Anwar al-Awlaki (21 April 1971-30 September 2011) was an American and Yemeni imam and al-Qaeda propagandist who radicalized many Americans and convinced them to become terrorists. al-Awlaki was nicknamed "the Bin Laden of the Internet" due to his infamous Islamist propaganda videos that he posted online, and he also edited al-Qaeda's magazine, Inspire. He was killed in a drone strike in Yemen on 30 September 2011.
Biography[]
Anwar al-Awlaki was born on 21 April 1971 in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States, the son of Yemeni immigrant parents; he was related to Yemeni Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Mujawar. In 1978, the family returned to Yemen, and he stayed there until 1989, when he returned to the USA. In 1994, he received a bachelor of science degree from Colorado State University in Colorado, having gone on a trip to Afghanistan in 1993 and trained with the mujahideen. al-Awlaki had an increased interest in religion and politics after returning from the trip, and in 1994 he became a part-time imam at the Denver Islamic Society. In 1996, he convinced a Saudi student to head to Chechnya to fight the Russians, and he moved to San Diego soon after. From 1996 to 2000, he was an imam at the Masjid ar-Ribat al-Islami mosque, having a following of 300 people, including 9/11 hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar. al-Awlaki became a radical Islamist, although this did not stop him from soliciting prostitution several times from 1996 to 2001. In 2001, he became imam of the Dar al-Hijrah Mosque in Falls Church, Virginia after moving to the Washington DC metro area, and he was hired as the Muslim chaplain of George Washington University.
In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki condemned the attacks (although he did say that Israeli intelligence was responsible, not Muslims), and he was considered to be a moderate imam who could bridge the gap between east and west. However, in 2002 he wrote an article supporting Palestinian suicide bombers, and he left for the United Kingdom that same year. From December 2002 to January 2003, he preached jihad to crowds of 200 people on any given day, telling them about the rewards of martyrdom and telling them to never trust non-Muslims. In early 2004, he moved to Shabwah Governorate, Yemen with his wife and four children, and he became an al-Qaeda propagandist there. The government arrested him a few times for his terrorist activities, but he succeeded in radicalizing several people online, and in March 2010 he urged Muslims in America to attack their country. al-Awlaki was linked to several terrorists, including Nidal Malik Hassan, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, Sharif Mobley, Faisal Shahzad, and Roshonara Choudhry, who were inspired by meeting with him or by watching his videos. Eventually, the US government decided to take him out.
On 30 September 2011, two predator drones operated by the CIA flew over al-Jawf Governorate and fired Hellfire missiles at al-Awlaki's convoy as it stopped to eat breakfast en route to Ma'rib Governorate. al-Awlaki and the other terrorists were killed in the airstrike, with journalist Samir Khan was also killed; the two were American citizens, and their deaths were condemned by libertarian politicians in the USA.