CHR - USAID + THE BIG GRIFT

TOP LINE

The USAID grift began 30 years ago for the first American targeted for death by the CIA.  

Anwar al-Awlaki, the godfather of al Qaeda’s digital jihad to radicalize Americans, rose through the terror group’s ranks to a leadership position within its affiliate al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

The dual US-YEMENI citizen, also known as “TRIPLE A” by FBI agents, used our government systems against us and leveraged the goodwill of his fellow Americans. 

It’s a pattern that repeats itself with some regularity and tragic consequences.  

DEEP DIVE

Anwar al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces New Mexico, where his parents lived at the time, and later grew up in Yemen.

When he went to college, Awlaki gamed the system.  He applied for tuition assistance through the State Department and USAID for his studies at Colorado State University.   Awlaki was not eligible for financial support as a US citizen, so he used his Yemeni passport to secure $20,000 in scholarship money.

Awlaki wasn’t a terrorist in 1990, but he was a liar. It was the beginning of the big grift.   

When the Joint Terrorism Task Force investigated Awlaki after 9/11 for his relationship and material support of hijackers in San Diego and Virginia, a seasoned federal investigator ran down the scholarship scam. Unfortunately, the statute of limitations had run out.

State Department Diplomatic Security Agent Ray Fournier then discovered Awlaki made false statements to secure a J-1 visa which is a non-immigrant visa for education. Once in the US, Awlaki applied for a Social Security Number falsely claiming he was born in Yemen. 

Awlaki used the fraudulently obtained Social Security Number to scam a US passport.  When Fournier secured an arrest warrant for passport fraud, a holding charge which would have allowed 9/11 investigators to question Awlaki, that warrant was dismissed by David Gaouette, then the US attorney in Colorado. 

Timing matters: the arrest warrant was rescinded at the request of FBI agent Wade Ammerman as Awlaki re-entered the US in 2002 . When I reached Ammerman for comment more than a decade ago, he muttered “I don’t think anyone wants me talking ‘bout what I was involved in.”

The American cleric went on to become the public face of al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen, the group behind the 2009 underwear bomb plot, the 2010 cargo printer bomb plot and others.   Don’t be fooled by the conventional narrative that Awlaki was radicalized after 9/11.  

There is strong evidence produced by an FBI investigation codenamed “Operation Encore” that Awlaki was central to the domestic support network for the Saudi hijackers.  

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