“”There were some statements that were inflammatory, and were considered just talk, but now we realize that talk can be taken seriously and acted upon in a violent radical way,’ said Mr. Al-Awlaki, who at 30 is held up as a new generation of Muslim leader capable of merging East and West.” — Laurie Goodstein, “A Nation Challenged: The American Muslims; Influential American Muslims Temper Their Tone,” New York Times, October 19, 2001
“Yemen cleric criticizes Yemen for helping US,” from The Associated Press, February 13 (thanks to Block Ness):
A U.S.-born radical Yemeni cleric with links to al-Qaida slammed the Yemeni government for cooperating with the U.S. in strikes on locals in an audio message posted on Sunday.
According to the translation by the U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group which monitors radical websites, Ayman al-Awlaki said it was a crime that the Yemeni government was helping the U.S. to bomb the people of Yemen….
Al-Awlaki, thought to be hiding in Yemen, is believed to have inspired and even plotted or helped coordinate some of the recent attacks on the U.S. That includes the failed Christmas Day 2009 bombing of an airliner heading for Detroit, Michigan, and the also unsuccessful plot to send mail bombs on planes from Yemen to the United States in October….