Posted on 10/30/2005 11:06:50 AM PST by baseball_fan
In 2001, Captain James "Yusuf" Yee [West Point Graduate] was commissioned as one of the first Muslim chaplains in the United States Army. After 9/11 he became a frequent government spokesman helping to educate soldiers about Islam and build understanding throughout the military.
Subsequently, Captain Yee was selected to serve as the Muslim Chaplain at Guantanamo Bay. After serving there for ten months - and after receiving numerous awards for his role there - Chaplain Yee was arrested and subjected to much of the same treatment that is imposed on Guantanamo detainees. Accused of spying and aiding the Taliban and Al Qaeda, Yee spent 76 days in solitary confinement and was threatened with the death penalty.
In the end all criminal charges were dropped and his record wiped clean. It's left him asking why he was treated with such paranoia and malice, and fundamentally, if America cannot be loyal to even its most patriotic citizens, can it remain loyal to itself? Carrie Gracie speaks to James Yee in The Interview.
Another name to add to the spreadsheet.....
Correct me if I am wrong but wasn't this guy caught sending email messages on behalf of some of the detainees? He had to be aware that this might be at least frowned upon by his CO. This wouldn't be the first time that the military chose not to investigate or prosecute a crime that would bring them bad press.
"Correct me if I am wrong but wasn't this guy caught sending email messages on behalf of some of the detainees? He had to be aware that this might be at least frowned upon by his CO."
Wish I knew the answer.
What is known about him, however, according to a profile that appeared in the New York Times shortly after the 9/11 attacks is that, at the time he was "The newest Muslim chaplain..., a Chinese-American and a West Point graduate who was born into a Lutheran family, took an interest in Islam in college and deepened his convictions while stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky, where he was studying vehicle maintenance during the month of Ramadan alongside four visiting Egyptian army officers. In a telephone interview, Chaplain Yee said he left the military to attend a traditional Islamic school in Damascus, Syria, where he spent four years studying Arabic and religion. He is serving with the 29th Signal Battalion at Fort Lewis, Washington."
From the same article:
When he was arrested, he was reportedly carrying classified documents, including diagrams of the facilities in which the prisoners are being held. He may also have been facilitating communications between the detainees and perhaps fellow terrorists still at large in ways that could undermine U.S. efforts to interrogate the former and counter the latter.
His post-release interview is all over lefty websites. The wisdom of having Muslim chaplains not withstanding, putting a guy who spent 4 years in Syria (SYRIA!) in charge of the "spiritual" needs of the G'itmo prisoners is not wise. Not wise at all.
My cousin actually lives in Damascus right now if you can believe that. He and his wife are teachers at the school for the political elites there. He has been thoroughly indoctrinated with the US are infidels speech to say the least. He hasn't become Muslim yet but he lives right above a US Marine post that is near our embassy there. He said that the war hasn't really affected them that much. I hope it stays that way...can you imagine trying to talk your way out of Damascus as a honkey if Assad decided to call his embassadors home and join the jihad?
As for that soldier, he was definitely shady if we can believe what is written about him. MacArthur would have shot him personally. I think they assessed the damage and decided to put him on a desk job somewhere instead of being perceived as persecuting their own rank and file because he was Muslim (as the press would inevitably spin it)
Its sort of odd, but most of the Syrians I have ever met in the United States looked completely white. Ive met a few blond ones as well. It took me a while to figure out that "Mo" was short for Mohammed.
The same goes for our friend Bashar Assad... he of the slightly Heinrich Himmler appearance. He has blue eyes, I noticed on TV.
Lots of french blood in the syrian and lebannese countries.
Well, that certainly goes a long way toward explaining the tribalism, socialism, xenophobia and arrogance of their governments.
I've never understood why the military didn't prosecute this guy.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.