Writing in the UAE-based paper The National, H.A. Hellyer argued that “misjudgments and bad commentary” about the Shahzad case were amplified by mainstream U.S. media. In his article, titled “Shahzad’s Story Doesn’t Fit the Tired Narrative,” Hellyer pointed to how Shahzad came from a “well-to-do family in Pakistan, lived a relatively non-religious life until quite recently and was extremely happy to be in the US” as evidence suggesting that Shahzad was not the stereotypical Muslim “sleeper” waiting patiently “for an opportune time to carry out an attack.” Hellyer expressed skepticism about Shahzad’s purported changes in recent years, saying, “It has been suggested that he was influenced by Awlaki…but that suggestion may be making its rounds on account of the fact that the Obama administration has reportedly authorized al-Awlaki’s assassination.”Dr. HA Hellyer, “Shahzad’s Story Doesn’t fit the Tired Narrative,” Al Arabiya, May 13, 2010, http://www.alarabiya.net/views/2010/05/13/108464.html.