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Maj. David Rosner, shown here in a C-130 tranport plane, has worked on both the military and post-war operations in Iraq. When Rabbi Mitchell Ackerson blew the shofar this past Rosh Hashanah, it reverberated throughout one of Saddam Hussein´s former palaces. More than 100 Jewish members of the U.S. forces stationed in Iraq attended the High Holiday services at the former Iraqi dictator´s Baghdad compound. They seemed shocked and awed, not least by the echo. "It was a 25-foot ceiling, so it really goes," Ackerson said, describing the shofar´s blast in a telephone interview from Baghdad on Monday. Many of...

Just broke on CNN......this is a civilian translator!

<p>September 29, 2003 -- THE news last week that two Muslim military personnel, James Yee and Ahmad al-Halabi, had been arrested on suspicion of aiding Al-Qaeda prisoners at Guantnamo Bay (with another three Muslim servicemen under watch) seemed to prompt much surprise. It should not have.</p>

<p>The government is trying to determine whether Syria is engaged in espionage against the United States in light of an investigation of security breaches at a prison camp in Cuba, a top White House aide said yesterday.</p> <p>"We're looking into it, and we'll see what's there," said Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's national security adviser.</p>

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, Ariz.(Sept. 25, 2003) -- As a Navy chaplain, Lt. Cmdr. Timothy Koester has a profession that has put him in places that would test any man. But Koester has always pulled through every situation because of his faith and belief that he is in the right place at the right time, thus fulfilling his mission in life: spreading the word of God. During his 13 years of service, Koester weathered Desert Storm in the early '90s, worked several hundred yards from 4,000 Cubans trained to kill him at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and presided over more...

The Air Force translator charged with spying at the U.S. military's prison camp for terrorists was under investigation even before he arrived at Guantanamo Bay, court records show. Senior Airman Ahmad al-Halabi, 24, who was born in Syria, had been under scrutiny since November 2002, apparently days before he began an assignment as a translator at the prison camp for some of the world's worst terrorists. The Air Force Office of Special Investigations began investigating al-Halabi "based on reports of suspicious activity while he was stationed at Travis Air Force Base and while deployed to Kuwait and Guantanamo Bay," a...

NEW YORK (AP) -- A Muslim chaplain who counsels inmates in the city's Rikers Island jail has been reassigned because of his ties to a mosque authorities say is linked to al-Qaida fund raising. Amin Awad, who was named president of the board of trustees at Al-Farooq mosque earlier this month, cannot have contact with inmates and has been reassigned to administrative duties, Tom Antenen, a spokesman for the city Department of Correction, said Friday. Awad, who has counseled Rikers inmates since 1998, is one of seven Islamic chaplains in the city's correctional system, Antenen said. The department has 23...

UNDER GUARD AT GUANTANAMO Gitmo GIs converting to Islam? Algerian lawmaker claims prisoners influencing U.S. security personnel Posted: September 25, 2003 5:00 p.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com In the wake of the arrest of two U.S. Muslim troops at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp on espionage charges, an Algerian lawmaker is claiming the terror-related detainees at the facility have convinced several of their guards to convert to Islam. Hassan Aribi says eight Algerian arrestees whose freedom he negotiated told him of the development, reports Islam Online. "They told me that the American guards were very sympathetic with them to the...

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...

Two held over US fears of radical cell in forces By David Rennie in Washington (Filed: 24/09/2003) The United States military is urgently investigating a potential radical Muslim cell among its own servicemen at the Guantanamo Bay prison as it emerged yesterday that two more members of the garrison are in custody. Senior Airman Ahmad I al-Halabi, an Arabic language translator, was secretly arrested a month ago, Pentagon officials said last night. He is being held at an air base in California and is charged with more than 30 counts of espionage, aiding the enemy, disobeying a lawful order and...

Freedom Chapel Opens for Unified Spiritual Reliefby Spc. Petersi Liu CAMP CEDAR II, Iraq - Four chaplains from four battalions have joined pastoral forces here with the Sept. 14 dedication of the first ‘Freedom Chapel’ built in Iraq. Before the consolidation, Chaplain (Capt.) Abimael Rodriguez of the 394th Quartermaster Battalion, Chaplain (Maj.) Scott Sterling of the 260th Quartermaster Battalion, Chaplain (1st Lt.) Mark Minner of the 362nd Quartermaster Battalion and Chaplain (Maj.) Robert Searle of the 346th Transportation Battalion had performed their services separately in four different battalion Morale, Welfare and Recreation tents. The four Protestant chaplains had held...

