Arabic, Awlaki told the interviewer, “It is not true that I am a fugitive. I move around among my tribesmen and in other parts of Yemen because the people of Yemen hate the Americans, and support the people of truth and the oppressed. I move around among the Aulaq tribe, and I get support from wide sectors of the people in Yemen.” Awlaki praised various mujahedeen movements across the globe, from Iraq and Afghanistan to Somalia. “To the Muslims in general and to the inhabitants of the Peninsula especially, we should participate in this Jihad against America,” he said.

Awlaki was undoubtedly developing an affinity for al Qaeda's principles—and his public remarks were becoming indistinguishable from the pronouncements of al Qaeda. Still, words are not actions. To former DIA analyst Joshua Foust, it appeared as though some within the US intelligence community were elevating Awlaki's status based on the fear he was able to inspire through his words. Although he found Awlaki's praise for al Qaeda and calls for terrorist attacks against the United States reprehensible, Foust did not believe these statements constituted evidence of a senior operational role in al Qaeda. “Within AQAP itself,
he's literally middle management
,” he told me at the time. “Even the AQAP leadership treats him like he's just a subordinate, who needs to shut up and do what he's told.” Foust added: “I think a lot of the focus on Awlaki doesn't make any
sense, because we assign him a kind of importance and influence that he doesn't really have.”

After the Christmas Day bomb plot, the White House changed its tune on Awlaki, claiming he had gone operational, with some officials comparing him to Osama bin Laden. “
I think it's an exaggeration
, frankly, to think he is necessarily a new bin Laden,” Nakhleh, the former senior CIA officer, told me. “We would not have even thought much about him if it weren't for Abdulmutallab, the underwear bomber.”

Although Awlaki was developing relationships with various al Qaeda figures in Shabwah and elsewhere, and his status was rising within its ranks, well-connected Yemenis who had interviewed AQAP leaders told me that he was not an operational member of the group. “
Anwar al Awlaki was not a leader
in al Qaeda, he did not hold any official post at all,” said journalist Abdul Rezzaq al Jamal. He told me that AQAP viewed Awlaki as an ally and that “the thing that united him and al Qaeda is the hostility to the US.” Awlaki “agrees with al Qaeda in vision, rationale and strategies. The efforts that were made by Awlaki in the framework of AQAP's work, especially in terms of recruiting in the West, were very big.”

Nasser Awlaki acknowledged that his son was beginning to refer to members of al Qaeda as “my brothers” in interviews, but he did not believe his son was a member of AQAP. “
He never said
that he was member of al Qaeda,” he told me, speculating that “maybe in ideology, maybe Anwar came to believe in some of the ideas of al Qaeda, that you cannot take back your land by peaceful means, you have to fight for it. Anybody who attacks you, you have to defend yourself.” Nasser added, “Anwar is a very courageous man. I tell you, definitely, I know my son. If he was a member of that organization, he will have no problems to say it.” After all, having already been marked for death by the United States, he had nothing to lose.

Even members of Yemen's government were concerned that the United States was inflating Awlaki's status as a terrorist leader. Yemen's foreign minister, Abu Bakr al Qirbi, told reporters in Sana'a, “Anwar al-Awlaki has
always been looked at as a preacher
rather than a terrorist and shouldn't be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism.”

Awlaki had not been charged with any crimes by the US government. Nor had the Americans publicly offered any evidence that Awlaki was the AQAP ringleader they made him out to be. Awlaki's case would cut to the heart of one of the key questions raised by the increasing role targeted assassinations were playing in US foreign policy: Could the American government assassinate it own citizens without due process?

DENMARK AND YEMEN
, 2010—While the US manhunt for Anwar Awlaki in Yemen intensified, Morten Storm was busy trying to find Awlaki a European wife. Unbeknownst to Awlaki, the Danish intelligence asset was coordinating his bride search with the CIA. Storm had posted
messages on websites
frequented by Awlaki's fans and soon received a note from a Croatian woman who had recently converted to Islam. “Aminah” was the name she had adopted after her conversion, though she was raised as a Catholic. She had been a
track star in high school
and worked with troubled youth in Zagreb. “
I was wondering will he search for second wife
, I proposed him a marriage. I don't know how silly it is,” Aminah wrote to Storm. “I deeply respect him and all the things he do.... I would go with him anywhere. I am 32 years old and I am ready for dangerous things. I am not afraid of death or to die in the sake of Allah.”

