(CNN) -- Samir Khan was proud to be a traitor. In a way, he was among the most dangerous of al Qaeda terrorists. By turning his back on the country he grew up in, he gained credibility and coupled that with his intimate knowledge of Western culture to become a driving force behind a powerful al Qaeda propaganda machine. The one-time North Carolina resident, who U.S. and Yemeni officials say was killed with Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in a drone strike Friday morning, used his knowledge of computers to help produce a glossy, Western-style magazine called Inspire that touted the edicts of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP.
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Khan was a driving force behind a powerful al Qaeda propaganda machine
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He produced a Western-style magazine called Inspire that touted the edicts of AQAP
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He was killed along with Anwar al-Awlaki, U.S. and Yemeni officials say
Many of the answers are provided by Khan himself in an article he penned for @placeholder titled, "I Am Proud to Be a Traitor to America."