Posted on 09/25/2003 12:51:08 AM PDT by piasa
MIAMI - (KRT) - Soldiers who knew Army Capt. James Yee at Fort Lewis, Wash., say they are baffled by the Muslim chaplain's detention on his return from a prison for suspected terrorists in Guantanamo Bay.
``We can't figure it out. He would be compassionate with prisoners - but not a traitor. A lot of us feel we know him well. He cares a lot, but he plays by the rules,'' said a sergeant from the 29th Signal Battalion, where Yee was a Muslim chaplain before going to Guantanamo.
The soldier asked to remain anonymous because the Miami-based U.S. Southern Command, in charge of the prison on the eastern tip of Cuba, warned several of Yee's friends to avoid talking to the news media about his case.
Yee, 35, former chaplain to 660 suspected al Qaeda and Taliban members held at Guantanamo, was arrested in Jacksonville, Fla. after returning from the Navy base on Sept. 10. Authorities have said he had diagrams of the prison cells and lists of the names of prisoners and interrogators in his luggage. He is being detained in a military brig in Charleston, S.C.
Shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, The Herald interviewed Yee, then Muslim chaplain to 100 Muslims at Fort Lewis - many of whom were preparing to go to Afghanistan to fight other Muslims. During the interview, Yee talked extensively about his beliefs and his life.
Yee told The Herald that he minored in philosophy and religion at West Point, where he graduated in 1990, and had a great interest in ``spiritual and ethical matters.''
As a 24-year-old second lieutenant during Desert Storm, manning a Patriot missile battery, he said he found himself wanting spiritual guidance ``more encompassing'' than the Lutheran faith of his youth and read the Koran.
After Desert Storm but while still stationed in Saudi Arabia, he frequented an Islamic cultural center run by the Saudi government. He converted before returning to the United States.
``For the first time in my life,'' he said, ``I felt the true definition of God.'' He took on the Islamic name of ``Youseff Yee,'' but continued to introduce himself as ``James.''
Taking what he calls ``a vacation from the military'' in 1993, he went to Syria to immerse himself in Islam and learn Arabic. He did not say why he picked Syria over other Islamic countries, but added that he stayed four years and married a Palestinian woman. She now lives in military housing at Fort Lewis with their young daughter.
Yee was born in Naperville, Ill., and grew up in Springfield, N.J. His grandparents came to the United States from China in the 1920s. His parents, born in the United States, were both Lutheran. ``In school in New Jersey, we were Jewish, Catholic and Protestant,'' he said. ``I had never met a Muslim.''
Yee said that after returning from Syria in 1996 he worked as a pharmaceutical sales rep for Pfizer in Tennessee, then went to Virginia to study with two Islamic scholars.
In Virginia, he became friends with Qaseem Ali Uqdah, the director of the American Muslim Armed Forces & Veterans Affairs Council, who invited him to the annual Ramadan banquet at the Pentagon.
At the Pentagon banquet, Yee said he was surprised to see about a dozen Muslim military chaplains, because when he left the military, there were none. ``I wanted to be one,'' he said.
In 1999, he rejoined the Army as a Muslim chaplain. After Sept. 11, 2001, Yee gave frequent speeches and sermons about Islam in the Tacoma, Wash., area. ``To help people with fears understand who we are,'' he said.
Most of his talks began with a quotation from the Koran:
``If anyone kills a person it will be as if he has killed the whole of humanity.''
He also taught a class on Islam at the post, telling his students that he feared ``a growing prejudice'' in the United States and an increase in profiling of Islamics. But he also told them he felt fortunate to be in the U.S. military, because of a lack of prejudice.
``Here, I know I am trusted,'' Yee said.
After Desert Storm but while still stationed in Saudi Arabia, he frequented an Islamic cultural center run by the Saudi government. He converted before returning to the United States.
Taking what he calls ``a vacation from the military'' in 1993, he went to Syria to immerse himself in Islam and learn Arabic. He did not say why he picked Syria over other Islamic countries, but added that he stayed four years and married a Palestinian woman. She now lives in military housing at Fort Lewis with their young daughter.
Yee was born in Naperville, Ill., and grew up in Springfield, N.J. His grandparents came to the United States from China in the 1920s. His parents, born in the United States, were both Lutheran. ``In school in New Jersey, we were Jewish, Catholic and Protestant,'' he said. ``I had never met a Muslim.''
Yee said that after returning from Syria in 1996 he worked as a pharmaceutical sales rep for Pfizer in Tennessee, then went to Virginia to study with two Islamic scholars.
In Virginia, he became friends with Qaseem Ali Uqdah, the director of the American Muslim Armed Forces & Veterans Affairs Council, who invited him to the annual Ramadan banquet at the Pentagon.
At the Pentagon banquet, Yee said he was surprised to see about a dozen Muslim military chaplains, because when he left the military, there were none. ``I wanted to be one,'' he said.
Maybe he should have gone to Lebanon- one item I read today said they have one of the world's biggest counterfeit pharmaceutical plants- in the Bekaa Valley, no less.
Why Tennessee, though?
How many other islamofascist moles have been hired as "translators" and so on by the FBI, CIA and NSA since 9-11?
How many thousands of islamofascist Kim Philbies are burrowing into our military and intelligence services?
On the otherside, he becomes a dot whose actions will connect to other dots.
I'm sure his tie will turn out to be al queda and Usama.
After 9-11-01, this dude was preaching the wrongs of this Muslim Act at (Ft. Lewis) and 15 miles away in Tacoma, Mohammed the sniper was preaching that we deserved it.
Did we even KNOW for certain at this point that we were dealing with all Muslims. Back to checking dates.
What is left unsaid...is by WHOM, and for WHAT...
I find it IMPOSSIBLE to TRUST anyone that hasn't PROVEN their worthiness of that trust by ACTIONS...over TIME.
Words - do not earn trust.
Actions do....
Semper Fi
On closer inspection, you can find that a lot of terrorists' who are named Saudis or Kuwaitis or whatever, turn out on closer inspection to be Palestinian. While the press will headline the terrorist's nationality, they often hide any reference to palestinians since they are the PC cause o' the decade. And that's annoying, because tribalism and blood is much more important than nationalism in the muslim world.
Imam Joban (of the Olympia Islamic Center, where Captain Yee worshiped and led prayers) said Captain Yee returned to Olympia from Guantánamo in March, after six months, and was informed by the Army that he was being sent back.
And even more interesting:
He (Yee)said his education in Syria did not meet the qualifications for a military chaplain, so he was given a "letter of equivalency" by the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences in Leesburg, Va., which has been certified by the military to train chaplains. But the president of the graduate school, Dr. Taha Jabir al-Alwani, said in an interview today that although his school had trained nine Muslim military chaplains, it had neither trained nor certified Captain Yee. "We didn't even know this person," Dr. Taha said. "We have nothing to do with him."
Al-Alwani is believed to be the "unindicted co-conspirator" in the Al-Arian indictment.
And one more:
In 1993, (Yee) said, the Saudi Air Force and the Saudi royal family paid for him and other Americans to make the pilgrimage to Mecca that is known as the hajj, a trip that every Muslim is required to make at least once.
Enough to make your head spin, especially the Al-Alwani statement.
There's no mention of Yee working in Tennessee in the NYT piece, BTW.
Yep. That's what makes for a good spy.
Wondering how long Yee has been a spy?
Best case: Maybe they sent him back there because it is easier to keep an eye on him and the time spent won't count as time served, so to speak.
Worst case : They were short on available Muslim chaplains.
``Here, I know I am trusted,'' Yee said.
How convenient.
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