Army Cleric Who Ministered to Detainees Is Arrested

NY TIMES ^ | ERIC LICHTBLAU

[WillowyDame]

ASHINGTON, Sept. 20 — An Islamic chaplain in the United States Army who ministered to detainees at the camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where the military holds captured militants and suspected terrorists is now himself under arrest while the Army investigates his activities, military and law enforcement officials said today.

The chaplain, Capt. James J. Yee, also known as Youssef Yee, has not been charged either by the military or by civilian authorities, the officials said. His case is being investigated by the Army and if he is charged, it would most likely be under the military justice code, they said.

Military officials declined to say why Captain Yee, a 1990 graduate of West Point who converted to Islam, was being investigated. But a civilian law enforcement official said that the investigation was aimed at suspicions of espionage, improperly assisting the prisoners or some other breach of military duties.

The arrest was reported in The Washington Times today.

A second law enforcement official said that the military had opened its investigation of Captain Lee before he left Guantánamo and that when he was searched upon arriving at the naval air station in Jacksonville, Fla., investigators found what appeared to be sketches or diagrams of the prisoner facilities at Guantánamo.

Investigators are looking into the possibility that he was sympathetic to prisoners there and was preparing to aid them in some undetermined way.

"That's the fear and the suspicion that the Army is pursuing," the second law enforcement official said.

The camp at the American naval base at Guantánamo, where Captain Yee was stationed, holds mostly foreigners captured in fighting in Afghanistan, Pakistan or elsewhere after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Most of them are Muslims, and the military has provided them with Islamic clerics since the camp was established.

The military prison at Charleston, S.C., where Captain Yee was transferred after being arrested in Jacksonville, has also been used to hold suspects facing charges as enemy combatants who might be subjected to trial by military antiterrorism tribunals. But Captain Yee's case is unlikely to be handled that way, officials said.

Instead, as an American citizen and an active duty officer, he might be subjected to charges of violating military law, if the investigation finds grounds for any such charges.

Spokesmen for the Army's Southern Command, confirming that Captain Yee was arrested on Sept. 10 and held since then, said that he had been provided military lawyers to defend himself but declined to give their names. Under military law, they said, he must be given a trial within 120 days of his arrest.

Captain Yee was raised in Springfield, N.J. After graduating from West Point, he served on active duty as an air defense artillery officer, a military spokesman told The Associated Press. He left the Army in the mid-1990's and moved to Syria, the spokesman said. He returned to the United States and re-entered the Army as an Islamic chaplain.

Captain Yee's father and sister declined to comment on the case.

Military officers refused to discuss the reasons for his arrest, saying that would violate his rights.

Civilian officials involved in the case said that their role was secondary, as agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation assisted in the arrest itself and sat in on interviews conducted by military investigators in Jacksonville. The F.B.I. also executed a search warrant in Miami at an apartment that was apparently used by Captain Yee, officials said.

The prisoners at the camp are held under strict supervision but are given some religious amenities. As chaplain, Captain Yee arranged to have recordings of the ritual calls to prayer broadcast through the camp, and to reassure the prisoners their food was prepared according to Islamic dietary guidelines.

Captain Yee has been portrayed in news accounts as a model of a Muslim cleric in American uniform. He occasionally spoke to journalists visiting Guantanamo and was cited as a source before going there. In a typical interview, published by Scripps Howard News Service a month after the Sept. 11 attacks, he said: "An act of terrorism, the taking of innocent civilian lives is prohibited by Islam, and whoever has done this needs to be brought to justice, whether he is Muslim or not."

Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said that while he was not familiar with the facts of the case, "we certainly hope that this man is given all his rights to due process."

Mr. Hooper added, however, that "there are those in our society who love to question the patriotism of American Islamics and this unfortunately will give them ammunition to do that, no matter what the facts of the case are."

[WillowyDame]

now we have to worry about asian boys too!!??

