Posted on 09/30/2003 1:39:25 PM PDT by joesnuffy
Pentagon probes its Muslim school choice
WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- A school the Pentagon relied on to train Muslim military chaplains is under investigation for possible ties to al-Qaida, ABC News reported Tuesday.
For the last six years, the Pentagon used an unaccredited school in Leesburg, Va., to train and certify most of its 13 Muslim chaplains. But in the last 18 months, the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences also has been part of a federal investigation into possible financial ties to al-Qaida, ABC reported.
One of the chaplains mentioned in correspondence between the Pentagon and the school is Army Capt. James Yee, who was arrested by military authorities last week over possible security breaches at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba.
In an April 2000 letter obtained by ABC, the school's executive dean, Ahmed Alwani, wrote to the office of the Army's Chief of Chaplains saying while Yee was never a student at the school, the academic qualifications he had earned elsewhere were the equivalent of courses offered at the facility.
Oh, I think this decision was made a little below their pay grade.
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