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Posted on 10/03/2003 7:54:06 PM PDT by jwalburg
WASHINGTON Oct. 3 — Pentagon officials said Thursday they worry that terrorists are trying to infiltrate the U.S. military and may have done so at the prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Three workers at the prison, including two members of the military, have been arrested on suspicion of espionage at the high-security base. It is unclear whether the men were connected to or part of any terrorist plot, the commander in charge of homeland security said.
"I'm hoping we're going to find these are unusual, these are few and far between, that this isn't some large cell," said Gen. Ralph Eberhart, head of U.S. Northern Command.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said investigations into possible security problems at Guantanamo Bay continue. He scoffed at suggestions that he should discipline commanders at the base, which holds some 660 suspected al-Qaida and Taliban members.
"What they are doing is reviewing the procedures to determine, are there ways that we can do this in a better way," Rumsfeld said at a Pentagon news conference. "The implication that every time something happens in the world you should fire somebody is kind of a mindless approach."
Eberhart, who spoke at a breakfast meeting with reporters, said he had no doubt terrorists were trying to penetrate U.S. military forces.
"There's no doubt that there are people out there trying to turn our people," Eberhart said. "I'm sure there are people right now being worked on as we speak, and it's not working, and they're reporting it."
The latest arrest came Monday when federal agents apprehended translator Ahmed F. Mehalba upon his arrival in Boston from his native Egypt. Mehalba, who worked for government contractor Titan Corp., is charged with lying to federal agents when he denied a compact disc he was carrying contained secret information from Guantanamo Bay.
A second Arabic translator, Air Force Senior Airman Ahmad I. al-Halabi, is charged with espionage and aiding the enemy, accused of trying to pass Guantanamo Bay secrets to Syria and an unidentified enemy. A Muslim chaplain, Army Capt. Yousef Yee, has been arrested but not charged.
Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged that the military and the government have had a difficult time finding qualified Arabic translators. Myers said efforts to find good translators will continue.
"We're looking for all sorts of ways to fill that gap," Myers said.
Rumsfeld said Muslims and Arabs in the military would not be subject to greater scrutiny just because of their ethnicity or religion.
"Raising the question you did about profiling is not a useful thing to do," Rumsfeld said in response to a reporter's question. "The fact of the matter is that there are a variety of vetting procedures, and people who happen to be of one religion I don't think one has to assume that they have a monopoly on this type of activity."
After reading Ann Coulter's TREASON, I think I know who some of these people are.
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Pathetic PC drivel. I thought he was made of sterner stuff.
If they think they're being probed now, just wait until they're sent to Leavenworth.
He is, but that's what he's got to say (then go back to his office and vomit, I'd guess).
Imagine the howls if Rumsfeld started rolling muslims in the military before they were guilty of anything. Congress would have his head on a platter.
Many of the Congress critters would still like his head on a platter, but they can't question the arrests, and are forced to push for more! more! investigate! so they can be seen as tough on terror for the next election.
Funny how that works.
He is certainly made of stern stuff -- he's only telling the lying liberals the lies they want to hear.
The Pentagon says there are 4000 practicing muslims. Terrorist hiring & supporting muslim chaplain Qaseem Ali Uqdah (of recent notoriety) puts that figure at 10000.
Pipes estimates ~13% of the general muslim population are jihadists or support jihad. Using that same factor...That's 520 - 1300 muslim terrorists in the US military.
That's a big freaking problem General.
Get rid of every muslim in the military; you're dealing with cancer. If you leave one cell, it will multiply until the host is dead. Got it?
Also, the failure to properly profile at airports, and our still-open immigration policy toward muslims, suggest that Rumsfeld's statement may actually reflect Administration policy, and not just a wish to avoid liberal howling.
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