Army to drop all criminal charges against James Yi (Gitmo chaplain)

[SW FL Dem]

CNN reports. No link yet.

[mr_hat]

1. Ar! My, too!

[DrWeird]

2. Another Wen Ho Lee.

He should file some big ass defamation law suits.

[MaineDem]

6. This was my first thought, too

This was very poorly handled from the beginning. We - the US government - must owe him some compensation for all this.

[Name removed]

31. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Newsjock]

3. off the wire

MIAMI (AP) - All charges have been dropped against the Army Muslim chaplain accused of mishandling classified documents at the Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which houses suspected terrorists, the Army said Friday.

Capt. James Yee will be allowed to return his previous duty station at Fort Lewis, near Tacoma, Washington., said Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo.

... Miller said Yee will be offered nonjudicial punishment for allegations of adultery and pornography.

[mouse7]

4. Poor bastard was thrown in Gitmo for looking at boobies.

You do realize that if Bush and the neo-cons had their way, anyone who looked at boobies would be immediately shipped to Gitno Fed-Ex.

[JohnyCanuck]

11. If he really did?

Who knows if this is not just another attempt at a set up. If he is supposed to be a muslim cleric and he is accused of looking at porn it can't do his reputation much good. Not saying he didn't look at porn, but just because the SOB's who tried to nail him as a spy claim he was surfing for boobs, doesn't mean I'm going to assume their porn accusations are true either. How hard would it be for the "investigators" to download some porn onto his laptop or PC and then claim they found it there and use it as a means to try to manipulate him.

[DS1]

5. *sigh* Richard Jewel syndrome, if you can't get anything on the perp

make him a perv and out his porno stash

[0007]

29. The dumbest remark yet????????

Yee will be offered nonjudicial punishment for allegations of adultery and pornography.

In other words, "we heard that you looked at some hair, and might have a girl friend, so if you want to clean the latrines you can"

[mouse7]

7. Let's watch the NSA go nuts. BOOBIES FOR EVERYONE!

BOOBIES!

BOOBIES!

Yes... we're all terrorists! We show BOOBIES!

[The Zanti Regent]

14. but they're covered...

:-( :-(

[struggle4progress]

19. That's all right ...

there's a still one big boob everyone can enjoy uncovering.

[number6]

8. why am I not surprised ....

..

[Chicago Democrat]

9. The ENTIRE AFFAIR STINKS! Yi should sue!

Our racist fucked up country.

[mn9driver]

10. Seems to be a pattern. Incompetent racist morons in charge.

And we trust bozos like this with our security and our liberty?

We are f**ked.

[David Zephyr]

12. Here's a Link to the Story Just Now From Yahoo (AP)

MIAMI - Citing national security concerns, the Army on Friday dropped all charges against a Muslim chaplain accused of mishandling classified documents at Guantanamo Bay, which houses suspected terrorists.

Capt. James Yee will be allowed to return to his previous duty station at Fort Lewis, near Tacoma, Wash., said the U.S. Southern Command, which oversees the detention center in Cuba.

In dismissing the charges, Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo, which operates the detention center, cited "national security concerns that would arise from the release of the evidence" if the case proceeded.

"In the grand scheme of things, and in the interest of national security, Gen. Miller felt like the charges needed to be dropped," said Lt. Col. Bill Costello, a Southcom spokesman. "It seemed to be the prudent way to proceed."

Full Story Here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040320/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/muslim_chaplain


Note to SW FL Dem: Perhaps you can still add this link to your originating post in this thread. ---DZ

[IndianaGreen]

22. What "national security concerns"? Torture of prisoners perhaps?

Like a previous poster mentioned on this thread, this is another Wen Ho Lee case.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

27. National Security? Hold on a second...

In dismissing the charges, Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo, which operates the detention center, cited "national security concerns that would arise from the release of the evidence" if the case proceeded.

Ok, so what they are saying is that he is really guilty of the charges laid against him, but they can't release the evidence for fear of compromising national security.

If that is the case, then why are they allowing him to return to his previous duty station? If he is in league with terrorists, then why not discharge him from the military?

Is this the deal Yi worked out? He goes back to his old duty station, the military lies about "national security" and in return Yi doesn't spend the rest of his life in Gitmo without trial and without a lawyer?

[sasquatch]

13. I guess they didn't get any info out of him in "interrogation"

I guess after they attatched electordes to his nipples and shocked the hell out of him and didn't get any info they decided to give up. I hope he get's a shit load of cash out of the fucking fascist.

