Ex - Muslim Chaplain at Guantanamo Charged

[Judi Lynn]

Ex - Muslim Chaplain at Guantanamo Charged
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: November 25, 2003


Filed at 4:29 p.m. ET

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- A Muslim chaplain who served at the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was charged Tuesday with adultery and storing pornography on a government computer, a U.S. Southern Command spokesman said.

Army Capt. James Yee, who worked at the prison camp for terror suspects in eastern Cuba, was released from custody Tuesday after being served with the additional charges, Raul Duany, a spokesman for U.S. Southern Command in Miami, told The Associated Press.

He was arrested earlier this year in Florida and confined to the military brig in Charleston, S.C.

Military officials brought the additional charges after an investigation, Duany said. The charges include storing pornographic images on his computer, having sexual relations outside marriage, disobeying an order and making a false official statement.

Yee, who also uses the first Yousef, will be sent to Fort Benning, Ga., where he will continue to perform religious duties but will be barred from having any contact with prisoners at Guantanamo, Duany said. (snip/...)

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Guantanamo-Arrest.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

They really want to get this guy, don't they?

How can a government charge a citizen with adultery? What's the official legal penalty?

[matcom]

1. HE HAD PICS OF LADY JUSTICE ON HIS COMPUTER??

DAMN that Asskkroft is FAST!

[Character Assassin]

2. When did he stop being a Muslim?

[DrWeird]

4. Ex muslim chaplain, I figure.

Sounds like they're really giving him the run around.

[underpants]

15. Oh good catch

what a way to startmy day. The US military apparently excommunicated him fromt eh Islamic faith and the New York Times did too. Too funny, thanks.

[MaineDem]

3. This sounds really fishy

I don't like this.

[Andyjunction]

5. Charged with adultery and pornography

Only in America... and maybe Saudi Arabia. :wtf:

[Bucky]

6. It violates military code of behavior

The problem isn't w/ looking at nekkid women. The problem is using taxpayer provided office equipment to store the pictures. Hell, for all we know, the adultery could be that he went to a hooker while on leave from Gitmo.

My guess is they're going for these fairly lame charges to bolster a less than air tight case against him on the espionage charges. But then, far be it from me to suggest that the DoJ and DoD hysterically overreacted to whatever minor infraction James Yousef Lee committed to get the first charges filed on him.

This story has always stunk in my book. Certainly the army could do a better job of vetting the chaplains who get access to the al Qaeda prisoners.

[Andyjunction]

7. Don't tell anyone but...

When I was in the army I also committed adultery (sex outside marriage) and stored pornography in my military issued locker. I also got stoned on hash while I was in Iraq. That was a great time :7

[0007]

9. Me too, a long long long time ago

But this one stinks to high heavens. I guess we're suppose to hate the Muslim religion??

[IndianaGreen]

12. I think that these charges are also trumped up!

Another black eye for the Naval Investigative Service which did the original investigation.

[underpants]

17. They are just trying (going to) ruin him

He can't go on being in the military, he is forever a "spy" in their eyes. And with an adultery charge (probably never to be prosecuted) he loses his ability to be a chaplain. They are trashing this guy for being a whistle-blower. We all knew that is what this was about in the first place. What secrets could the detainees have, they have been "out of the loop" of command and control (if they ever were in it) for almost 2 years. This is total BS and they are ruining this guy's life.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

8. He's been released from custody so that should tell us that the...

...earlier charges of spying were never processed. And yes, it really does look like they're pissed about not being able to try him as a real spy. I feel sorry for his wife...from previous articles, she was already suffering from a high level of anxiety.

As to the specifics, the porn on his computer violates U.S. Government policies about what you can and can't store on your computer at work. The question I have at this point is whether or not the porn was downloaded to his computer by him or someone else. The penalties for this could include a letter of caution, or a punitive letter of censor, or a punitive letter of reprimand.

The adultry charge is indeed a policy that the military enforces when convenient and usually results in a less than honorable discharge. Remember the female pilot a while back that was court-martialed for the same offense? Here's the story:

Pentagon releases new rules for adultry, fraternization
<http://www.ardmoreite.com/stories/072998/new_penta.shtml>

Excerpt:

"Adultery would remain a crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, according to the guidelines that Cohen said 'maintain the high standards' of the armed forces.

But commanders would use their discretion in only persuing cases in which the alleged adultery hurt 'the good order and discipline in the armed forces or was of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces,' the guidelines say."

[underpants]

16. Didn't you know "rumors swirled he had been charged with espionage"

Gee I wonder how such a RUMOR could have been started. Luckily these "rumors" never made it to the front page of the NYT and luckily they were never reported by the networks or discussed by military spokepeople.

Puhleeease!

When he was arrested, rumors swirled he had been charged with espionage relating to his contact with the detainees in Guantanamo, none of whom have been charged. Some have been held for nearly two years.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Guantanamo-Arrest.html

[Judi Lynn]

10. kicking

:kick:

[dArKeR]

11. Wow, I was under the impression he was passed terrorist plans to

sleeper cells?

Who doesn't have porn on their computer? CIA Director Deutch did. And every GI I know does too! And what's the difference between viewing and have it retained to disk?

And who's business is it if anyone makes a decision to a relationship with other people? It sure didn't matter with Henry Hyde or Nut Gingrich having intercourse while married. Plus a cast of billions.

So you trust these scum with the Secret Police Patriot Act when they do this kind of immoral thing to an American soldier.

[oasis]

13. They gotta get him on something. The re-vamped cointelpro will be similar.

Example: Mr. Smith,we couldn't get you on the fed charges of treeson but in our investigation we found you hhave a fraudulent driver's license and an illegal, unregistered .32 revolver which we are alerting the local authorities. Lord help you if you live in Miami.

The idea is political harrassment. You will in court but you will have to use your resoureces to do so.

Ask Susan McDougal and many other citizens of Little Rock how the feds and local jurisdictions can jerk you around.

[Nihil]

18. Define "porn"?

If you view a picture (of anything) it is transferred to the hard disk
of your computer. It will usually be flushed from the cache after a
long enough period of time. Until that time, you are literally
storing an image (of whatever) on your computer - no distinction in
that phrase between "temporarily storing" and "permanently storing".

As to what constitutes "pornography"? In the eyes of a vindictive
government, anything can and does ... a topless model? a teenager
wearing a thong? "suggestive" imagery? a naked body from the rear?
All of these can be found in on-screen adverts (and I'm not talking
about XXX sites either).

If it wasn't for the fact that they are humourless creeps, they could
even be ultra-creative and use the Sharia definition of obscenity!
(Now that *would* be ironic ...)

Nihil

[drfemoe]

14. additional story

kick
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=240833#241002