Posted on 03/23/2004 6:13:22 AM PST by Happy2BMe
ARLINGTON, Va. (Reuters) - A U.S. general on Monday found a Muslim Army chaplain who ministered to terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay guilty of committing adultery and storing pornographic images on a government computer.
Army Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, at the end of an hour-long administrative hearing in Arlington, Virginia, issued a reprimand against Capt. James Yee, but the general's verdict did not represent a criminal conviction.
In fact, the Army on Friday dropped all criminal charges against the 36-year-old West Point graduate, abandoning an espionage case that started with his arrest last September and at one time included accusations in court documents of spying, mutiny, sedition, aiding the enemy and espionage.
Miller commands the task force overseeing the prison at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the United States holds roughly 610 foreign terrorism suspects. Yee worked with prisoners there for 10 months.
Yee's civilian lawyer, Eugene Fidell, said he plans to appeal Miller's decision to Army Gen. James Hill, head of Miami-based U.S. Southern Command, responsible for Guantanamo Bay operations.
"This officer is the victim of an incredible drive-by act of legal violence," Fidell told reporters, referring to Yee, who worked at Guantanamo for 10 months.
"General Miller perhaps was too close to this entire matter. After all, he was the fellow in charge at Guantanamo Bay,. And perhaps somebody with more distance would be able to bring a fresh look to the matter," Fidell said.
In brief remarks to reporters, Yee said "of course I'm disappointed in the outcome," but he expressed thanks to his supporters "here and abroad."
'NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS'
In dropping all six criminal counts against Yee -- including mishandling of classified information and the lesser adultery and pornography charges -- the Army said it could not proceed with charges due to "national security concerns that would arise from the release of the evidence" against Yee.
Lt. Col. Bill Costello, a spokesman for Southern Command, said the Army decided to seek punishment against Yee through an administrative hearing on adultery and pornography allegations because such a case does not "require the introduction of evidence that would have compromised national security."
Fidell renewed his demand that the U.S. military apologize to Yee for making "allegations that have tarnished this individual's reputation irreparably."
Miller considered evidence on whether Yee had an extramarital sexual affair with a female officer at Guantanamo and stored pornographic images on a government computer.
Fidell also objected during the hearing, held in a cramped conference room, to the fact that Army authorities gave him only three days' notice of the hearing and provided him the evidence against his client just 20 minutes before the hearing started.
During a hearing in December, military prosecutors produced witnesses including Lt. Karyn Wallace, who testified that she and the married chaplain had a sexual affair.
Yee did not speak in his own defense during the so-called Article 15 hearing, reserved for minor offenses in the military which do not involve criminal charges. Miller also had the option to subject Yee to confinement to quarters for 30 days or restricted movement for 60 days, and forfeiture of half his pay for two months. He opted to impose only a written reprimand that goes into Yee's permanent military record.
Yee was arrested last September in Florida as he returned from Guantanamo. He spent 76 days in a Navy brig but the Army failed to follow through with formal espionage-related charges.
This sect, commonly referred to as Wahhabism, preaches jihad against Christian, Jews, and Muslims who don't toe the Wahhabi line. All 19 of the September 11 hijackers were followers of Wahhabism, as is Osama bin Laden. This violent perversion of Islamic faith has been responsible for terrorist attacks against innocent civilians — both Muslim and non-Muslim — all over the world.
As a movement, Wahhabism has established publishing operations, schools, and charities in many countries. The self-labeled "educational outreach" of this movement — financed largely by the wealth of Saudi Arabia, where Wahhabism is the official, and only state, religion — foments jihad and a fundamentalist theology to young people internationally, including in the United States.
And there have been a increasing number of instances in which Wahhabists have successfully penetrated key U.S. institutions, such as the military and our prison system. As several recent media reports have noted, the two groups that accredit and recommend Muslim chaplains to the military — the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences and an organization under the umbrella of the American Muslim Foundation — have long been suspected of links to terrorist organizations by the federal government. The Graduate School and another group accused of ties to Islamic extremists — the Islamic Society of North America — also refer Muslim clerics to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
Just this week, one of the key architects of the U.S. military's chaplain program, Abdurahman Alamoudi, was arrested and charged with an illegal relationship with Libya, long a state sponsor of terror. Federal investigators also have detained a Muslim clergymen who was once stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba — Captain James Yee — and is being investigated for potential ties to al Qaeda.
The New York State prison system promoted a Muslim cleric to a position that allowed him to supervise the hiring and firing of all prison chaplains. He was later removed from his job when officials discovered he was an al Qaeda sympathizer who incited prisoners against America. Jose Padilla, a terrorist accused of trying to build a "dirty bomb" to unleash in the United States, was exposed to radical Islam in the U.S. prison system. Richard Reid, the so-called "shoe bomber," was converted to fundamentalist Islam while serving time in a British prison.
On Tuesday, I chaired a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security that analyzed the procedures used by the military and prison system to recruit Muslims, particularly focusing on the cleric program. We also examined whether the instances of Wahhabi infiltration at key U.S. institutions may be part of a larger pattern. We heard from government witnesses on steps they are taking to confront these challenges and outside experts attesting to terrorists' efforts to exploit a free society to conduct the wide range of activities necessary for effective terror operations.
In response to our Senate inquiry, groups whose terror-related activities are being scrutinized by my subcommittee as well as the federal government have been quick to accuse investigators of Muslim bias. Falsely charging "bigotry," however, is simply not an acceptable response to serious allegations of criminal activity. Terrorists should not be allowed to disguise their hateful, violent activities under the banner of religious freedom. The fear of being falsely accused of prejudice, coupled with political correctness, may be part of the reason we got into the situation we're in right now.
America is a welcoming nation, and Americans are respectful of all faiths. It's time we confront the evil that has distorted and victimized the peace-loving, mainstream Muslim community. In the Senate, we intend to do just that.
— Senator Jon Kyl is a Republican senator from Arizona.
That is my understanding. This guy's mother wants the US to issue an apology. I heard one person say emphatically that the fact they did not pursue charges was NOT because he was innocent. Too much sensitive info would be released at trial.
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