[Miss Authoritiva]

15. A trifecta!

This is the perfect three-for-three cliche: national security interests, the prudent course, and the vague but useful "grand scheme of things."

Also note the blunting effect of the passive voice: "Gen. Miller felt like the charges needed to be dropped."

[teryang]

16. Adultery, "the kicker"

Erh, what exactly is the UCMJ charge for "pornography?"

Adultery was something you could charge quite a few active duty personnel with, doesn't take too much digging to find out who's boffing who. This assures something will stick (pardon the expression), in case the primary charge in the prosecution was ill considered or couldn't be proved. If that wasn't possible, you could pore through poorly written base or command regulations and find a law that prohibits swiss army knives in the barracks or using command vehicles to go to the galley, and charge em with "violation of a lawful regulation."

This forces the officer or soldier to accept the Article 15 when its offered because the triffling charge can easily be proved. To be followed by an involuntary separation from the service?

Does looking at boobies tend to bring discredit on the armed forces?

[minkyboodle]

17. another yahoo link

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=1&u=/nm/20040320/ts_nm/security_guantanamo_chaplain_dc

[Disturbed]

18. "Citing national security concerns"

Translation: They didn't want to risk that he would go to the Press and tell what he knows about their little operation regarding the "enemey combatents" & their treatment.

[ConcernedCanuk]

21. hmmm - that was my same thought - but I wonder

.
.
.

Whats to stop him from talking. Did they find some way to blackmail him?

That doesn't make sense either if they are going to charge him with that other stuff -

Something smells here

[Rex]

20. From Espionage, to PC porn, to no crime commited

Did Rummy take personal charge of this one?

[underpants]

33. Now that we have ruined your life and career you are free to go

and all you whistleblowers better take note.

THAT is what they did to him and the message couldn't be clearer.

[WheresWaldo]

23. this is crazy...

the way the media was all over this when it first came out... I doubt this will get any coverage at all, especially seeing as how its the weekend and all.

can he even sue for defamation?

[murielm99]

25. It was probably done on the weekend deliberately.

That way, no one will be paying attention.

Watch for this to appear on page 24 of your local newsrag, in small print. The mediawhores on TV will not cover it at all.

[Exultant Democracy]

24. Poor man, we drag his name through the mud

for no reason, lock him up, and then wait until people forget about him to let him go.

Our Justice system and intelligence systems have become fucking jokes under Bush.

[Quetzal]

26. He was kept in solitary confinement

I hope he sues the pants off of Bush and his cronies.

[Disturbed]

28. West Point Grad

He won't talk about it while he is still in the service. He probably cannot do so. No matter what his career is probably ruined. He will most likely get out ASAP.

[indepat]

30. Outf*****gragous that charges were ever brought?

[Cooley Hurd]

32. Yee's arrest was bogus from the start...

Evidently, the "state secrets" he was smuggling out of Gitmo were pics and accounts of maltreatment. Since this didn't really rise to the level of espionage, they had to get him on sometning else (like the adultery charge).

Really glad to hear he's been released. :thumbsup:

[struggle4progress]

34. It certainly looks that way.

Army drops charges against Muslim clergy
The Army’s allegations last year were grave: A military chaplain at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was linked to a possible espionage ring and eventually charged with mishandling classified information. Six months later, all charges against Capt. James Yee have been dropped.
<snip>
Yee now faces only minor punishment and should be back at work soon. If convicted of all the original charges, he could have faced dismissal from the Army and a maximum of 14 years in prison.
In dismissing the charges, Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo, which operates the detention center, cited ‘‘national security concerns that would arise from the release of the evidence’’ if the case proceeded.
Yee’s attorney rejected the notion that security concerns played a role and said Yee is owed an apology. Some Asian-American activists supporters of Yee, a 35-year-old Chinese-American, have accused the government of racial and religious profiling.
<snip>
http://www.citizenonline.net/citizen/archive/article91160AB0809A4715B059080F230CD135.asp

:wtf:

Since when have our laws been inadequate to prosecute espionage without compromising national security? If they had anything, they would have nailed him. This looks like face-saving BS and fear-mongering designed to justify the next round of "PATRIOT" acts.

[FrankBooth]

35. Link to Seattle Times article

From the Times staff:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001884078_yee20m.html

[Kool Kitty]

36. Looks like it's time once again to trot out

whoever is taking Ashcroft's place as Torquemada (sp?) so he can tell us just how much progress they are making in this war on terror. How many people we've arrested, what we've learned, etc. What a sham. After they ruin this man's life and reputation, it's "oops, sorry, our bad...you're free to go". This is such a disgrace.