Radical American cleric Anwar Awlaki said to have directed under-wear bomber terror plot
By Ellen Cannon
Next week federal prosecutors will seek consecutive life sentences for terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, known as the “underwear bomber”. On Christmas Day 2009 Abdulmutallab a Nigerian, attempted to take down a plan over Detroit. Yesterday, the Justice Department, released a detailed memo which it hopes will encourage the judge to give a maximum sentence to Abdulmutallab next week in U.S. District Court in Detroit. The Justice Department memo directly links Anwar Awlaki, the radical American cleric killed by an American drone, as the key director and craftsman of the terror plot attempted by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. Abdulmutallab has been charged with eight counts including murder and terrorism. The government is asking the Court to impose the maximum possible sentence on each count. Almost a year later Chicago would receive a message from Yemen terrorists in the form of 2 bombs aimed at synagogues in Chicago informing us that a wave of terrorism could hit our city as well.
The memo entitled, “Government’s Sentencing Memorandum” states that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, “maliciously attempted to murder 289 innocent people of all nationalities and ethnicities, and but for a technical problem with his bomb, he would have succeeded…Abdulmutallab was committed to his mission, seeking out and finding Al Qaeda and Anwar Awlaki, volunteering for a martyrdom mission, and then becoming involved in planning and training for a significant amount of time. Never did the defendant falter in his resolve or reconsider his decision to commit mass murder.”(page 2 of Justice Department memo)
Based on testimony given to the Court on October 12, 2011 Abdulmutallab, the memo details his concept of “jihad”: “As of the date that he entered his guilty plea, defendant stated that he believes that the Koran obliges “every able Muslim to participate in jihad and fight in the way of Allah, those who fight you, and kill them wherever you find them, some parts of the Koran say, an eye for an eye, a toot for a tooth…”Participation in jihad against the United states is considered among the most virtuous deeds in Islam and is highly encouraged in the Koran.”(pages 26,27,28 of statements to Court)
Furthermore the memo released yesterday indicates that Abdulmutallab feels no remorse for his action. He stated, “I attempted to use an explosive device which in the U.S. law is a weapon of mass destruction, which I call a blessed weapon.”
Supplemental Factual Appendix documentation in the Justice Department’s memo details Abdulmutallab’s interactions with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninusla (AQAP) terrorists in the months leading up to his attack on Northwest Flight 253. The information is based on debriefing statements the “underwear-bomber” gave to the FBI from January to April 2010.
Abdulmutallab had been following the online teachings of Anwar Awlaki for some time. He goes to Yemen to try to meet him in order to discuss the possibility of becoming involved in jihad. At this points Abdulmutallab admits to wanting to engage in “martyrdom” i.e. a suicide operation in which he and others would be killed.
He visits many mosques in Yemen hoping to find someone who can connect him to the by then famous propagandist, Anwar Awlaki. He finds someone to give his phone number to and soon receives a text message from Awlaki telling Abdulmutallab to call him. During a brief phone conversation Awlaki requires Abdulmutallab to write him a message “explaining why he wanted to become involved in jihad.” He takes several days to write the message and soon hears back from Awlaki telling him that “he would find a way for Abdulmutallab to become involved in jihad.”
After that, Abdulmutallab is picked up and driven through the desert and taken to Awlaki’s house where he stayed for three days. During this period of time Awlaki explained that there are rewards for martyrdom and jihad, and he also explained its challenges. By the end of the three days Awlaki accepted Abdulmutallab for a martyrdom mission.
Following the meeting with Awlaki the memo explores his meeting with the AQAP bomb-maker, Ibrahim Al Asri followed by the final approval of his mission by Awlaki an concluding with attending a AQAP training camp where he received weapon training and further “jihad indoctrination.” Ibrhaim Al Asiri constructed the bomb that Abdulmutallab carried onto the plane in his underwear. Abdulmutallab was given further instruction on how to detonate the bomb and the explosive by pushing the “plunger of a syringe, causing two chemicals to mix, and initiating a fire.”
The final documentation regarding the interactions between Awlaki and Abdulmutallab states: “Awlaki told Abdulmutallab that he would create a martyrdom video that would be used after the attack. Awlaki arranged for a professional film crew to film the video. Awlaki assisted Abdulmutallab in writing his martyrdom statement and it was filmed over a period of two to three days. The full video is five minutes in length.”(page 13 of Justice Department memo)
“Although Awlaki gave Abdulmutallab operational flexibility, Awlaki instructed him that the only requirements were that the attack be on a U.S. airliner, and that the attack occur over U.S. soil. Beyond that, Awlaki gave defendant discretion to choose the flight and date. Awlaki instructed defendant not to fly from Yemen to Europe, as that could attract suspicion. As a result, Abdulmutallab took a circuitous route, traveling from Yemen to Ethiopia to Ghana to Nigeria to Amsterdam to Detroit. Prior to his departure from Yemen, Awlaki’s last instructions to him were to wait until the airplane was over the U.S. and then to take the plane down.” (page 14 of Justice Department memo)
The political atmosphere surrounding the “underwear bomb” plot was strained. The Heritage Foundation recounts that when Barak Obama took office he was determined to shed the idea of a war on terrorism. Besides an obvious change in lexicon from the “global war on terror” to “overseas contingency operation” and from terrorism” to “man-made disaster” there were additional and important consequential actions. “A decision was made to prosecute foreign terrorists in U.S. civilian courts, dismantlement of the CIA’s interrogation abilities, lackadaisical support for the Patriot Act, and an attempt to shut down Guantanamo Bay within President Obama’s first year in the White House. The danger of this new attitude was revealed all too quickly by the near miss airline bomb plot of Christmas Day 2009.”(www.heritage.orgresearch/report/4/29/2010)
Chicago experienced its terrorism wake-up call from terrorists in Yemen on October 31, 2010. One of two bombs shipped from Yemen toChicago area synagogues nearly slipped past investigators even after they were tipped off. Neither package ever made it to the targeted institutions, but the two intercepted mail bombs prompted a quick response, both in Chicago and around the world.(www.abclocal.go.com 10/31/2010)
The near-miss incident revealed that al Qaeda bomb makers were sophisticated enough to escape notice. It also revealed how close terrorists came to getting explosives airborne and bound for Chicago or any other American destination.
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