U.S. Army Chaplain (Islamic) Arrested

[Pandaren]

NY Times Report

CNN Report

From CNN:

Yee also was carrying lists of detainees being held there as well as lists of their interrogators, the source said.

AND

A State Department document available on the Internet confirms Yee's time in Syria, saying he "spent four years studying Arabic and Islam in Damascus, Syria." In the same document, Yee is quoted as saying, "An act of terrorism, the taking of innocent civilian lives, is prohibited by Islam, and whoever has done this needs to be brought to justice, whether he is Muslim or not."

A goverment official claims that Capt. Yee has ties to radical Islamic groups in the U.S., but won't elaborate further.

My theory is that Capt. Yee may be trying to publicize exactly what goes on at the Guantanamo detention facility, and his actions are akin to stealing and publishing the Pentagon Papers. I am sure some of the people held at Guantanamo are bad guys, but I am uncomfortable with the fact that they seem to have no certain fate, and are being held week after week without knowing when or even if they will be released.

I want to know for sure that my government isn't mistreating prisoners. If Yee had given his information to the press or to Congress, it might have shed more light on what is going on at Guantanamo.

 

[sandorski]

Interesting, hopefully he won't be invisible like so many others recently "detained". It seems too easy for the US government to just make people disappear of late(not that I think they are dead or anything). How can we be sure that everyone being "detained" is actually "detained" for the stated reasons?

 

[Tab]

Although no charges have been filed, the U.S. military is "investigating whether [Yee] may have [been involved in] espionage or treason," the official said.

No abosolute postivies..

U.S. government sources contacted by CNN said that after leaving the Army, Yee moved to Syria, where he lived for four years studying Islam and was married, apparently to a Syrian woman.

Why would anyone move to Syria?

In the same document, Yee is quoted as saying, "An act of terrorism, the taking of innocent civilian lives, is prohibited by Islam, and whoever has done this needs to be brought to justice, whether he is Muslim or not."

You think he knows that the Taliban are partially responsible for 9/11

 

[AndrewR]

A goverment official claims that Capt. Yee has ties to radical Islamic groups in the U.S., but won't elaborate further.

My theory is that Capt. Yee may be trying to publicize exactly what goes on at the Guantanamo detention facility, and his actions are akin to stealing and publishing the Pentagon Papers. I am sure some of the people held at Guantanamo are bad guys, but I am uncomfortable with the fact that they seem to have no certain fate, and are being held week after week without knowing when or even if they will be released.

A theory is supported by some evidence -- perhaps hypothesis would be a better term, but even that has some basis in reality. I'd call that "fantasy".

I want to know for sure that my government isn't mistreating prisoners. If Yee had given his information to the press or to Congress, it might have shed more light on what is going on at Guantanamo.

What gives you the right to know? There are plenty of things which the government does which you will never know and have no need to know. I swear, if the U.S. had to fight WWII with the level of false entitlement in the population which exists today, we'd be speaking German and Japanese.

 

[Pandaren]

What gives you the right to know? There are plenty of things which the government does which you will never know and have no need to know. I swear, if the U.S. had to fight WWII with the level of false entitlement in the population which exists today, we'd be speaking German and Japanese.

Citizens have a right to know if their government is treating people in a manner that is incosistent with national values and morals.

There are things that general citizens don't need to know about. I don't need to know how many opteratives we have in Iran or N. Korea, what contingincies the Pentagon has for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, or the technical readouts of the Death Star.

Human rights are a differnt issue. I'll be more than willing to bet that many WWII era Germans said, "what gives us the right to know what is happening to those Jews? Hitler said they were bad, and undermining national security, so they should be hauled off to camps, etc."

 

[Gaard]

Originally posted by: AndrewR

A goverment official claims that Capt. Yee has ties to radical Islamic groups in the U.S., but won't elaborate further.

My theory is that Capt. Yee may be trying to publicize exactly what goes on at the Guantanamo detention facility, and his actions are akin to stealing and publishing the Pentagon Papers. I am sure some of the people held at Guantanamo are bad guys, but I am uncomfortable with the fact that they seem to have no certain fate, and are being held week after week without knowing when or even if they will be released.

A theory is supported by some evidence -- perhaps hypothesis would be a better term, but even that has some basis in reality. I'd call that "fantasy".

I want to know for sure that my government isn't mistreating prisoners. If Yee had given his information to the press or to Congress, it might have shed more light on what is going on at Guantanamo.

What gives you the right to know? There are plenty of things which the government does which you will never know and have no need to know. I swear, if the U.S. had to fight WWII with the level of false entitlement in the population which exists today, we'd be speaking German and Japanese.

So it's none of our business to know whether the prisoners are being mistreated. We shouldn't ask questions. We shouldn't worry ourselves about it.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: Pandaren

What gives you the right to know? There are plenty of things which the government does which you will never know and have no need to know. I swear, if the U.S. had to fight WWII with the level of false entitlement in the population which exists today, we'd be speaking German and Japanese.

Citizens have a right to know if their government is treating people in a manner that is incosistent with national values and morals.

There are things that general citizens don't need to know about. I don't need to know how many opteratives we have in Iran or N. Korea, what contingincies the Pentagon has for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, or the technical readouts of the Death Star.

Human rights are a differnt issue. I'll be more than willing to bet that many WWII era Germans said, "what gives us the right to know what is happening to those Jews? Hitler said they were bad, and undermining national security, so they should be hauled off to camps, etc."

Exactly. I'd go a step further and turn the question around: What Right does the Government have to keep people imprisoned without Oversight from at least a 3rd Party?

 

[Bowfinger]

Originally posted by: Pandaren

What gives you the right to know? There are plenty of things which the government does which you will never know and have no need to know. I swear, if the U.S. had to fight WWII with the level of false entitlement in the population which exists today, we'd be speaking German and Japanese.

