Guantanamo guard converts to Islam, demands release of detainees

NY Daily News ^ | 5/30/13 | Carol Kuruvilla

[Impala64ssa]

Terry Holdbrooks was deployed to the Guantanamo Bay detention center to guard detainees. The Phoenix, Ariz., resident has become a devout Muslim and an unlikely advocate for the prisoners’ rights. Death threats are just another part of life for Terry Holdbrooks Jr.

The ex-U.S. Army employee converted to Islam in 2003, inspired by the faith of the Guantanamo detainees he was charged with watching. Since then, he says he has lost his friends, received violent threats, and been labeled a “race traitor” online.

But he hasn’t gone quietly. The 29-year-old has done his fair share of media and has even signed on for a job as a speaker for the Muslim Legal Fund of America. Now the devout Muslim is racking up frequent flyer miles and touring the country with what he calls the “truth about Gitmo.”

“Gitmo was supposed to be a cushy deployment since we were just going to babysit detainees,” Holdbrooks said. “But it changed me.”

The Phoenix, Ariz., resident spent the year between 2003 and 2004 guarding U.S. military prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He was often given the job of escorting detainees to interrogation rooms. He says he witnessed atrocities committed by his fellow American soldiers that he never thought were possible.snip Wary of misinterpretation, Holdbrooks makes sure to speak to reporters and his lecture audiences with precision. He clarifies everything he says, knowing all the while every public appearance will result in some sort of condemnation. Still, he pores through the hundreds of crude Internet comments to see if someone has heard his message.

“The people who write these negative comments think they’re Islamic scholars,” Holdbrooks said. “But they’re actually making massive generalized statements about something they have no idea about.”

[Impala64ssa]

Islamic scholar? Now that's what I call an oxymoron.

[BlessedBeGod]

Damned fool.

[Christie at the beach]

Couldn’t be responsible to his job nor his country.

What a insane situation. sympathizes with the terrorists.

Duh, traitor.

[Sheapdog]

Useful idiot looking for a quick promotion.

[leapfrog0202]

Just when you think people cannot get more stupid, you read this kind of stuff. I don’t even know what to say.

[Bogey78O]

Same old story. Fills hatred in his heart toward all religion then finds a religion that redirects that hatred to the society that he holds in contempt.

Oh, and the kicker about his alcoholism after he left Guantanamo (post conversion) is golden. Another brain-fried convert.

[onyx]

He’s a mess. He looks like a _ussy.
Rhymes with wussy.

[jeffc]

Since then, he says he has lost his friends, received violent threats, and been labeled a “race traitor” online.

And now, NY Daily News, please do a followup report on what happens to muslims who convert to another belief. Do people of the "peaceful religion" allow them to go freely? Or does the "religion of peace" disown them, call out violent threats and actually carry them?

What say you, NY Daily News?

[dalereed]

Convert him from guard to inmate!!!

[James C. Bennett]

If this is worrisome, check the following out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4ceawF4fDY&sns=em

Turning Muslim In Texas

The cancer has metastasised thoroughly all over the US, including Texas.

[Cold Heat]

The people who write these negative comments think they’re Islamic scholars,” Holdbrooks said. “But they’re actually making massive generalized statements about something they have no idea about.”

Oh sure....The 1 yr expert on gitmo and now the religion of peace. Nope.....we don't understand a thing do we...

This is the same prattle we have been listening to while they kill our sodiers, blow up our civilians and bomb public events..

[Cold Heat]

This has been going a lot longer than most think.

I still remember when Malcolm x turned Cassius Clay.

[Amberdawn]

I’ve sent this story to thisainthell.us. They can check on this guy’s story and whether or not he was even deployed to Guantanamo. We’ll see what they turn up.

[Telepathic Intruder]

"He says he witnessed atrocities committed by his fellow American soldiers that he never thought were possible"

So he says. People who make these claims are always a little skiddish on details. And then the "horrible treatment" turns out just to be a lack of air conditioning, or the smell of bacon in the guards' breakfast wafting into their cells. Never a mention of their free Korans and prayer rugs, over-catering to their religious sensitivities. It's part of the al Qaeda play book, in fact, to complain about torture in Gitmo once they're released, even if they have to lie. So how can you trust anything they say? You can't.

[2ndDivisionVet]

If I convert to Zoroastrianism and plead for a mansion and a new car, is that news?

[windsorknot]

Terry, ya big dhimmi!

[Irenic]

I suppose he will get a special meeting with Obama now. Isn’t Obama to be traveling coast to coast to hear from muslims and on what they want?

[MaxMax]

He could have gotten more attention if he just converted to Gay.
Now he has to stick his ass in the air five times a day with no satisfaction.

[CottShop]

[[Guantanamo guard converts to Islam, demands release of detainees]]

Deamnds? Or else what? Shoudl this guard be behind bars too? Sorta kinda sounds like it for his treasonous demands

[Prince of Space]

This kid lived around the corner from us and was “friends” with my son in high school. He was kinda odd even then, and I felt sorry for him because he lived with his grandmother in Scottsdale and seemed like a lost soul.