Two new suspects emerge in Guantanamo Bay probe

USA TODAY ^ | 9/26/03 | Dave Moniz and Toni Locy

[Robe]

WASHINGTON -- The probe into alleged spying by U.S. troops assigned to a high-security camp in Cuba that houses al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners now includes two new suspects, Pentagon and FBI officials said Thursday.

Navy and Air Force investigators are closely watching a Navy cook and an airman who once were assigned to Camp Delta at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. Neither has been detained or charged, military officials said, but their activities raised suspicion among investigators in the wake of the recent arrests of a senior airman and an Army chaplain who had contact with detainees at the camp.

[aristeides]

Navy cook. Well, that's better than another story the other day, that said the (presumably same) suspect was a Navy officer. I guess that reporter confused officer and petty officer.

[vollmond]

Navy and Air Force investigators are closely watching a Navy cook

This is not the work of a cook.

[jocon307]

Do you think it's a good idea to have this stuff out there? I mean the Navy cooks know who they, themselves, are, no?

Why is this stuff in the papers? Can anyone explain this to me?

[Fred Mertz]

Why is this stuff in the papers?

I wondered the same thing after reading this. The Navy cook and the other airman obviously know the jig is up.

I also think it's significant that the al Halabi confinement occurred on 23 July and the announcement hit the papers two months later. The military/government are very good at controlling the news (keeping secrets) don't you think?

[InterceptPoint]

Do you think it's a good idea to have this stuff out there?

Well the source of the story is (unnamed of course) "Pentagon and FBI officials". The obvious reason for the leak is that these officials want to give the suspects a heads up that they are being watched. No other conclusion is possible. Here are the reasons they might have for doing so:

1. They want to help the enemy

2. I can't think of any other reasons.

[swarthyguy]

Yee passing baklava, a cook in cahoots with him?

IIRC, one of the most effective Soviet spies at LosAlamos was a young man in an "unimportant" job.

Looking more and more like a long term sting operation, IMO, details murky, but someone wanted a housecleaning.

I'd love to know what Saudi "charities" and assorted entities operate in Syria.

[Sender]

Not the work of a cook, but then spies often have background jobs that would not be subject to scrutiny. Spies try above all to be invisible, and who is going to do background or surveillance on a cook? Well maybe they will now.

[marktwain]

1. They want to help the enemy

2. I can't think of any other reasons.

How about: 3. They want to panic the enemy or

4. They want the enemy to bolt or try to contact people up his chain.

[jim35]

"The obvious reason for the leak is that these officials want to give the suspects a heads up that they are being watched."

Maybe it's a way of making them do some desperate act that will cause them to tip their hands, and give away other spies. Some kind of set-up. Anyway, I hope so! The only other possibilities are gross stupidity, deriliction of duty, or espionage.

[norraad]

Actually, I think it's a little bit of "all of the above".

[Sender]

Come to think of it, maybe the cook would have the ideal job for Gitmo spy. He could pass messages to prisoners in plates of food, and they could return messages the same way. After the dishes are washed who would know?

[Hammerhead]

The cook is under suspicion because the rice being served to the prisoners was Navy boweevil free.

[OXENinFLA]

They need a running tally on this, what is the total # of spies up to now?

[vollmond]

I was just having a flashback to a Steven Segal movie :). The one where he was on a Navy ship.

[Sacajaweau]

Think....WMD = POISON = COOK

There is one particular ARAB story in one of my 1850 history books which involved poison.

I worry about our guys.

[Sender]

Oh yeah...Under Siege, wasn't it? Seagal was a cook but also kicked the enemy's arse. He had some non-culinary skills for sure!