-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: April 20, 2007 12:54:03 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: The Bible-Belt Playbook for Holy War
James Yee, a highly praised Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo Bay --
accused of terrorism himself but later exonerated-- told a standing-
room-only audience that Americans' "civil liberties are under fire"
and that "if all this could happen to me, then it can happen to any
one of us."
Guantanamo Bay's secret weapon," he said, is "using thr prisoners'
belief in God against them in order to break them." He said
prisoners were forced to prostrate in the center of a circle
inscribed with a pentagram by a guard who yelled, "Satan is your
God now, not Allah."
He said female interrogators "exploit(ed) conservative Islamic
etiquette" by undressing before interrogating detainees and "giving
lap dances" to unnerve them.
Yee said the Quran, believed by Muslims to be the literal word of
God, was "desecrated in many different ways," such as being
urinated upon.
These acts resulted in "hunger strikes" and "mass suicide
attempts," he said. Yee said he tried to create more tolerance for
detainees' faith by helping institute new policies that were more
respectful towards Islam.
So they arrested him ...
Former Guantanamo Bay chaplain describes loss of civil liberties
By: Joy Neumeyer
Posted: 3/2/07
http://www.browndailyherald.com/home/index.cfm?
event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=b9cf0fba-587c-4ea4-
b482-2777e1a42d17
James Yee went from being a highly praised Muslim chaplain at the
Guantanamo Bay detention facility to being accused -- and later
exonerated -- of spying for terrorists.
Last night he told a crowd in Salomon 101 that Americans' "civil
liberties are under fire" and that "if all this could happen to
me ... then it can happen to any one of us."
Yee's speech kicked-off the Brown Muslim Students Association's
Islam Awareness Month 2007. The theme is "the many faces of Islam."
Yee, a third-generation Chinese-American who converted to Islam in
1991 after graduating from the United States Military Academy, was
selected as the Muslim chaplain at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba in 2002. In September 2003, while headed home on leave,
he was arrested and imprisoned for 76 days on espionage charges.
But after a government investigation, all the criminal charges
against him were dropped.
"It's clear that we're living in a very dangerous post-9/11 period,
one in which the civil liberties of all Americans … are
threatened," Yee told The Herald before his speech. "My story
pinpoints these dangers."
Noor Najeeb '09, president of the BMSA, introduced Yee, describing
his life as "a story that is rarely voiced and even more rarely
heard."
Yee described his journey from a Lutheran upbringing to his
conversion to Islam. "For me, it was a reconfirmation of my
monotheistic faith," he said. Yee left active service in the Army
in the summer of 1993 to study Arabic and Islamic sciences in
Damascus, Syria. He returned to active duty in January 2001 as an
Army Muslim chaplain.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Yee was asked to hold
briefings to educate U.S. soldiers about Islam. At Guantanamo, he
said, his duties were to advise the prison's administrators and
serve the religious needs of detainees and Muslim soldiers.
Yee said he had "unescorted access" to prisoner holding areas to
carry out these duties. "I was one of the few individuals who could
speak freely" to detainees, he said. And though he was assigned to
the detention operation and not intelligence-gathering, Yee said he
knew what was happening in the interrogation rooms.
"Guantanamo Bay's secret weapon," he said, is "the use of Islam
against prisoners to break them." He said prisoners were forced to
prostrate in the center of a circle inscribed with a pentagram by a
guard who yelled, "Satan is your God now, not Allah." He said
female interrogators "exploit(ed) conservative Islamic etiquette"
by undressing before interrogating detainees and "giving lap
dances" to unnerve them.
Yee said the Quran, believed by Muslims to be the literal word of
God, was "desecrated in many different ways," such as being
urinated upon and "tossed on the floor." These acts resulted in
"hunger strikes" and "mass suicide attempts," he said. Yee said he
tried to create more tolerance for detainees' faith by helping
institute new policies that were more respectful towards the Quran.
After being officially recognized twice for outstanding
performance, Yee was arrested in September 2003 in Jacksonville,
Fla., by agents who said he was found in possession of suspicious
documents. He was then transported to solitary confinement in a
naval brig for 76 days. Though he was initially charged with
espionage, that was eventually replaced by charges of mishandling
classified information, downloading pornography from the Internet
and adultery.
In 2004, all charges were eventually dropped. After resigning and
receiving an honorable discharge in January 2005, Yee received a
second Army commendation medal for "exceptionally meritorious
service."
Yee described his case as "a gross miscarriage of justice." He said
he was targeted for his Muslim faith, ethnicity and for advocating
the "humane treatment of prisoners." He said it is the
responsibility of students at Brown and other universities to
"redirect our country" from such abuses of civil and Constitutional
liberties.
A question and answer period followed Yee's speech. When Chelsea
Rudman '08 asked Yee what he would say to President Bush if they
were to meet, Yee said he would urge Bush to "take a sincere look
at Islam." Lack of understanding of Islam and the abandonment of a
commitment to human rights are the reasons the Iraq war and other
operations have been "such a disaster," he said. "These are the
things pushing people away from America."
Asked by another audience member what students could do to help
shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison, Yee said the prison is "not
going away anytime soon" as the government has invested so much
money into building new facilities there.
Yee also joked that there were probably officials from the various
government agencies that conduct interrogations at Guantanamo in
the audience. "It's good that they're learning something," he said,
laughing.
After taking questions, Yee showed a PowerPoint slideshow of
photographs taken at Guantanamo Bay, including pictures of current
and prior detainees and of the different camps at which detainees
are held. He also demonstrated a "stress position" used during
prisoner interrogations.
Students said the speech was thought-provoking.
"It kind of got to me," said Samuel Hitov '09. "Hearing this from a
person who was actually there had more impact" than simply reading
about Guantanamo Bay in the media, he said.
Gabriel Doss '10 said Yee's presentation was "very enlightening … a
different climate and a different subject matter than I'm used to
exploring at Brown."
Najeb said she hoped "discussion and research" of the prison at
Guantanamo Bay and related issues would continue after the lecture.
See what's free at AOL.com.
www.ctrl.org
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/
<A HREF="http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
