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the primary US sources of intelligence on AQAP and Awlaki, with intelligence analysts scouring each new issue for clues about his whereabouts or potential new plots. “ The more the US talked about
Inspire and Anwar al-Awlaki, the more the media focused on the magazine and the man, which then resulted in AQAP promoting them more and more, essentially taking advantage of free advertising,” recalled Gregory Johnsen, the Princeton University Yemen scholar. “It was a bit of a shock to see the US government’s reaction to
Inspire
, as AQAP had been saying many of the same things for years—only they had been saying it in Arabic in the pages of
Sada al-Malahim
. When
Inspire
was first published, a lot of people in the US government who didn’t have the tools to read
Sada al-Malahim
suddenly found out what AQAP had been saying, which, coming in the months after the attempted Christmas Day bombing in 2009, led to an overreaction and a sense of panic within certain agencies.”
    Awlaki and Khan seemed to take great pride in the reaction of the US government to
Inspire
. In subsequent issues,
Inspire
would highlight quotes from US officials condemning the magazine and reacting to the various threats published in its pages. Samir Khan was suddenly a star figure in the international jihadi scene. “Khan is widely believed by all serious scholars to be the editor of
Inspire
magazine. This is not only because of his articles being published in it, but because of the similaritybetween it and Khan’s previous
Jihad Recollections
publication, which he edited and posted online prior to his trip to Yemen,” said Zelin. In Yemen, Khan began to develop a close relationship with Awlaki, a man he had long admired from afar. “Khan is someone who clearly idolized Awlaki both for his preaching and for the stance he took with his life,” said Johnsen. Eventually, he added, Khan would become a “sort of executive aide” to Awlaki. And Anwar Awlaki was putting himself out front in a clear alliance with AQAP. His connections to previous plots had been vague. Now he was openly encouraging assassinations of specific people around the world.
    AQAP leader Nasir al Wuhayshi clearly saw value in the US obsession with Awlaki. So much so that he actually sent a message to Osama bin Laden proposing that he name Awlaki as the new head of AQAP. On August 27, 2010, bin Laden ordered his deputy Shaykh Mahmud, also known as Atiya Abdul Rahman, to relay a message to Wuhayshi. Bin Laden seemed to view Awlaki as an ally and a potentially valuable asset to al Qaeda’s goals. The problem, bin Laden explained, was that Awlaki was an unknown quantity to al Qaeda central, a man who had yet to prove his mettle in actual jihad. “The presence of some of the characteristics by our brother Anwar...is a good thing, in order to serve Jihad,” bin Laden wrote, adding that he wanted “a chance to be introduced to him more.” Bin Laden explained, “Over here, we are generally assured after people go to the battlefield and are tested there.” He asked Wuhayshi for “the resumé, in detail and lengthy, of the brother Anwar al-Awlaki,” as well as a written statement from Awlaki himself explaining his “vision in detail.” Wuhayshi, bin Laden asserted, should “remain in his position where he is qualified and capable of running the matter in Yemen.”
    Samir Khan relished his newfound fame and penned numerous essays holding up his own experience as an example for other young Westerners to join the jihad. “I am a traitor to America because my religion requires me to be one. A traitor can either be praiseworthy or despicable. The good and bad are defined by a certain political agenda in the eyes of someone,” Khan wrote. “I am proud to be a traitor in America’s eyes just as much as I am proud to be a Muslim; and I take this opportunity to accentuate my oath of