Islamic chaplain is charged as spy (Guantanamo)

[DuctapeFatwa]

An Army Islamic chaplain, who counseled al Qaeda prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, naval base, has been charged with espionage, aiding the enemy and spying, The Washington Times has learned.

Capt. James J. Yee, a 1990 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., was arrested earlier this month by the FBI in Jacksonville, Fla., as he arrived on a military charter flight from Guantanamo, according to a law-enforcement source.

Agents confiscated several classified documents in his possession and interrogated him. He was held for two days in Jacksonville and transferred to a Navy brig in Charleston, S.C., where two Army lawyers have been assigned to his defense.

The Army has charged Capt. Yee with five offenses: sedition, aiding the enemy, spying, espionage and failure to obey a general order. The Army may also charge him later with the more serious charge of treason, which under the Uniform Code of Military Justice could be punished by a maximum sentence of life.

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030919-105619-9614r.htm

[Catch22Dem]

1. Whaaaaat the Fuuuuuuuck?

You gotta be kidding me!!!

[MetaTrope]

2. A bit high-profile for a spy?

http://www.asianweek.com/2001_11_09/news_chaplains.html
http://www.amafandvac.org/article.php?sid=13

Maybe Whistleass heard there was a Muslim in the Army...

[crimson333]

3. yeah my Dad told me about it last week

of course he didn't say who it was, but only that a chaplain was areested for spying. He is being assigned to gitmo bay for 6 months

[MaineDem]

4. Welcome to DU.

Glad to have you join us. :hi:

[crimson333]

5. thanks

I have actually been here about a year. I usually read instead of post.

[NNN0LHI]

6. What is the scuttlebut going around about this soldier if you can say?

And welcome to DU too. Don

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/local/4421117.htm

Army declares missing soldier dead

LOGAN, Ohio - A soldier missing from Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba was declared dead, but his family still hopes to find him alive, his mother said Friday.

"We just don't feel that the Army is looking hard enough. ... As far as we're concerned, he's been taken by somebody," said Ann Foraker, mother of Staff Sgt. Ryan Foraker.

Ryan Foraker, 31, who was married with two daughters, has been missing since Sept. 24 from Camp Delta, where 598 detainees accused of links to the Taliban or al-Qaida are held.

His wallet, military ID, and civilian shorts and T-shirt were found folded and stuck in a rock crevasse outside his barracks. The military suspects he climbed down nearby cliffs overlooking the sea and drowned.

more

[crimson333]

7. I am sorry

this is the first I have heard about it

[NNN0LHI]

8. Thank you very much anyway, Sir. Glad you are home

[kamtsa]

11. I would be more careful about posting to the entire world

You can never know who reads it (on both sides of the fence) and what the implications may be.

Just my 2c.

Kamtsa

[Whoa_Nelly]

14. The First Amendment

My right, and I love to live by it :-)

[dArKeR]

9. Muslim Chaplain Detained By Army - CBS

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/20/attack/main574345.shtml

[IndianaGreen]

10. If the Naval Criminal Investigative Service was involved in this case...

I would say the entire thing is bogus! The NCIS are the most incompetent group of investigators since Inspector Clouseau. Look at their smear of Petty Officer Clayton Hartwig, accused of being responsible for the 1989 explosion of the USS Iowa center gun because of a "homosexual affair."

[kamtsa]

12. It is so clear

Mulsim = good, US = bad. Who cares about the facts.

Kamtsa

[PsychoDad]

21. :)

Thanks for clearing things up for us.

I guess this is as good a place for my rant as any...

This is an interesting case. As a muslim, this chaplin is required by Islam to assist and aid his fellow muslim brothers and sisters in whatever way he can - legally. Most muslim scholars assert that a muslim must abide by the laws of the country he or she resides in. At the same time, the greatest jihad is to speak out against injustice and opression, thus it is the duty of every muslim to fight injustice, be it social, economic, etc, in whatever means legally possible.

This chaplin may be an american muslim, and a member of the armed forces, but by islam he still has an obligation to Allah, the Umma (the Islamic community worldwide) and to all of humanity.

Kamtsa, the facts here are not very clear. This man is accused of various crimes, but we have no particulars. It seems clear to me though, it is the duty of any chaplin to render aid and assistance to whoever requires it.

We do not yet know exactly what he is accused of doing, was he attempting to get legal assistance for some of the prisoners? Was he trying to redress the conditions? For all we know, he may have been attempting to point out that these prisoners have rights that should be protected under international treaties. Maybe he was just too friendly, or he refused to tell his superiours information related to him in confidence by some of the prisoners.

Or maybe he was just muslim. Muslim like so many people detained secretly and without concil since 9/11

Your equation, my friend, is not always right, but neither is muslim = bad U.S. = Always right and good

Salaam

[karlschneider]

13. Er, "five offenses: sedition, aiding the enemy, spying, espionage"

Isn't espionage the same as spying? :wtf: And what's with that one
bit "It isn't known how much damage he may have done"...are these "detainees" doing a lot of phoning and emailing to Afghanistan????
:crazy:

[PurityOfEssence]

15. Scratch another heart and mind

Ooh, sedition; that always sounds so deliciously arcane.

[Democat]

16. Was he a whistleblower?

What will be the story on this?

Was he trying to smuggle out proof of abuse or torture or was he really spying?

Will we ever know the truth?

[No Passaran]

17. NY Times: Suspicion Then Arrest for Muslim Army Cleric

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/21/national/21CHAP.html?ex=1064721600&en=9093525c6aec713d&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE

[IndianaGreen]

18. How did a Chaplain ever get a hold of classified information?????

I don't know of any Chaplain ever having access to anything higher than "For Official Use Only" the lowest of the low, right next to the Privacy Act information. If this Chaplain had any classified information on him, it was given to him by someone having access.

Something smells here...

[Scimmio]

19. given his background, life's path...

I would guess every charge is going to revolve around his private contact with 'detainees', the knowledge of who is and is not there at Gitmo, and the transport of messages between them and the outside world.

Whatever the degree of innocence or guilt, fanatic or framed, it will most probably concern, his side: he let some outside families know that a loved one was safe but detained, or their side: he was passing coded phrases to al Queda operatives in the outside world. Given his background and path to Islam, like John Walker Lindh or Jose Padilla, they'll be setting him as a major source of coded communications and an obvious threat to us all. It will be interesting to see if they consider him such a threat or position in the upcoming election year, that they actually attempt to apply Death Penalty charges.

[mainer]

20. he had list of detainees' names and map of their cells

This is being touted as the "incriminating evidence." Excuse me, but he was a chaplain, assigned the duty of ministering to their religious needs. This "incriminating evidence" strikes me as no different from the school teacher who has a seating chart for her classroom so she remembers her students' names.

How is this evidence of any "guilt"?

[pfitz59]

22. In Bush* Admin.....

Lists of "detainees" and their locations are a matter of NATIONAL SECURITY! For example: 'Muhammad Billy Bob' (alias), former wheat farmer caught up in chaos of war, now has same terrorist status as Osama and Saddam! Absurd!