In the age of YouTube, Mr. Awlaki’s death — or martyrdom, in the view of his followers — has hardly reduced his impact. The Internet magazine Inspire, which he oversaw along with another American, Samir Khan, has continued to spread not just militant rhetoric but also practical instructions on shooting and bomb-making.
In effect, Mr. Awlaki has become a leading brand name in the world of armed jihad. He operated mainly in English, the language of global commerce, and has helped attract a diverse group of volunteers. The four attacks were carried out by a Nigerian banker’s son, a British college student, two Chechen immigrants to Massachusetts and two Frenchmen of Algerian background. His pronouncements continue to provide a supposed religious rationale for thuggish acts vehemently denounced by the overwhelming majority of Muslims and Islamic authorities.
Mr. Awlaki also became the face in the West of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or A.Q.A.P., as it is widely known. Against the odds, the group, which was formally created in early 2009 by Yemeni and Saudi militants, has supplanted Al Qaeda’s old core in Pakistan as the terrorist organization most feared by the United States and now, perhaps, by Europe as well…
“Awlaki’s name still pops up pretty often in cases of Western radicals, but given the amount of time since his death, it is unusual to see a case where the suspects actually met him,” said J. M. Berger, a fellow with the Brookings Institution’s project on American relations with the Islamic world who has studied Mr. Awlaki. “It reflects the long lead time on this plot. We may never know if this attack was formulated back then, or if the targets or particulars changed over time.”
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