267 “I know your busy”: Nidal Hasan, e-mail to Anwar al Awlaki, March 7, 2009, released by Intelwire, July 19, 2012, http://news.intelwire.com/2012/07/the-following-e-mails-between-maj.html.
267 “the issue of ‘collateral damage’”: Nidal Hasan, e-mail to Anwar al Awlaki, May 31, 2009, released by Intelwire, July 19, 2012, http://news.intelwire.com/2012/07/the-following-e-mails-between-maj.html.
268 “The first face to face fight”: Anwar al Awlaki, “The Army of Yemen Confronts the Mujahideen,” Imam Anwar’s Blog, anwar-alawlaki.com, August 1, 2009.
268 “Surprise of the Season?”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Could Yemen Be the Next Surprise of the Season?” Imam Anwar’s Blog, anwar-alawlai.com, October 7, 2009.
269 “If we go back to 2001 or 2002”: Author interview, Abdul Rezzaq al Jamal, January 2012.
269 “I lived in the US”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Anwar Al Awlaki’s Posthumous Call to Jihad (Part 1),” YouTube video, 12:48, from an address delivered by Anwar al Awlaki in March 2010 and produced by Al-Malahem Media, posted by “ClarionProductions,” December 21, 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOcFKofJ5PA.
28: Obama Embraces JSOC
270 fewer than one hundred: Joshua Partlow, “In Afghanistan, Taliban Leaving al-Qaeda Behind,” Washington Post, November 11, 2009.
270 “a coup attempt”: Agence France-Presse, “UN Somalia Envoy Accuses Islamist of Coup Attempt,” May 13, 2009.
270 highly produced videos: Agence France-Presse, “Somali Terror Group Raps in English for Recruits,” March 31, 2009.
270 Syrian immigrant: Abu Mansuur al-Amriiki, “The Story of an American Jihaadi, Part One,” accessed May 17, 2012, http://azelin.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/omar-hammami-abc5ab-mane1b9a3c5a-br-al-amrc4abkc4ab-22the-story-of-an-american-jihc481dc4ab-part-122.pdf. For details of Omar Hammami’s life, the author relied on his autobiography, published online under the nom de guerre Abu Mansuur al-Amriiki, unless otherwise noted.
271 “I made it my goal”: Andrea Elliott, “The Jihadist Next Door,” New York Times Magazine, January 27, 2010.
271 “a multinational counterterrorism team”: Ibid.
271 federal, terror-related charges: Associated Press, “American Is Charged in U.S. for Activities in Somalia,” Washington Post, February 14, 2007.
271 a potential asset: Elliott, “The Jihadist Next Door.”
271 “Oh, Muslims of America”: Ibid.
271 450 foreign fighters: Agence France-Presse, “Lawless Somalia Draws Influx of Foreign Fighters,” March 27, 2009.
271 “The only reason”: Omar Hammami, “A Converted American Who Joined Al Qaeda,” YouTube video, 3:12, from a CNN broadcast featuring an excerpt of the Shabab-produced recruitment video “Ambush at Bardal,” posted by “shahzadkhan007,” July 22, 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvEdB9riTI0.
271 “If you can encourage”: Omar Hammami, “Two Americans in Shabaab,” YouTube video, 3:38, from the Shabab-produced video “Ambush at Bardal” released March 31, 2009, posted by “RabieAbuBakr,” April 15, 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMU9Vgix6Eo.
271 “We’re calling all the brothers”: “Somali Terrorist Group Releases Recruitment Video Featuring ‘the American,’” Anti-Defamation League, September 8, 2009, www.adl.org/main_Terrorism/al_shabaab_video_the_american.htm.
