Military Review English Edition May-June 2016 | Page 40

Awlaki’s importance was best illustrated by his
ideological and theological roles in the Boston bombing. I had the honor to serve as an expert for the U.S.
Attorney’s Office in the preparations for that trial,
which was the most significant post-9/11 attack until
San Bernardino, California, in December 2015.
In preparing the case, I was given access to the jihadi
materials found on the surviving Tsarnaev brother’s hard
drive, documents that have been disclosed during the
court proceedings and that should be mandatory reading
for all those who wish to understand how jihadi terrorism
is a living, breathing threat walking the streets of America.
Tsarnaev had multiple issues of the al-Qaida magazine Inspire downloaded from the Internet, as well as
a series of audio lectures by Awlaki titled, Hereafter,
which focus on the rewards a devout Muslim will receive in heaven when they become shaheed, martyrs in
the cause of the Caliphate.
In one of the issues of Inspire [online magazine]
from 2010, Awlaki pens his own article titled, “Shaykh
Anwar’s Message to the America People and the
Muslims of the West,” and includes the key statement:
I for one, was born in the U.S., and lived in the
U.S. for 21 years. America was my home. I was
a preacher of Islam involved in non-violent
Islamic activism. However, with the American
invasion of Iraq and continued U.S. aggression
against Muslims, I could not reconcile between living in the U.S. and being a Muslim,
and I eventually came to the conclusion that
jihad against America is binding upon myself, just
as it is binding on every other able Muslim.
Most significantly, Awlaki gives a very operational
choice to Muslims living in un-Islamic countries such
as America, a choice based upon the principle of al wala
al barra. Originally simply a call to do that which pleases Allah and reject that which Allah would not like,
Awlaki now tells Muslims of America and the West
that today al wala al barra must be understood thusly:
To the Muslims in America I have this to say:
How can your conscience allow you to live in
peaceful coexistence with a nation that is responsible for the tyranny and crimes committed
against your own brothers and sisters? How can
you have your loyalty to a government that is
leading the war against Islam and Muslims?

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Hence, my advice to you is this: you have
two choices: either hijra [migration] or jihad.
You either leave or you fight. You leave and
live among Muslims or you stay behind
and fight with your hand, your wealth and
your word. I specifically invite the youth to
either fight in the West or join their brothers in the fronts of jihad: Afghanistan, Iraq,
and Somalia.
Awalaki was the catalyst for several of the most serious attacks and jihadi conspiracies occurring on U.S.
soil after 9/11. His message, transmitted in professional
and attractive media, appealed to American citizens
and immigrants in ways that the old and stolid preachings of the senior al-Qaida never could.
Today his influence continues after his death, just
as it informed the Tsarnaev brothers in their attack
in Boston almost two full years after Hellfire missiles
killed Awlaki the man.

Assessment of Impact of Key Jihadi
Theorists
The message of a holy war is alive. It is stronger
than ever thanks to the former al-Qaida off-shoot
in Iraq deciding the time for Caliphate is here. The
new Islamic State will not stop until it is destroyed
or it destroys us. There are no negotiations with
totalitarians, especially religious totalitarians who
see the rest of the world as infidels to be converted,
enslaved, or killed.
For the last fifteen years, we have been losing this
war. Egregiously in fact, with tens of thousands killed
around the world in the name of Allah, and now in the
name of the new Caliphate of IS and its new emperor,
al-Baghdadi.
Jihad has become a threat to all that is decent in
the world and foremostly to America, the nation that
embodies the values of individual liberty and freedom
that is so antithetical to the global jihadi movement. So
what is to be done? How do we win? We learn from the
lessons of the last war we fought against totalitarians,
the Cold War we won against communism. We apply
the approach of George Kennan to understand the
threat against us and then we craft a strategic response
as good as Paul Nitze’s TOP SECRET NSC-68 to crush
our enemy.

May-June 2016  MILITARY REVIEW