One of the most notorious terror leaders in the world – the man who influenced both the Fort Hood shootings and the failed Times Square bomb attack – lunched at the Pentagon after 9/11 as part of an ill-conceived Muslim outreach effort, according to Fox News. Anwar Al-Awlaki, the first American on the CIA’s kill or capture list, was invited to a Pentagon by a current Defense Department employee who recently admitted to investigators she brought the imam into defense headquarters.
Documents exclusively obtained by Fox News indicate the employee “attended this talk and while she arrived late she recalls being impressed by this imam. He condemned Al Qaeda and the terrorist attacks. During his talk he was ‘harassed’ by members of the audience and suffered it well,” reads one document.
“At that period in time, the secretary of the Army (redacted) was eager to have a presentation from a moderate Muslim,” the documents read. In addition, Awlaki “was considered to be an ‘up and coming’ member of the Islamic community. After her vetting, Aulaqi (Awlaki) was invited to and attended a luncheon at the Pentagon in the secretary of the Army's Office of Government Counsel.”
The invitation came even as it was well known that Awlaki had ties to the 9/11 terrorists Awlaki was interviewed at least four times by the FBI in the first week after the attacks because of his ties to the three hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi, Khalid al-Mihdhar and Hani Hanjour. The three hijackers were all onboard Flight 77 that slammed into the Pentagon. Apparently, none of the FBI’s information about Awlaki was shared with the Pentagon. Former Army Secretary Tommy White, who led the Army in 2001, said he doesn’t have any recollection of the luncheon or any contact with Awlaki.
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