271 key al Shabab leaders: In 2012, Hammami and al Shabab had an apparent falling out, with Hammami charging in two online videos that “friction” with other leaders had put his life in danger. Al Shabab denied the allegations, calling Hammami “narcissistic,” and accused him of “sowing disunity” among the mujahedeen. See Omar Hammami, “urgentmessage,” YouTube video, 1:09, posted by “somalimuhajirwarrior,” March 16, 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAr2srINqks; The Middle East Media Research Institute, “In Second Urgent Message, American Al-Shabab Commander Hammami Confirms Major Schism Between Somali and Foreign Al-Shabab Fighters, Urges Al-Qaeda Leadership to Intervene,” translation of online video message from Omar Hammami, October 19, 2012, www.memri.org/report/en/print6766.htm; HSM Press Office, “Abu Mansur Al-Amriki: A Candid Clarification,” statement from Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen posted on their Twitter feed, December 17, 2012, www.twitlonger.com/show/kcjrkc.
271 Shirwa Ahmed: Pierre Thomas and Jason Ryan, “Feds Probing Possible Minn. Terror Group,” ABCNews.go.com, November 25, 2008.
272 “fight terrorism with lethal force”: Daniel Volman, “Obama, AFRICOM, and U.S. Military Policy Toward Africa,” Working Paper No. 14, Program of African Studies, Northwestern University, 2009. Volman cites Senator Obama’s written responses to a questionnaire given to the 2008 presidential candidates by the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation. The questionnaire—but not the responses—can be found at, www.afjn.org/focus-campaigns/other/other-continental-issues/82-general/399-presidential-town-hall-meeting-africa-questionnaire.html.
272 “just a failed state”: Hillary Clinton during confirmation hearing, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, January 13, 2009, transcript by CQ Transcriptions, released via NYTimes.com, www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/us/politics/13text-clinton.html?pagewanted=1&r=0.
272 arms shipments: Marina Litvinsky and Jim Lobe, “Somalia: U.S. Confirms Arms Shipments to Bolster Besieged Gov’t,” Inter Press Service News Agency, June 25, 2009.
272 better paid: Roland Marchal, “The Rise of a Jihadi Movement in a Country at War; Harakat Al-Shabaab al Mujaheddin in Somalia,” National Centre for Scientific Research, March 2011, p. 8. Al Shabab reportedly paid its recruits’ salaries far more regularly than other Somali actors, including the government, although the stated salaries themselves could be comparably modest.
272 double-suicide attacks: Edmund Sanders, “Eleven African Soldiers Killed in Somalia,” Los Angeles Times, February 23, 2009.
272 “unprecedented level”: “Somali Militants Kill Eleven Burundian Soldiers in Mogadishu,” Pana Press, February 23, 2009.
273 “heaviest of its kind”: Mohamed Ibrahim, “Fighting in Somalia Kills at Least Fifteen,” New York Times, February 24, 2009.
273 “walking slowly”: Greg Jaffe and Karen DeYoung, “Obama Team Mulls Aims of Somali Extremists,” Washington Post, April 11, 2009.
273 at least twenty cases: Andrea Elliott, “A Call to Jihad, Answered in America,” New York Times, July 11, 2009.
273 cracked down substantially: Maalik Eng, “Somalia Piracy Falls to Six-Year Low as Guards Defend Ships,” Shabelle Media Network, October 22, 2012.
273 for-profit fishery: Johan Peleman, Edward Howard Johns, Pavanjeet Singh Sandhu, and John Tambi, “Report of the Panel of Experts on Somalia Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1474 (2003),” UN Security Council, November 4, 2003, p. 32.
273 illegal waste dumping: “Report of the Secretary-General on the Protection of Somali Natural Resources and Waters,” United Nations Security Council, October 25, 2011, pp. 12–13.
273 Somali coastguard: Najad Abdullahi, “‘Toxic Waste’ Behind Somali Piracy,” AlJazeera.com, October 11, 2008.
274 counter-piracy training: “American Crew Regains Control of Hijacked Ship, One Pirate in Custody,” FoxNews.com, April 8, 2009.
