Exploring middle class jihadists
Program note: CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson spent a year investigating convicted terrorist, Bryant Neal Vinas. He is now on assignment in Pakistan tracking down details of Times Square bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad. Watch AC360° tonight at 10pm ET to see Parts 2 & 3 of Robertson's report. Watch CNN"s "American Al Qaeda: The Story of Bryant Neal Vinas" on Saturday and Sunday, May 15-16, at 8pm ET.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/05/11/art.vert.bryantnealvinas.jpg caption="Bryant Neal Vinas, a convicted terrorist, grew up in a comfortable middle-class family in Long Island, NY. " width=292 height=320]
CNN
They are middle-class, some (by their home country's standards) even well-off. They are often college educated. They are settled in the United States or elsewhere in the West, far from the chaos or sectarian strife of their homelands; they are supposedly "assimilated." But somehow they cast off a life of comfort and drift toward extreme views before embracing political violence inspired by a sense of grievance or alienation.
It is a pattern seen time and again as terrorist plots have been uncovered in the United States. Afghan native Najibullah Zazi; Pakistani-American David Headley; Bryant Neal Vinas, the U.S.-born son of Latino immigrants; and Nigerian student Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, charged with trying to bring down an airliner over Detroit, Michigan, on December 25.
Zazi, who confessed to plotting to use weapons of mass destruction in a suicide bomb attack on the New York subway, was not well-off. But his family was well-established in the United States. His uncle in Denver, Colorado (with whom he lived for part of 2009), owns a spacious house in a pleasant suburb. Zazi attended High School in Flushing, New York, and although religious showed no signs of Islamist militancy as a student. He played billiards and basketball and later ran a coffee-cart business in Wall Street. His patrons described him as likeable, with a ready smile.
Vinas also had a comfortable middle-class upbringing in Long Island and was a baseball fanatic. Neighbors and friends describe him as a courteous, respectful student. Rita Desroches, a neighbor whose son was a good friend of Vinas', describes him as a "very sweet little guy. He could come here any time any minute. Just walk in. He was always welcome."
Abdulmutallab, the young Nigerian who is accused of trying to blow up a U.S. airliner, had a privileged upbringing. He attended one of West Africa's best schools: the British School in Lome. His father is a prominent banker in Nigeria; the family had an expensive apartment in London, England, where Abdulmutallab studied mechanical engineering. He traveled widely – to the United States and the Persian Gulf.
Gallery: Portrait of an American Al Qaeda
Program Note: CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson spent a year investigating convicted terrorist, Bryant Neal Vinas. He is now on assignment in Pakistan tracking down details of Times Square bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad. Watch AC360° at 10 p.m. ET. to see Parts 2 & 3 of Robertson's report. Watch Part 1 on AC360.com. Watch CNN"s "American Al Qaeda: The Story of Bryant Neal Vinas" on Saturday and Sunday, May 15-16, at 8pm ET.
AC360°
Bryant Neal Vinas, a former altar boy from the suburbs of New York, planned an attack on U.S. soil that could have caused massive casualties. See a photo gallery of Bryant throughout his childhood.
Bryant Neal Vinas
Is Pres. Obama leading, or ducking blame on oil?
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/05/04/art.boecon0504.gi.jpg]Editor's note: David Frum writes a weekly column for CNN.com. The opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of David Frum. A special assistant to President Bush in 2001-02, he is the author of six books, including "Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again" and is the editor of FrumForum.
David Frum
Special to CNN
The biggest environmental disaster in recent American history reveals an important "leadership secret" of Barack Obama:
Although President Obama has not entirely escaped blame for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, he has certainly gotten off lightly.
Why? Well, who is there to criticize him? It was not Obama who chanted "drill, baby, drill." Yes, he issued an order in March allowing more offshore drilling. But that order was squeezed from him by Republican pressure. Can the Republicans now blast him for a decision they demanded?
Obama used the same method in Afghanistan. He pondered his Afghan surge for months. The delay maddened the president's opponents, who urged action, action, action. If anything goes wrong in Afghanistan - here again, the president was visibly forced.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said three months ago that ending the ban on gays in the military would be the "right thing to do." CentCom commander David Petraeus agreed "the time has come." Where's the president? At the back of the line.
Maybe you think the economy is recovering too sluggishly? Don't blame the president! He didn't write the stimulus - Congress did. Hate TARP? It was Bush's policy, the president only continued it. Why did health care drag on for 15 months? The president was letting the process unfold.
Craigslist home invasion suspects arraigned
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Gabriel Falcon
AC360° Writer
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/05/11/art.berniard.higashi.jpg]
Three men accused of killing a Washington State man after he posted an ad on craigslist were arraigned Monday.
Clabon Terrel Bernaird, 23; Kiyoshi A. Higashi, 22; and Joshua N. Reese, 20, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, robbery and assault, Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Linquist said. If convicted, they face potential sentences of around 70-years in prison, Lindquist told CNN.
Amanda C. Knight, 21, pleaded not guilty to the same charges last week, Lindquist said. He added that the four defendants are each being held on $2 million bail at the Pierce County jail. Their next court appearance is scheduled for June 9.
Dear President Obama #477 "Playing Supreme Court Jeopardy"
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Tom Foreman | BIO
AC360° Correspondent
Reporter's Note: President Obama has made his pick for the next Supreme Court justice. It’s not me. Which I guess you might have guessed by the fact that I am writing yet another letter to the man in White House. Because, you know…I would have just talked to him at the press conference. Oh well…
Dear Mr. President,
Is it just me or is this whole business of picking a Supreme Court justice a bit more problematic than one might think? Seems like we were being pelted with headlines about all the good and bad of Elena Kagan before you’d even said her name. As best I can make out she is either Mother Teresa reincarnated or the Vampire Lestat, depending on your source.
I don’t think I could take it. I mean, I’m a tough guy and all, but I just wouldn’t want my wife, kids, and the mailman to go through all the turmoil of people plundering our past, writing all sorts of lies about me, or even worse, the truth! Think about all of the things any one of us might have done that would cause shame, or humiliation, or at least rampant blushing if it were made public. For example, all those old student papers you politicos seem to dig up whenever someone gets a date with the hot seat.
I can’t even remember most of the papers I wrote, but like most high school and college kids I had strong opinions on issues which, in retrospect, I didn’t understand. I am reminded of my famous climb to the top of the town water tower where I unfurled a handmade banner protesting the cancellation of Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp. I thought it was an anti-Simian thing, but it turns out the ratings were just bad. Go figure.
And I don’t want to even mention my 3-and-a-half hour hunger strike for the return of the McRib sandwich. (Come to think of it, usually it’s much easier to have fervent views about things you don’t comprehend. Hmm..that may explain some of the behavior I’ve seen around Capitol Hill.)
Video: Making of an American Al Qaeda
Program note: CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson spent a year investigating convicted terrorist, Bryant Neal Vinas. He is now on assignment in Pakistan tracking down details of Times Square bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad. Watch AC360° tonight at 10pm ET to see Parts 2 & 3 of Robertson's report. Watch CNN"s "American Al Qaeda: The Story of Bryant Neal Vinas" on Saturday and Sunday, May 15-16, at 8pm ET.
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