Citizens have a right to know if their government is treating people in a manner that is incosistent with national values and morals.

There are things that general citizens don't need to know about. I don't need to know how many opteratives we have in Iran or N. Korea, what contingincies the Pentagon has for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, or the technical readouts of the Death Star.

Human rights are a differnt issue. I'll be more than willing to bet that many WWII era Germans said, "what gives us the right to know what is happening to those Jews? Hitler said they were bad, and undermining national security, so they should be hauled off to camps, etc."

Well-said. With a few narrow exceptions, if you can't accept the spotlight of public scrutiny, you have no business working in the public sector.

 

[Crimson]

Hmm.. maybe this guy was actually intended to hurt the U.S. with the information he had with him.. No, what couldn't POSSIBLY be it.. everything is a conspiracy with you Bush-Haters..

 

[LilBlinbBlahIce]

Originally posted by: Pandaren

What gives you the right to know? There are plenty of things which the government does which you will never know and have no need to know. I swear, if the U.S. had to fight WWII with the level of false entitlement in the population which exists today, we'd be speaking German and Japanese.

Citizens have a right to know if their government is treating people in a manner that is incosistent with national values and morals.

There are things that general citizens don't need to know about. I don't need to know how many opteratives we have in Iran or N. Korea, what contingincies the Pentagon has for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, or the technical readouts of the Death Star.

Human rights are a differnt issue. I'll be more than willing to bet that many WWII era Germans said, "what gives us the right to know what is happening to those Jews? Hitler said they were bad, and undermining national security, so they should be hauled off to camps, etc."

Well said.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: Crimson
Hmm.. maybe this guy was actually intended to hurt the U.S. with the information he had with him.. No, what couldn't POSSIBLY be it.. everything is a conspiracy with you Bush-Haters..

Possibly, but how do we know if it wasn't the Bush Admin and not the US that would have been hurt? This is the problem with all this secrecy.

 

[Pandaren]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/09/22/chaplain.arrest/index.html

Yee hasn't been charged yet, but the Military can keep him in the brig for 120 days without charges. Not much new besides that.

 

[digitalsm]

Originally posted by: Pandaren

What gives you the right to know? There are plenty of things which the government does which you will never know and have no need to know. I swear, if the U.S. had to fight WWII with the level of false entitlement in the population which exists today, we'd be speaking German and Japanese.

Citizens have a right to know if their government is treating people in a manner that is incosistent with national values and morals.

There are things that general citizens don't need to know about. I don't need to know how many opteratives we have in Iran or N. Korea, what contingincies the Pentagon has for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, or the technical readouts of the Death Star.

Human rights are a differnt issue. I'll be more than willing to bet that many WWII era Germans said, "what gives us the right to know what is happening to those Jews? Hitler said they were bad, and undermining national security, so they should be hauled off to camps, etc."

We are not mistreating the people in Gitmo. That has been proven time and time again, by various agencies that went down there to try and dig up dirt but couldnt.

 

[jpeyton]

He is probably one of a few people who are aware of Osama's detention at Gitmo, and the Prez doesn't want that leaked until his announcement next October.

 

[Gaard]

Originally posted by: digitalsm

Originally posted by: Pandaren

What gives you the right to know? There are plenty of things which the government does which you will never know and have no need to know. I swear, if the U.S. had to fight WWII with the level of false entitlement in the population which exists today, we'd be speaking German and Japanese.

Citizens have a right to know if their government is treating people in a manner that is incosistent with national values and morals.

There are things that general citizens don't need to know about. I don't need to know how many opteratives we have in Iran or N. Korea, what contingincies the Pentagon has for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, or the technical readouts of the Death Star.

Human rights are a differnt issue. I'll be more than willing to bet that many WWII era Germans said, "what gives us the right to know what is happening to those Jews? Hitler said they were bad, and undermining national security, so they should be hauled off to camps, etc."

We are not mistreating the people in Gitmo. That has been proven time and time again, by various agencies that went down there to try and dig up dirt but couldnt.

I don't think the point was whether or not the prisoners are being mistreated. I think the point was if we, as a people, have the right to know if our government is mistreating prisoners.

 

[Crimson]

Did someone just try to compare Gitmo to the holocaust? Please say someone didn't just do that..

 

[UltraQuiet]

Originally posted by: Crimson
Did someone just try to compare Gitmo to the holocaust? Please say someone didn't just do that..

No one of any importance or intelligence said it or agreed with it.

 

[kaizersose]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
He is probably one of a few people who are aware of Osama's detention at Gitmo, and the Prez doesn't want that leaked until his announcement next October.

where did that come from?

[prepares foil hat]

 

[Bowfinger]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
He is probably one of a few people who are aware of Osama's detention at Gitmo, and the Prez doesn't want that leaked until his announcement next October.

That's my wife's theory too (not about this guy, about OBL and Hussein). We can't find bin Laden and Hussein because we already have them. Bush will roll them out just before the election to swing the vote his way.

 

[Pandaren]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/09/23/airforce.detainee/index.html

Looks like they've snagged another possible case of espionage. This guy, Airman Al Halabi has been charged on numerous counts.

 

[Tripleshot]

Is this a capital offense? If not, it should be.

I wonder what they where paying him for the info. Moreover, what the enemy was planning to do with the information.

 

[Pandaren]

Is this a capital offense? If not, it should be.

Treason is a capital offense, but I beleive the Constitution has provisions that state that two witnesses must swear to have actually seen the treason take place before a suspected traitor can be found guilty.

I wonder what they where paying him for the info. Moreover, what the enemy was planning to do with the information.

It would be foolhardy to assume the Airman is guilty before a jury finds him guilty.