274 a secured safe room: Chip Cummins and Sarah Childress, “On the Maersk: ‘I Hope if I Die, I Die a Brave Person,’” Wall Street Journal, April 16, 2009.
274 maneuvered the Alabama’s rudders: “Crewman’s E-mail Gives Harrowing Details of Hijacking,” CNN.com, April 20, 2009.
274 FV Win Far 161: Jay Bahadur, The Pirates of Somalia: Inside Their Hidden World (New York: Pantheon Books, 2011, Kindle edition).
274 US Defense Department contractor: Mark Mazzetti and Sharon Otterman, “U.S. Captain Is Hostage of Pirates; Navy Ship Arrives,” New York Times, April 8, 2009.
274 since the early 1800s: James Bone, “Maersk Alabama Crew Return to US to Tell of Somali Pirate Ordeal,” Times Online (London), April 18, 2009.
274 deployment of a destroyer: Mazzetti and Otterman, “U.S. Captain Is Hostage of Pirates.”
274 taken hostage: Ibi
d.
274 Two other ships: “More Pirates Searching for Lifeboat, Official Says,” CNN.com, April 10, 2009.
274 “virtually immediately”: Scott Wilson, Ann Scott Tyson, and Stephanie McCrummen, “‘Three Rounds, Three Dead Bodies’; Precision Volley by Navy SEALs Ended a Five-Day Ordeal for an American Seaman, but Piracy Off Somalia Continues,” Washington Post, April 14, 2009.
274 first authorization: Transcript, Larry King Live, CNN, April 12, 2009.
274 tried to escape: Wilson, Tyson, and McCrummen, “‘Three Rounds, Three Dead Bodies.’”
274 threw into the ocean: Mark Owen, with Kevin Maurer, No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden (New York: Dutton, 2012), p. 94.
275 second authorization: Transcript, Larry King Live, CNN, April 12, 2009.
275 “the first time I know of”: Author interview, Marc Ambinder, December 2010. All quotations of Marc Ambinder come from the author’s interview.
275 deploy to the Horn of Africa: Owen, No Easy Day, p. 89.
275 based at Manda Bay: Marc Ambinder, “Obama Gives Commanders Wide Berth for Secret Warfare,” TheAtlantic.com, May 25, 2010.
275 “They’re deadly accurate”: Author interview, General Hugh Shelton, March 2011.
275 Three shots: Wilson, Tyson, and McCrummen, “‘Three Rounds, Three Dead Bodies,’”
276 publicly used the name: Marc Ambinder, “SEAL Team Six v. the Pirates,” theAtlantic.com, April 12, 2009. The White House provided a backgrounder to journalists, which stated that President Obama called military officials after the operation, including “Vice Admiral William McRaven, Commander Joint Special Operations Command.”
276 “The President personally invited”: Author interview, Special Operations source, August 2010.
277 bold attack: Alex Perry, “Behind the Suicide Bombing in Somalia,” Time, June 19, 2009.
277 Mogadishu’s police chief: Associated Press, “Somali Police Chief Among Seventeen Dead in Clashes,” MSNBC.com, June 17, 2009.
277 few hundred yards: Jeffrey Gettleman, “In Somalia, a Leader Is Raising Hopes for Stability,” New York Times, September 16, 2009.
277 “weakened by the rebel forces”: Al Arabiya/Agencies, “Somalia Seeks Foreign Military Aid amid Crisis,” AlArabiya.net, June 20, 2009.
277 shipment of forty tons: Mary Beth Sheridan, “U.S. Has Sent Forty Tons of Munitions to Aid Somali Government,” Washington Post, June 27, 2009.
277 “best hope we’ve had”: Transcript, “Remarks with Somali Transitional Federal Government President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed,” August 6, 2009.
277 “a number of actions and initiatives”: John O. Brennan, “A New Approach to Safeguarding Americans,” prepared remarks, Center for Strategic and International Studies, August 6, 2009, www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-john-brennan-center-strategic-and-international-studies.
