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| Former Muslim Chaplain at Guatanamo to Speak at Dartmouth |
| 2006-05-17 |
| On May 23, the Dartmouth Asian Organization will host a free, public lecture featuring Chaplain James Yee at 4:30 p.m. in Filene Auditorium in Moore Hall. The title of his talk is "A U.S. Army Muslim Chaplain's Struggle for Justice." Yee is a third-generation Chinese American and West Point graduate. He served in the aftermath of the first Gulf War as a Patriot Missile Fire Control Officer, and he converted to Islam in 1991. Yee returned to active duty as a U.S. Army Muslim Chaplain in 2001. After September 11, 2001, he represented Muslims in the military and worked to educate soldiers about Islam. Subsequently, Yee was selected to serve as the Muslim Chaplain at the U.S. prison camp for declared enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay. In September 2003, after being officially recognized twice for outstanding performance, Yee served 76 days in solitary confinement in a naval prison after being falsely accused of spying, espionage, and aiding the alleged Taliban and Al-Qaeda prisoners. After months of government investigation, all criminal charges were dropped. Yee tendered his resignation from the U.S. Army and received an Honorable Discharge in January 2005. Yee's lecture at Dartmouth will cover his experience at Guantanamo, as well as issues of religious and ethnic diversity. He will also speak about the challenges of protecting both national security and civil liberties. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #6 mud on all the walls the question is, did more stick on the walls or the pitcher.Damned if I know. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-05-17 14:27 |
| #5 IIRC was there also an adultery/sexual misconduct angle wrt Yee? |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2006-05-17 14:22 |
| #4 bk, When charges were dropped, the military said it was to avoid making public classified data, not because the charges did not have merit. That has been all to common in prosecuting those who have classified info. In addition, when he was arrested, agents reported at the time testified that the materials were of national security. That sounds like the names of prisoners and the info they gave up. If you have details on why he is innocent, I would like to know more. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-05-17 10:11 |
| #3 ed, these charges were found to be false and were found inconclusive by the Army, better get your facts correct there. |
| Posted by: bk 2006-05-17 09:40 |
| #2 Yee was caught with classified data on Gitmo prisoners. He was most likely going to send it to Syria (wife is Syrian, as well as another arrested Gitmo translator). Instead of facing a firing squad or life imprisonment, the US government dropped the charges to keep information from becoming public. Just another illustration of why trying to fight the Islamic enemy is a losing proposition, when a spy can't even be tried for fear of making the classified data public. I am disgusted with our leaders fiddling while Rome burns. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-05-17 07:13 |
| #1 why do we fund these Universities with our tax dollars? It seems to me that they get more than enough financial assistance from Saudi Arabia. |
| Posted by: 2b 2006-05-17 06:45 |