First the Washington Post:
Military prosecutors fought to keep an Article 32 preliminary hearing closed to the public. An initial order by Brig. Gen. Bradley S. Baker, a commander at Travis, to close the entire hearing was overturned within days by the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals. Baker will decide whether the evidence warrants a court-martial. Much of the hearing, which began Sept. 15, was closed after prosecutors argued that national security would be compromised.
The same theme is expanded by the NY Times:
In an unusual move, the Air Force on Sept. 15 tried to close the proceedings of the airman's Article 32 hearing, the equivalent of a grand-jury proceeding. His lawyers objected, and the next day, the United States Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the protest and ordered the government to open the proceedings to the public, except when necessary to protect classified information. The hearing continued in both open and closed sessions through Sept. 18.
Finally, the most disturbing info from the Washington Times (which broke the story over the weekend):
The defense department documents showed that the Veteran Affairs Council was a designee of the American Muslim Foundation (AMF), which also was included in the Justice Department sweep.
The AMF was co-founded by Abdurahman Alamoudi, an acknowledged supporter of the Palestinian terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah. Mr. Alamoudi in 2000 contributed money to the Senate campaign of Hillary Rodham Clinton. She returned it after Mr. Alamoudi's anti-Jewish sentiments were made public.
The second Pentagon-approved endorser is the Islamic Society of North America. One of its board members, Siraj Wahhaj, was named in 1995 by U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White as one of more than 100 "unindicted persons who may be alleged as co-conspirators" in the attempt to blow up New York monuments.
Mr. Wahhaj also served as a character witness for Sheik Omar Abel Rahman, who was convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Mr. Wahhaj was never convicted of a crime.
The disconnect between the Justice Department and the Pentagon was similar to the breakdown that led to the September 11 attacks, said Rita Katz, author of "Terrorist Hunter" and director of the Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE) Institute.
"This is not intentional, but the things, the lack of sharing information, is still happening," Miss Katz said. "In this case, the Pentagon is relying on groups that the Justice Department is raiding. And neither agency was aware of what the other was doing. The system has to be re-examined and these agencies have to share more information.".
Pentagon spokesmen said this week there are no plans to review the chaplain accreditation process. Of more than 5,000 chaplains in the military, 12 are Muslims. About 4,200 Muslims serve on active military duty..
Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, has called for an expedited investigation into these groups, which he says are "financed by Saudi Arabia and follow the radical Wahhabi sect of Islam.".
Put these facts together with the St. Petersburg Times report of the belief that Al-Alwani, president of the Islamic institute that trained certified Yee and Saifulislam, is believed to be "unindicted co-conspirator five," in the Al-Arian indictment. What will it take to get the military moving on the more and more obvious association between the Muslim chaplains and terrorist groups/sympathizers? A bomb at Gitmo?