U.S. drone kills cleric in Yemen

2 Americans with links to al-Qaida recruiting targeted in 'milestone' attack
Saturday, October 01, 2011
By Adam Baron, Jonathan S. Landay and Lesley Clark, McClatchy Newspapers
SANAA, Yemen -- The death of U.S.-born Muslim preacher Anwar al-Awlaki in a barrage of missiles fired by U.S. drones over Yemen on Friday dealt a sharp blow to al-Qaida's recruiting efforts, but it's likely to do little to crimp the group's ability to carry out attacks.

President Barack Obama, who authorized the killing of the American-born Mr. Awlaki last year, hailed his death as "another significant milestone in the broader effort to defeat al-Qaida and its affiliates."

"This is further proof that al-Qaida and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world," Mr. Obama said, labeling Mr. Awlaki a "leader of external operations" for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which he called the terrorist group's "most active operational affiliate."

A second American, Samir Khan, editor of the English-language al-Qaida magazine Inspire, also died in the attack.

Mr. Awlaki's ability to advocate violent jihad in plain English as well as his use of the Internet and social media such as Facebook and YouTube to disseminate his sermons made him an exceptional recruiter for violent jihad, especially among young, English-speaking Muslims.

"There are a range of [radical Islamists] trying to preach on the Internet, but few people were able to generate the following that he did," said Seth Jones, an expert with the Rand Corp., a policy institute, who is writing a history of al-Qaida. He called Mr. Awlaki "extremely effective as a propagandist."

Others noted, however, that Mr. Awlaki wasn't among the top military commanders of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, and that the group's top leader, Nasir al Wihayshi, a former aide to the late Osama bin Laden, as well as its military commander, Qasim al Raymi, and chief bomb-maker, Abdullah al Asiri, remain alive.

"In terms of the operations of AQAP, this will not have a debilitating affect; there are plenty of other AQAP figures that present a much greater threat," said Gregory Johnsen, a Princeton University Yemen analyst.

Word of Mr. Awlaki's death received little attention in Yemen, where he wasn't well-known. The country is enmeshed in a months-long political crisis over the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. In Egypt, where bin Laden's death in May sparked marches on the U.S. Embassy by Muslim fundamentalists, there was no reaction to Mr. Awlaki's killing.

Some congressional Republicans congratulated Mr. Obama on the killing. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called Mr. Awlaki's death a "serious blow to radical Islam and long-overdue justice." Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the killing "is a tremendous tribute to President Obama and the men and women of our intelligence community."