Fugitive cleric's dad to U.S.: Give me time to talk him out of hiding [View All]

Fugitive cleric's dad to U.S.: Give me time to talk him out of hiding

By Paula Newton

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- The father of a fugitive Muslim-American cleric is asking the United States to suspend its manhunt for his son for three months.

Nasser al-Awlaki, the father of Anwar al-Awlaki, said that if the U.S. suspends the "kill or capture" order on his son, he will do his best to persuade him to come out of hiding.

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A U.S. official confirmed on Wednesday that the U.S. government has targeted Anwar al-Awlaki for killing or capture.

The official, who is not authorized to speak publicly about the matter, said, "We would be remiss if we didn't find ways to pursue someone who is a serious threat to this country and has plotted against Americans."

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The subsequent chain of events was a chilling demonstration of Aulaqi's power as an al-Qaeda facilitator: On Nov. 5, U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Hasan killed 13 of his fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, Tex.; Hasan had exchanged 18 or more e-mails with Aulaqi in the months before the shootings, according to the Associated Press. Then, on Christmas Day, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian who had been living in Yemen, tried to blow up an airliner bound for Detroit; he is said to have confessed later that Aulaqi was one of his trainers for this mission.

The Aulaqi case is worth revisiting, for several reasons. With the advantage of hindsight, it seems clear that he was indeed a dangerous person. If the United States had helped the Yemenis capture him, this might have disrupted the actions of Hasan and Abdulmutallab. So it's useful to examine the rules that limited action in October and the quality of intelligence that was available for decision-makers.

Such retrospective analysis is unfair, to be sure, but it provides a useful lens for assessing policy choices. After Sept. 11, 2001, there were detailed investigations of the Clinton administration's failure to capture or kill Osama bin Laden in the late 1990s and of the Bush administration's failure to heed warnings before the 2001 terrorist attacks.

What's surprising about the Aulaqi case is just how much information the FBI and CIA already had on him. At least two of the Sept. 11 hijackers had attended a mosque where he preached in San Diego. His phone number was found in the Hamburg apartment of Ramzi Binalshibh, often described as "the 20th hijacker." The FBI was interested in Aulaqi even before Sept. 11, because of his alleged fundraising for Hamas. So there was U.S. intelligence concern about him as a possible al-Qaeda operative dating back nearly a decade.

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