[Travis McGee]

Radical Islam is an insane murder cult; "moderate" Islam is its Trojan Horse in the West.

And in the U.S. military.

[jocon307]

"[T]he military has provided them with Islamic clerics since the camp was established."

Yeah, and all the while, we should have been converting them to Christianity!

Ann Coulter was right!

[RLK]

Amen.

[dandavis]

I smell a potential Presidential pardon in this guy's future if Hellery gets the keys to the old, white frat house.

[BlessedBeGod]

In Breaking News yesterday: Islamic chaplain is charged as spy

[gracex7]

"now we have to worry about asian boys too!!??"

There are more Muslims in Asia than in the Middle East.

I would note that he spent time in Syria, a well known bosom-buddy ally of the USA. Once again PC rules beat out common sense when the Army decided to bring this guy back as a chaplain.

[grania]

I just checked his college yearbook writeup. The only activity listed there is four years of Wrestling. No clues to a future as a cleric or an activist there.

[putupon]

Captain Yee has been portrayed in news accounts as a model of a Muslim cleric in American uniform.

The media probably has it right, for a change.

[jaykay]

Also: Military confirms Muslim chaplain had secret papers

[leadpenny]

Almost exactly 24 hours ago.

[Zipporah]

Captain Yee has been portrayed in news accounts as a model of a Muslim cleric in American uniform.

Maybe in that lays the problem.

[Guillermo]

I'm surprised the headline didn't say "Army Chaplain."

Not surprising that they didn't say "Muslim," and I wonder how many of their readers know a "cleric" is a Muslim teacher.

[ConservativeStandUP]

Immediately transfer all muslim members of the us armed forces to the Island of Diego Garcia, for 'special training' in a 'special camp' run only for them.

[Peach]

He lived in Syria for a number of years to learn about Islam

[binreadin]

Particularly those who have lived in Syria for four years!!

[jimbo123]

Yee, a West Point graduate, was carrying sketches and diagrams of the prison, according to Sunday's New York Times. He also had a list of detainees, CNN reported.

[tomswiftjr]

Sounds like Islam has set up "Charm Schools" like the Soviets did in order to insert sleepers.

[jimbo123]

Yee was found carrying classified documents, which CNN said included diagrams of the cells and the camp, lists of inmates and the names of their interrogators.

[mass55th]

"now we have to worry about asian boys too!!??"

They described him on Fox News as Chinese-American, but his picture looks like he could be racially mixed. Does anyone have any other info on this?

[skinkinthegrass]

...Brings to "The Great Escape"...revisited, a sure fire in Hollyweird and the Arabworld....I said it first, here...all net proceeds goes to JIM R. and FR. :)

[undergroundwarrior]

His ethnicity is not important. What is important is that he converted to Islam from Christianity. Yee spent four years studying in Syria. He should have been watched more closely. Many Mohammedans have a problem supporting American values / cultures that are in conflict with their Muslim beliefs.

[skinkinthegrass]

...Brings to mind "The Great Escape"...the Movie revisited, a sure fire hit in Hollyweird (and the blue states) and the Arabworld....I said it first, here...all net proceeds goes to JIM R. and FR.

w/Shrillary, Bubba, and Clintonite Gen. (ret.) W. "Confusion" Clark Directing. :)

[bethelgrad]

Shouldn't his studying in Syria raised a few red flags?

[undergroundwarrior]

Exactly. That is my point. This man studied for four years in Demascus Syria. Not too many Americans spend four years in Syria.

[WillowyDame]

There are more Muslims in Asia than in the Middle East.

---

huh??? i am talking about slant-eyed type asians!!!

well we got a problem if they join the arabs-
they have a mean streak and they do not mind dying!!

vietnam!!
kamikaze(sp?)

this dude does look missed...

[WillowyDame]

"His ethnicity is not important."

on the contrary, his ethnicity is very important-

to get an idea what a person is cabable of, you must start by knowing what the hell thy are, racially!!

