His parents divorced and after a falling out with his mother he moved in with his father.
In 2002 he joined the US Army. He didn't have anything better to do, and he was inclined towards anger. He didn't make it through basic training.
In 2004 he converted to Islam. The circumstances surrounding his conversion have not been reported thus far.
Round about 2006 he started spending time at the mosque in Selden, aka The Islamic Association of Long Island. The Mosque is largely attended by Pakistanis.
He had his own computer in his room at his dad's house - the FBI has possession of it now. It's not clear from the reporting whether it was before or after his conversion that he started hanging out on jihadi websites, but his online activities were significant enough for government officials to describe him as having largely self-radicalized on the Internet. It wasn't radicalization that got him to Waziristan, however.
On September 10 of 2007 he split Long Island for Lahore, telling his father he was off to study Arabic and Islam. Within three weeks he had made it to the al-Qaida training camp, where he was welcomed without hesitation. Someone back in New York vouched for him. He was put through a round of religious indoctrination followed by basic training in terrorist tradecraft, where he specialized in explosives.
A year later the feds came around for the first time, asking questions after the 20 September 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad. It's not clear what the connection is between him and that event. It appears no charges were filed against him related to that incident - perhaps he was observed gloating about it on some jihadi website...
In November of 2008 he travelled to Peshawar to "buy supplies and use the Internet." Among other things, he was corresponding with individuals in Europe who were planning to carry out an attack. That's when he was picked up by the Pakistanis, who promptly turned him over to the FBI. It's a safe bet that it wasn't the first time he'd made that run to Peshawar, and it speaks to the shear incompetence of al-Qaida that he was allowed to do so. Lucky for us - too bad for them.
The critical period for his radicalization was clearly prior to his departure for Afghanistan, or roughly 2004-2007. They were special days online - different than now...
I'm not quite ready to turn this into a coherent argument, but my thoughts include the following:
* Most of the sites the jihadis gravitate to, and that the rest of us watch, are the work of just a handful of people.
* Most of the activity on those sites is the responsibility of just a handful of people on each site, with a degree of cross-over between sites.
* As a consequence of these two points, the particular individuals who dominate the scene at any given point in time may have a profound effect on the course that others' lives take.
Would this same young man have been so radicalized had he happened on the scene today? I suspect not. People come and people go, and there is no reason to believe that the next generation will be of the same caliber as the last. My own assessment is that the current crop of jihadis online are a pretty lame bunch, but even if true that is hardly reassuring: the hotheads of two years ago are in the pipeline. It will be another two years before we see any benefit on the ground from a downturn in activism online - assuming such a downturn is more than just my imagination.
Bashir al-Ameriki, born Bryant Neal Vinas, was in the right place at the right time. He caught a wave of online jihadi activism dominated by some really interesting and aggressive individuals, and he rode that wave all the way to glory - sort of. Now he's a prized possession of the United States of America. I have to assume there are a number of indictments either pending or under seal, because Bashir likes to talk.
Sources:
L.I. Man Helped Qaeda, Then Informed
U.S.-born militant who fought for Al Qaeda is in custody
Internet Key in Vets Treason UPDATE: Key in Arrest!
U.S. Recruit Reveals How Qaeda Trains Foreigners
Posted on 24 July 2009 @ 15:30