Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Who is David Gaouette and what is his connection to Anwar al-Awlaki?
by Jerry Gordon
Fort Hood Jihadi mass shooter Major Nidal Hasan, has been widely reported to have had email contact with American-born radical Yemeni Anwar al-Awlaki. Awalaki, you may recall, had been a preacher at the radical Dar al Hijrah Mosque in Falls Church, Virginia frequented by Hasan and his family.
Awlaki's jihad-promoting website, in which he praises Hasan's recent murder of 13 people, called for attacks against the West. According to an
Awlaki said the only way a Muslim can justify serving in the U.S. military is if he intends to "follow in the footsteps of men like Nidal."
"Nidal Hassan (sic) is a hero. He is a man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people,
The Homeland Security Department's intelligence division became concerned about Awlaki late last year when he published a new group of violent lectures targeting U.S. audiences, according to a Jan. 22, 2009 intelligence note.
On Dec. 23, 2008, Awlaki, on his Web site, encouraged Muslims across the world to kill U.S. troops in Iraq. Awlaki also used these postings to declare his support for the Somali terrorist group, al-Shabaab, according to the Homeland Security intelligence note, obtained by The Associated Press.
In December of last year, Customs officials intercepted a flash drive of Awlaki's lectures that his wife sent from Yemen to an Islamic publishing house in Denver, the intelligence note said.
Awlaki was arrested in 2006 with a small group of suspected al-Qaida militants in the capital San'a. He was released more than a year later after signing a pledge he would not break the law or leave the country.
Awlaki first appeared on the FBI's radar in 1999 when he was indirectly in contact with the jailed blind sheik, Omar Abdel Rahman, who is currently serving a life sentence for his role in planning the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. In 2000, Awlaki met with Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid Almihdhar, 9-11 terrorists who participated in the attack on the Pentagon. In 2002, federal authorities intercepted Awlaki at JFK airport and were forced to release him, although he was on a terror watch list. Immediately following his release, Awlaki was escorted to a flight to Washington, D.C. by a representative of Saudi Arabia and remained briefly in Northern Virginia. In Virginia, Awlaki met with radical cleric Ali al-Timimi about recruiting Muslims for jihad. (In 2005, Al-Timimi was convicted in the Virginia Paintball Jihad Network case). Soon after, Awlaki, a suspected Al Qaeda recruiter and spiritual inspiration for multiple terror plots, relocated to the U.K and later to Yemen.
This brings us to David Gaouette, Obama appointee for Colorado US Attorney. David Gaouette, rescinded the 2002 felony arrest warrant for Awlaki signed by a federal judge in Denver. According to investigators, Gaouette had been fully briefed on Awlaki's alleged terrorist ties.
This past August, Gaouette was appointed to his present post by Attorney General Eric Holder. Presently, he claims unfamiliarity with the Awlaki case. The clerk's office for the Federal District Court in Colorado has been unable to provide a copy of the Awlaki arrest warrant.
Note this from a post on the
"The agent says the supervisory assistant U.S. Attorney on the case, David Gaouette, had been fully briefed on Awlaki's suspected terrorism ties. At the time, Gaouette oversaw all terror cases in the Denver-based District of Colorado, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office.
Gaouette, an assistant U.S. attorney since 1989, was appointed this August by President Obama as the U.S. Attorney for Colorado. When asked why Awlaki's arrest warrant had been rescinded, a public affairs officer said Gaouette was unfamiliar with the particulars of the Awlaki case, and would have to research it before he could comment. Gaouette's office did not reply to a request for a copy of the Awlaki arrest warrant. The clerk's office for the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado was also unable to provide a copy of the warrant, citing the age of the case and the fact that the warrant was rescinded."
"Investigators are mad as hell," said Paul Sperry, "and they have a valid point in asking whether a dozen soldiers would be alive today if they'd been allowed to put the screw to Awlaki when they had the chance."
Informed sources indicate that Awlaki arrived on a Saudi jet, worked for the Saudi Embassy and was probably protected by then Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar. Gaouette is viewed as a "career guy" who didn't make the call. (Apparently, arrest warrants signed by judges are rarely rescinded). Awlaki’s release was most likely ordered from the Justice Department or the White House. Sources claim that Awlaki was selected to facilitate the most critical cell on 9-11 - all-Saudi the Pentagon cell,.
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