29: “Let JSOC Off the Leash”
278 received a phone call: “Saudi Prince Spoke to Bomber on Phone Before Attack,” Reuters, September 2, 2009.
278 fled the kingdom: Al Arabiya/Reuters, “Qaeda Names Man Who Tried to Kill Saudi Prince,” AlArabiya.net, August 30, 2009.
278 recruited: Abdullah Al-Oreifij (Saudi Gazette), “Saudi Interior Ministry Names Suicide Bomber in Attack on Prince,” BBC Monitoring International Reports, August 31, 2009.
278 “I need to meet”: “Saudi Prince Spoke to Bomber on Phone Before Attack.”
278 pick him up: Al Arabiya/Reuters, “Qaeda Names Man.”
278 “Asiri said”: Richard Barrett, “Al-Qaida and Taliban Status Check: A Resurgent Threat?” Washington Institute for Near East Policy, September 29, 2009, transcript by Federal News Service, www.teachingterror.net/resources/AQ%20Status%20check.pdf. All quotations and information attributed to Barrett come from these remarks.
278 one-pound bomb: CBS/AP, “Saudi Bombmaker Key Suspect in Yemen Plot,” CBSNews.com, November 1, 2010.
279 Asiri’s brother: “Profile: Al-Qaeda ‘Bomb Maker’ Ibrahim al-Asiri,” BBC.co.uk, May 9, 2012.
279 delivering a personal letter: US diplomatic cable 09JEDDAH343, from Consul General Martin R. Quinn, US Consulate in Jeddah, “Presidential Assistant Brennan’s Sept. 5 Discussion with Saudi Interior Minister Prince Naif,” September 11, 2009, released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/09/09JEDDAH343.html.
279 “I met with Prince Mohammed bin Nayef”: Transcript, interview with Gloria Borger, State of the Union with John King, CNN, January 4, 2010.
279 “We’re very concerned”: Transcript, Meet the Press, NBC, January 3, 2010.
279 “There was no indication”: Ibid.
279 sat face to face: US diplomatic cable 09SANAA1669, from Ambassador Stephen Seche, US Embassy Sana’a, “Brennan-Saleh Meeting September 6, 2009,” September 15, 2009. Released by WikiLeaks, http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/09/09SANAA1669. html. Details of this meeting between Brennan and President Saleh come from this cable.
280 subsequent classified cable: Ibid.
280 “doesn’t mean a damn thing”: Author interview, Colonel W. Patrick Lang, February 2011.
281 “initiative to help Yemen”: Reuters, “US Offers Yemen Help in ‘Fight Against Terrorism,’” AlArabiya.net, September 7, 2009.
281 authorizing plans: Author interviews, Special Operations sources, May–July 2010.
281 “Not enough people”: “Al Qaeda Extends to Somalia, Yemen,” Washington Times, September 10, 2009.
281 “under more pressure”: Eight Years After 9/11: Confronting the Terrorist Threat to the Homeland, Hearing Before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, 111th Cong. (September 30, 2009) (testimony of Michael Leiter, Director, National Counterterrorism Center), video available at www.senate.gov/fplayers/I2009/urlPlayer.cfm?fn=gov-taff093009&st=840&dur=8355.
281 “witnessed the reemergence”: Ibid.
282 convened a meeting: Sunlen Miller, “A Look at the President’s Meetings on Afghanistan and Pakistan,” ABCNews.go.com, November 10, 2009.
282 seven-page secret order: Marc Ambinder, “Obama Gives Commanders Wide Berth for Secret Warfare,” TheAtlantic.com, May 25, 2010.
282 permission slip: Mark Mazzetti, “U.S. Is Said to Expand Secret Actions in Mideast,” New York Times, May 24, 2010.
282 “more systematic and long term”: Ibid.
