Yet another convert who misunderstands his new religion. Shouldn’t the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) begin a program to teach new converts the true, peaceful teachings of Islam that they are always so anxious to tell unbelievers about?
Vinas, meanwhile, coulda been a martyr, enjoying the Qur’an’s promised heavenly virgins (56:35-38) forever, as per the Qur’anic promise: “Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight in His cause, and slay and are slain…” (9:111).
An update on this story. “New Yorker says he would have been suicide bomber,” by Nic Robertson and Paul Cruickshank for CNN, July 24 (thanks to all who sent this in):
A New York man who pleaded guilty in January to charges of aiding al Qaeda was ready to be a suicide bomber for the organization, but was told he needed more religious instruction, according to a document obtained by CNN on Thursday.
Bryant Neal Vinas gave an interview in March to Belgian prosecutors as part of a terrorism case there involving a cell he was associated with. CNN obtained the prosecution-prepared interview summary document from a Belgian defense attorney, and it was authenticated by both a federal prosecutor in New York and Vinas’ defense attorney.
The French-language document gives a detailed picture of how Vinas traveled from New York to Pakistan and what he did while he was there.
Vinas pleaded guilty in January to charges of conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals, providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and receiving military-type training from a foreign terrorist organization, the FBI said Wednesday.
He admitted involvement in an attack on a U.S. military base in Afghanistan in September 2008, according to an indictment filed under seal and made public Wednesday. In addition, authorities said he provided al Qaeda with information about the New York transit system and the Long Island Railroad.
Vinas, 26, is an American citizen, said a source close to the investigation. He was arrested in Pakistan, the source said.
According to the document obtained Thursday, the Queens, New York-born Vinas converted from Catholicism to Islam in 2004. He hooked up with al Qaeda in Pakistan three years later, and by September 2007 was determined to wage jihad in Afghanistan, the document says….