Army intelligence officer charged with violating security at Guantanamo Bay detention camp

WCBS880.com ^

[Sub-Driver]

Army intelligence officer charged with violating security at Guantanamo Bay detention camp Saturday November 29, 2003 SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) An Army intelligence officer was charged Saturday with violating security at the U.S. detention camp for terrorist suspects in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

He is the fourth worker at the base accused of such violations. Two Arabic translators and a Muslim chaplain face charges ranging from espionage to adultery.

U.S. Army Col. Jack Farr was charged Saturday with failing to obey a lawful general order and making a false official statement, all violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, said a statement from the U.S. Southern Command in Miami.

``Specifically, he's charged with wrongfully transporting classified material without the proper security container on or around Oct. 11, and making a false statement in the course of the investigation into his handling of classified material,'' it said.

It was not immediately clear if Farr was under arrest, nor if he is still at Guantanamo Bay.

He had been on temporary duty there for six months, serving as an intelligence staff officer, the statement said.

His charges have been forwarded to the commander of the base, who could dismiss them, refer them to a court-martial or direct a pre-trial investigation, it said.

He has been assigned two Army attorneys and has the right to retain a civilian lawyer.

[steplock]

Didn't have these problems when it was only NAVY and U.S. MARINES on the base.

Ooops - I almost forgot ---- we DID have one army guy on the base ---- the Vet!


The Real JACKASS!

[LoudRepublicangirl]

My God, does this finger pointer have any legs? He looks as though he has nothing below the hip.

[piasa]

Army Officer Charged With Gitmo Security Breach

Saturday, November 29, 2003

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — An Army intelligence officer was charged Saturday with violating security at the U.S. detention camp for terrorist suspects, the fourth person charged with breaches at Guantanamo Bay (search), Cuba.



Two Arabic translators and a Muslim chaplain face charges ranging from espionage to adultery at the base, where interrogators are questioning some 660 detainees from 44 countries.

Army Col. Jack Farr (search) was charged Saturday with "wrongfully transporting classified material without the proper security container on or around Oct. 11," and lying to investigators, said a statement from the U.S. Southern Command.

Spokesman Lt. Commander Chris Loundermon, speaking from the command's headquarters in Miami, said he did not know if Farr had direct contact with detainees. He declined to describe the classified material.

Farr is a reservist who had been on temporary duty at Guantanamo Bay for six months and left to return to his home state, which Loundermon did not know.

"He was departing when the investigation revealed that he had some security violations," Loundermon said. "He voluntarily came back."

Farr is not under arrest and has not been suspended, Loundermon said: "He didn't present a flight risk and he was not likely to engage in any further serious misconduct."

Farr's charges have been forwarded to the base commander, who could dismiss them, refer them to a court-martial or direct a pretrial investigation.

Two Army lawyers appointed to represent Farr could not be reached Saturday.

Security has been tightened at Guantanamo Bay since the first arrests were announced in September and military investigators arrived.

New measures include firewalls on computer systems, increased bag screening and inspection of workers' electronic equipment before the leave the remote base on Cuba's eastern tip, which can only be reached by aircraft chartered by the military.

The first person arrested was Senior Airman Ahmad I. al-Halabi (search), an Air Force translator detained July 23 at Boston's Logan International Airport when he returned from a visit to Egypt.

A naturalized U.S. citizen, al-Halabi worked as an Arabic translator and is accused of collecting secrets about the base and messages from prisoners with plans to transmit them to an unspecified enemy in his native Syria.

He has pleaded innocent to 32 charges, including espionage and aiding the enemy. The most serious charges carry a possible death sentence.

Officials did not announce al-Halabi's arrest until news broke of the Sept. 10 arrest of Army Capt. Yousef Yee (search), the Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo Bay who is a Chinese-American native of Springfield, N.J.

Federal agents said Yee, who converted to Islam after graduating from West Point, was found carrying sketches of the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, where he counseled prisoners and advised the detention mission commander about Islam and its culture.