Storm continued corresponding with Awlaki and told him about Aminah. He also informed the PET, the Danish intelligence agency, that he was in the process of arranging a marriage for Awlaki. The PET contacted the CIA. Storm claimed the intelligence officials were “
overjoyed
.” Together, the intelligence agencies came up with a plan, should the marriage plans work out: Storm would provide Aminah with a
suitcase outfitted with a tracking device
that would ultimately reveal Awlaki's location.

Awlaki contacted Storm again on February 17, 2010, and said he wanted to meet Aminah. “
If you visit her
, I can upload a video recording of myself as [an] encrypted file, and you can get her to hear it, so she is sure that [it] is me,” he wrote. Days later, Awlaki wrote again to describe his improved living conditions: “I currently do not live in a tent, but in a house [that] belongs to a friend. I'm not leaving the house, and am in a situation for my wife to be with me all the time. I prefer this residence [to] a tent in the mountains, because it gives me ability to read, write and research.” Following the message, Storm said he met with CIA and PET officials in Helsingør, Denmark. Taking part in the meeting was a veteran Denmark-based CIA contact who went by the name Jed and, according to Storm, a CIA official who flew in from Washington and called himself Alex.

Storm met with Aminah in Vienna, Austria, on March 8, 2010, outside the
international bus station
. His trip was verified by
multiple receipts
reviewed by the Danish newspaper
Jyllands-Posten
. Storm claimed that when he met Aminah, he was shadowed by his PET and CIA handlers. Aminah, Storm alleged, convinced him she was willing to accept the potential consequences of her decision to travel to Yemen to marry Awlaki. Storm taught the young woman to send encrypted e-mails at Awlaki's request, and at a second meeting, he showed her a video the cleric had made for her. “This recording is
done specifically for Sister Aminah
at her request and the brother who's carrying this recording is a trustworthy brother,” Awlaki said in the video. “So having said that, I pray Allah guides to that which is best for you in this life and in the hereafter. And guides you to choose what is better for you regarding this proposal. I would also suggest, if possible, if you could also do a recorded message and send it over. That would be great.” According to Storm, the video moved Aminah to tears.

Aminah responded with two videos of her own. In the first she wore a hijab, leaving only her face visible. She described feeling “
nervous
” and said the experience was “awkward.” In the second video, she removed her veil. “Brother,
it's me without the scarf
, so you can see my hair,” she said in accented English. “I hope you are happy with me, inshallah.” The two agreed to marry in Yemen.

Awlaki sent Storm an encrypted e-mail describing the things Aminah would need to bring to Yemen: “
Warm weather clothing
, her personal hygiene stuff, etc. Anything she would need during a month to two month period. She shouldn't have more than a medium sized suitcase and a carry-on bag. She should have with her at least $3,000.” The CIA then contacted Storm. In a document obtained by
Jyllands-Posten
, Awlaki is referred to as “
the Hook
” and Aminah “the sister.” The CIA suggested that Storm could “use the Hook's guidance as a reason to give the sister the suitcase and the cosmetic case.”

Storm returned to Vienna on May 18, 2010, to purchase Aminah's ticket to Yemen and provide her with clothing and $3,000, all of which he said was paid for by the CIA. He also gave Aminah the bugged suitcase that, if things went according to plan, would set her and Awlaki up for execution by drone. Aminah flew to Yemen on June 2. Storm said he went to a safe house rented by the CIA and PET in Denmark. “
We sat there, had a barbecue
and had a great party,” Storm told
Jyllands-Posten
. Aminah's journey, he recalled, was constantly monitored.

Two days later Storm received a text message from his Danish handler. “
Congratulations brother
, you just got rich, very rich,” it read. The intelligence agent included smiley face emoticons in the text message. Storm
claimed he collected his reward on June 9, 2010, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel near Copenhagen, adding that both a CIA and PET officer were present at the exchange and that the PET officer was
handcuffed to the briefcase
that contained his reward. The suitcase was filled with $250,000 in bundled $100 bills. Storm asked for the code to open the suitcase. “
Try 007
,” the CIA agent told him. Storm snapped a photo of the cash in the briefcase and later provided it to
Jyllands-Posten
as evidence to support his story.
Multiple sources confirmed
that he received the payment.