Two more U.S. service members working at the prison on the grounds of the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (search) are in custody, under suspicion of espionage and possible improper communications with the camp's detainees, senior military officials told Fox News Tuesday afternoon. One of the accused is in the Navy, the other is in the Air Force, officials said. Their roles at the camp have not been disclosed yet, nor their ranks and religion. Fox News has learned they both were detained roughly two weeks before Islamic military chaplain James Yee (search) was arrested. Officials declined to tell Fox News...

<p>WASHINGTON — An Air Force airman who worked at the U.S. prison camp for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (search) has been charged with espionage and aiding the enemy, a military spokesman said Tuesday.</p> <p>Senior Airman Ahmad I. al-Halabi worked as an Arabic language translator at the prison camp for Al Qaeda and Taliban suspects, spokesman Maj. Michael Shavers said. The Air Force enlisted man knew the Muslim chaplain at the prison arrested earlier this month, but it's unclear if the two arrests are linked, Shavers said.</p>

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Air Force airman who worked as a translator at the U.S. prison camp for suspected terrorists has been charged with espionage and aiding the enemy, a military spokesman said Tuesday. Senior Airman Ahmad I. al-Halabi is being held at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, spokesman Maj. Michael Shavers said. Al-Halabi worked as an Arabic language translator at the prison camp for al-Qaida and Taliban suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Shavers said. The Air Force enlisted man knew the Muslim chaplain at the prison arrested earlier this month, but it's unclear if the two arrests are...

Per CNN just now. He was taken into custody a month ago. No info on his identity past saying he has an arab sounding name.

Arrest for suspicion of espionage a shock to those who knew chaplain at Fort LewisBy Ray Rivera and Cheryl PhillipsSeattle Times staff reporters Shortly before the United States attacked Taliban forces in Afghanistan, a number of Muslim soldiers stationed at Fort Lewis took a troubling question to their chaplain, Capt. James Yee: Is it OK to kill fellow Muslims? Yee, one of the few Muslim chaplains in the military, said he replied: "It comes down to justice. Whether Muslim or non-Muslim, criminals need to be brought to justice." Today, Yee finds himself behind bars at a military brig in South...

Capt. Yee and the charges he may face: * Sedition and Mutiny, violation of Article 94, UCMJ* Aiding the enemy, violation of Article 104, UCMJ* Spying, violation of Article 106, UCMJ* Espionage, violation of Article 106a, UCMJ* Failure to obey a general order, violation of Article 92, UCMJAll Punitive Articles

Muslim Troops Highlight Nation's Diversity WASHINGTON -- Qaseem Ali Uqdah and Abdullah Hamza Al-Mubarak share a common goal. Both former enlisted men aim to help make life a little easier for people in the armed forces who share their faith. Uqdah, a former Marine, and Al-Mubarak, a former airman, are followers of Islam, a religion based on the teachings of the prophet Mohammed. The 1.2 billion who practice the faith worldwide are known as Muslims. They believe in one God, Allah, and abide by religious laws written in the Koran, Islam's holy book. Islam is the fastest growing religion in...

Almost exactly six months ago, at the start of the liberation of Iraq, the Center for Security Policy warned that a "fragging" incident at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom "could be the precursor for a far larger and more dangerous problem, both for the military and for American society more generally. Call it the ‘Fifth Column syndrome.'" This ominous forecast was prompted by a disturbing possibility: Sergeant Asan Akbar, the alleged perpetrator of a lethal grenade attack on his superiors who commanded the 101st Airborne on the eve of the unit's "jump off" into Iraq, "could have gotten murderous...

A Muslim chaplain who was stationed at Fort Lewis in 2001 and 2002 is the first known U.S. soldier to be detained in the U.S.-led war on terror. Army Capt. Yousef Yee, 34, was detained Sept. 10 in Jacksonville, Fla., after returning from Guantanamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba, where he was stationed. He has not been charged, but a senior law enforcement source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Saturday that FBI agents confiscated classified documents Yee was carrying and questioned him before he was handed over to the military. The New York Times reported in a story...