Rumors grew that Yee, 35, would be charged with espionage, but instead he was charged Oct. 10 with disobeying a general order by taking classified material home and transporting it without proper security.

On Tuesday, the military released him, but at the same time pressed additional charges of storing pornography on a government computer and committing adultery, an offense under the military code.

Yee, who has pleaded innocent, faces a preliminary hearing Monday at Fort Benning, Ga.

The third arrest came Sept. 29, also at Logan airport. Customs agents found 132 compact discs, including one with hundreds of classified documents labeled "SECRET," in the luggage of Ahmad F. Mehalba, who was a civilian interpreter at the base.

Mehalba, 31, was arrested as he arrived from his native Egypt. The government on Nov. 12 charged him with gathering defense information and lying to federal investigators.

Mehalba says he is innocent.

The United States has defended its prolonged detention of the detainees, who are suspected of links to Afghanistan's fallen Taliban regime and al-Qaida terrorist network, saying they still are providing important intelligence.

[piasa]

That was from the FOX News web site, by the way.

[leadpenny]

A Full Bull. He had to be one of the top dogs down there. Wonder what his position is/was?

[Tijeras_Slim]

I work with classified materials as a civilian DOD contractor, and it can be a pain. Lots of the "old timers" get lax after a while. I hope it's not more than carelessness or laziness, and that no contact with enemies is involved.

[leadpenny]

I agree, that's probably what happened. However, it appears he then lied during an official investigation. Probably a 15-6 or equivalent.

[FlyLow]

Didn't have these problems when it was only NAVY and U.S. MARINES on the base.

Ooops - I almost forgot ---- we DID have one army guy on the base ---- the Vet!

---

Well...this is too easy...you do have to be able to read, write and look good in your uniform...that's why the ARMY guys are important! (-:

[pepsionice]

This is a snowball deal...you will see more folks being charged over the next month or two. My guess is that the investigator here is on a rampage and will take down anybody that even looks tainted. By the time these cases come up in court....they will likely not be winnable. Even Capt Yee might walk away with just a discharge. We may eventually find out that no lost intelligence occurred and that it was simply bad management over a poorly conceived program that caused this mess to occur.

[leadpenny]

Bump your comments.

[Happy2BMe]

BUMPING for reference.

[Happy2BMe]

Those Reservists sure know how to get attention.

[steplock]

Take it from someone who spent 12 years in intel, combat intel, counter-intel, and special intel....

They are NOT overeacting. What is happening was the result of the total lack of security concerns - NO, make that security breeches - from the LAST administration.

Remember clintoons "security" chief ordering clearances for everyone? How about "uncompartmentalizing" (??) compartmented intel? Didn't the chi-coms get full access to our MOST SECRET data in our labs?

NO This is not over-reacting, but a return to sanity in security of our country. If these spies live through this, they had best be extrememly grateful for someone's leniency.

Not too many years ago you didn't even here of this ... a body just washed up on shore somewhere....

[pepsionice]

Poor management is showing all kinds of signs around Gitmo. I read last week that the Army unit that set up ops for the camp...set up their own comm network, rather than use the navy's setup...and along the way, they just plain did not set up a firewall. If this story is true...then there is a huge mess sitting there in Gitmo with leaks abounding...and it has nothing to do with the Clinton or Bush administration. If you look at the Titan employee who was brought down to be a translator...under no circumstance should this guy have been hired...but no one in the security arena ever checked this guy completely (declared bankruptcy and had bad financial managment...which ought to jerk your clearance for a long time...but they decided to overlook that and hire the joker). What joker ever allowed Capt Yee into a position that involved classified information? The guy was supposed to be there to provide guidance to the army on Muslim religion...he should have been kept at a distance from any debriefing or any interaction with the prisoners. Again, this has nothing to do with administrations...as much as it does simple on-site management.