Apparently Anwar al-Awlaki Loved Pizza and Prostitutes

Josh Gerstein of Politico reports that, according to documents obtained by Judicial Watch under the Freedom of Information Act, FBI surveillance trailed Anwar al-Awlaki around Northern Virginia in the weeks after the 9/11 attacks in 2001 looking for possible links between Osama bin Laden and the then-leader of a mosque in Falls Church, VA. Among the more interesting observations were his taking the Metro into Foggy Bottom to eat at the Bertucci's near George Washington University (alas, no word on which toppings he preferred), and that at least seven times in late 2001 and early 2002 he hired "high end escorts" who charged several hundred dollars for their . . . um, services.

Awlaki eventually moved to England later in 2002, and then to Yemen in 2004, where he became the spiritual leader/chief propagandist for al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula, and later was involved in organizing the 2009 Underwear Bomber attack before being killed by a U.S. drone strike in September 2011.

Anwar al-Awlaki: Loved his hos and Bertucci's

In the weeks after the September 11 attacks, the FBI tailed Muslim cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki around the Washington area, following him to an NPR interview and watching him as he munched on pizza at Bertucci's, according to documents obtained by the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch - See more at: http://www.foreignpolicyi.org/overnightbrief070313#sthash.18Oc92uL.dpuf

In the weeks after the September 11 attacks, the FBI tailed Muslim cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki around the Washington area, following him to an NPR interview and watching him as he munched on pizza at Bertucci's, according to documents obtained by the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch. - - See more at: http://www.foreignpolicyi.org/overnightbrief070313#sthash.oNcfJ1pw.dpuf

Mead on Awlaki and the "Assassination" Question

I meant to post this excellent piece by Walter Russell Mead on his blog on the American Interest's website on the question of whether the killing of Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki was a legitimate act of war or an assassination.  Key quotes:

Perhaps this is just further proof of how mindless I am, but it does seem to me that Al-Awlaki and his buds are at war with the people of the United States and that in war, people not only die: it is sometimes your duty to kill them. . . .

I am neither a lawyer nor a judge, but it does not take much special knowledge to understand that Mr. Awlaki had placed himself well beyond the protections of criminal law. 

I tend to agree with Mead's analysis re: al-Awlaki.  But as I have said before, I also recognize that al-Awlaki was really low-hanging fruit in this debate, whose actions and statements clearly indicated he was actively planning attacks on the U.S. homeland, and hence an imminent threat.  There may be other American Islamists in the future, however, where the evidence is neither so transparent nor clear-cut.  Consequently, I think it reasonable to debate whether the al-Awlaki case was a necessary act of self-defense or sets a dangerous precedent that could be abused in the future, or even both.

P.S.  I highly recommend Mead's book A Special Providence, which I used to use when teaching a course on U.S. National Security at Johns Hopkins, for anybody interested in the history of U.S. foreign policy.

Operation Troy

Although as with the Abbottabad raid in May, all initial accounts should be taken with a grain of salt, the Telegraph (UK) has an interesting account of how Anwar al-Awlaki was finally caught.

Although he was successfully targeted by a drone, the key to locating the radical cleric was apparently the capture of a junior courier by Yemeni agents.  This is consistent with the broader history of strategic manhunts which emphasizes the importance of human intelligence and cooperation with indigenous forces, and together with the previous New York Times account highlighting the difference in support for al-Awlaki and AQAP in southern Yemen (AQAP's base of operations) and northern Yemen (where he was killed), this supports the conclusion that human terrain was the most important factor in targeting al-Awlaki.