282 “reluctant to allow such an expansion”: Ambinder, “Obama Gives Commanders Wide Berth.”
283 intelligence gathering: Mazzetti, “U.S. Is Said to Expand Secret Actions.”
283 “cannot or will not be accomplished”: Ibid.
283 “The temptation for the leadership”: Author interview, Colonel W. Patrick Lang, February 2011.
283 “Pentagon is already empowered”: Author interview, Special Operations source, May 2010.
284 “insulate the president”: Author interview, former aide to Special Operations commander, May 2010.
284 discreet trip to Yemen: “Yemen, U.S. Talks on Cooperation in Military, Combating Terror Fields,” President Saleh website, October 4, 2009, www.presidentsaleh.gov.ye/shownews.php?lng=en&nsid=7743.
284 “cooperation between the U.S. and Yemen”: “Senior Military Official Visits Yemen,” press release from the US embassy in Sana’a, Yemen, October 4, 2009, http://yemen.usembassy.gov/smov.html.
284 “implementation of some special operations”: Muhammad al Ahmadi, “Al Qaeda to Respond to Obama’s Strategy in Yemen,” al-Ghad, December 6, 2009.
284 “We’re developing geostrategic principles”: Bob Woodward, Obama’s Wars (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2010), pp. 227–228.
30: Samir Khan: An Unlikely Foot Soldier
285 Soldier Readiness Processing Center: Ana Campoy, Peter Sanders, and Russell Gold, “Hash Browns, Then Four Minutes of Chaos,” Wall Street Journal, November 9, 2009.
285 prosecuted for war crimes: Brooks Egerton, “Fort Hood Captain: Hasan Wanted Patients to Face War Crimes Charges,” Dallas
Morning News, November 17, 2009.
285 complained to friends: James McKinley Jr. and James Dao, “Fort Hood Gunman Gave Signals Before His Rampage,” New York Times, November 8, 2009.
285 “It’s getting harder”: Dana Priest, “Fort Hood Suspect Warned of Threats Within the Ranks,” Washington Post, November 10, 2009.
285 imminent deployment: Staff and wire reports, “Suspect Was to Deploy to Afghanistan,” Army Times, November 5, 2009.
286 “did not alert”: Scott Shane and James Dao, “Investigators Study Tangle of Clues on Fort Hood Suspect,” New York Times, November 14, 2009.
286 “ordered nor pressured”: Sudarsan Raghavan, “Cleric Says He Was Confidant to Hasan,” Washington Post, November 16, 2009.
286 “is a hero”: Anwar al Awlaki, “Nidal Hassan Did the Right Thing,” Imam Anwar’s blog, anwar-alawlaki.com, November 9, 2009.
286 “not recruited by Al-Qaida”: “MEMRI TV Clip No. 3240: AQAP Video Features American-Yemeni Cleric Anwar al-Awlaki Calling On American Muslims to Either Leave or Follow the Example of Nidal Hassan,” transcript of AQAP-produced video featuring Anwar al Awlaki, November 2011, transcript from Middle East Research Institute (MEMRI), December 20, 2011, www.memritv.org/clip/en/3240.htm.
286 “undertake a full review”: Transcript, “Weekly Address: President Obama Calls for Comprehensive Review of Events Leading to Tragedy at Fort Hood,” November 14, 2009.
286 “most destructive terrorist attack”: Agence France-Presse, “Army Base Shooting Was ‘Terrorist Attack’: US Lawmaker,” November 18, 2009.
286 call for preemptive strikes: Jordan Fabian, “Lieberman: Yemen Will Be ‘Tomorrow’s War’ If Pre-emptive Action Not Taken,” Briefing Room (blog), The Hill, December 27, 2009, http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/73651-lieberman-yemen-will-be-tomorrows-war-if-preemptive-action-not-taken.
287 Wild West Domains: Author search, August 2011, http://who.is/whois/anwar-alawlaki.com/.
Dirty Wars Page 86