[WillowyDame]

MIXED-not missed!

[gracex7]

Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world. Add to that Malaysia, parts of the Philippines, Bangladesh, parts of India, etc. Islam's goal is world domination, and they've been very busy in Asia and the Pacific islands.

I will guess that by 'slant eyes', you're narrowing Asia to the far rim.

[Mortimer Snavely]

"...to get an idea what a person is cabable of, you must start by knowing what the hell thy are, racially!!"

This is patently absurd. The melanin in a persons skin, or, for that matter, the epithelium in their eyes, are not the body parts which govern cognition. Only the brain does that.

This means that what and how a person has learned is of primary importance. The learning environment and, by extension, the entire social milieu, not genetics, is the major factor in determining behavior.

[maica]

While your points are sound, you must also consider that the politics of victimization and resentment are very strong in America. Far too many blacks are taught that whites are their enemy, instead of their fellow citizens.

Enemies of American values are capitalizing on these feelings of resentment and steering susceptible persons into the idea that joining with muslims will somehow strengthen their position versus whites.

[Mortimer Snavely]

Yep.

[A Navy Vet]

Mr. Hooper added, however, that "there are those in our society who love to question the patriotism of American Islamics and this unfortunately will give them ammunition to do that, no matter what the facts of the case are."

Of course this would be the last line of a NY Slimes article.

[WillowyDame]

This is patently absurd. The melanin in a persons skin, or, for that matter, the epithelium in their eyes, are not the body parts which govern cognition. Only the brain does that.

preach on, babe!! damn, you are good! NO SACARSM, i am impressed with the above! thank god for google dictionary.

now i do not agree with you. there are certain things black , whites, etc generally do and i don't care where they are brought up.

when it comes to criminal behavior i believe in racial/ ethnic profiling.

does not take a genius to know that no matter where a black person grows up, they still wanna go dancing all the damn time.

or no matter where a white person grows up, they still wanna go camping in some crazy remote place.

ETC

[mass55th]

"He should have been watched more closely."

There's speculation that they were watching him. He left the service, went to Syria, came back and reenlisted. That may have sent up flares somewhere. Perhaps they gave him the rope to hang himself. I'd like to think that they did.

You don't think that his ethnicity is important. I do. The media is claiming he's Chinese-American, but if he isn't a full blooded Chinese, then it should be made public. He obviously was born and raised in the U.S., but were his parents both Chinese, or was one of his parents Chinese and the other perhaps black? The media is so set to call people African-American, Chinese-American, etc. If he isn't full-blooded Chinese, then they should set the record straight.

[BenR2]

now we have to worry about asian boys too!!??

///////////
More media distortion. Although his surname is indeed Chinese, even a cursory look at a photo of this chump will show that he is mixed race -- and that a good part of that mix is African. The dude LOOKS black

So what, you may ask? Remember that a LARGE majority of Islam's converts in America come from the ranks of the African-Americans.

[Old Sarge]

there are certain things black , whites, etc generally do and i don't care where they are brought up. when it comes to criminal behavior i believe in racial/ ethnic profiling.

Truly Impressed.

A belated "Welcome to America" from your native Nigeria, FRiend.

[Old Sarge]

Remember that a LARGE majority of Islam's converts in America come from the ranks of the African-Americans.

I have had the misfortune to run across Black Muslims in uniform, in the course of my assignments. They are, without exception, taught that "Xianity is the White man's 'ligion - unsuitable for an African."

The Muslims, indeed, capitalize on the hate between the breeds, just like Socialists do. Islam and Socialism are ideological brothers. Think why we haven't heard any Muslim attacks (verbally) upon the DNC?

[King Prout]

good 'un.

[stylin19a]

The camp at the American naval base at Guantánamo, where Captain Yee was stationed, holds mostly foreigners captured in fighting in Afghanistan, Pakistan or elsewhere after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Are there US citizens in Gitmo's prison ? Lindh was transferred awhile ago.