One Hand Clapping

Army chaplain charged as spy
LGF reports that Army Chaplain (Capt.) James J. Yee, a 1990 West Point graduate,

. . . was arrested earlier this month by the FBI in Jacksonville, Fla., as he arrived on a military charter flight from Guantanamo, according to a law-enforcement source. ...

The Army has charged Capt. Yee with five offenses: sedition, aiding the enemy, spying, espionage and failure to obey a general order. The Army may also charge him later with the more serious charge of treason, which under the Uniform Code of Military Justice could be punished by a maximum sentence of life.

I think that the death pentalty can be adjudged for treason in wartime; death may certainly be adjudged for spying in wartime. It's hard to see how a military officer could be guilty of spying without also being guilty of treason.

This is a very serious event, and I am astounded that the major news media have not run the story. Oh, wait a minute, maybe I'm not - you can bet your sweet bippy that if a Christian chaplain or a rabbi chaplain, or an MP officer, for that matter, had been so charged, the media would be all over it. But Yee's Muslim identity entitles him to the media kid-glove treatment.

Taking the named charges, in order, you may read the definition elements of proof as linked below:

Sedition, violation of Article 94, Uniform Code of Military Justice.

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, UCMJ.

Update: CNN has now picked up the story, reporting that Yee was arrested while in possession of documents that included,

. . . "diagrams of the cells and the facilities at Guantanamo [Bay, Cuba]" where about 600 al Qaeda and other "enemy combatants" are being held by the military.

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

And other details at the story. FoxNews is also running the story, but with no other details. The web site of the New York Times has the story, too. So I take back all those nasty things I said about the oldline media.

Update 2: It's a front-page story in Sunday morning's Washington Post. The story quotes a Southern Command spokesman as saying that "no formal charges" have been brought against Yee, but, "one knowledgeable official said Yee has been charged with a number of crimes under the military's criminal code relating to espionage." My guess is that the Article 32 investigation - the military equivalent of a grand jury - has just started and therefore final charges haven't been filed, but investigative charges for the Art. 32 have.

by Donald Sensing, 9/20/2003 10:38:51 AM. Permalink |

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