By Alex Fryer
Seattle Times:
James Yee is no longer a Muslim chaplain in the Army.
He is no longer under suspicion of aiding Islamic terrorists at Guantánamo Bay.
Instead, the former Fort Lewis captain is an author, telling what he says is a cautionary tale about the loss of civil liberties in a climate of fear and suspicion.
Speaking to about 175 people at the Seattle Public Library last night, Yee said he suffered an injustice after he was secretly arrested in September 2003.
He was accused of spying for al-Qaida and the Taliban. He also was charged with adultery and computer pornography. In the end, all criminal charges were dropped and his record wiped clean.
Yee, who lives in Olympia with his wife and daughter, recently returned from the East Coast, where several national television news shows interviewed him about his book, "For God and Country," which went on sale Oct. 3.
While Yee said he is adamant about getting an apology from
the military, he has no firm opinion about the political and media aspects of his experience.
The case mounted against him, Yee said, "is a warning to all people, all Americans that the current approach to the war on terrorism is really a threat to the civil liberties of everyday Americans."
But he demurred when asked during an interview whether he holds the White House ultimately responsible for creating such a climate.
"What happened to me was a nonpartisan issue," he said. "It was an injustice. That's what I want to focus on."
And while military officials routinely leaked details of his case his lawyers often heard about major developments from reporters instead of prosecutors he said he didn't know if his treatment in the media should compel reporters to be more responsible in their use of confidential information.
In the end, Yee believed two factors set him free while others have spent months, even years, in confinement.
"I
attribute that to good legal counsel and, of course, the fact that I was innocent."
By now, the facts of Yee's case are well-known.
A New Jersey native, Yee graduated from West Point and served in Saudi Arabia. He converted to Islam, became an Army chaplain and transferred to Fort Lewis.
He later became the first Muslim chaplain from the Army to counsel prisoners at Guantánamo Bay.
His faith, his advocacy for humane treatment and his ethnicity made him a target for overzealous military investigators, Yee said.
Yesterday at the library, a sympathetic and appreciative audience asked Yee questions about his attitude toward the Guantánamo Bay prisoners ("I found it difficult to imagine all 660 prisoners were behind Sept. 11," he answered), his faith and the global war on terrorism.
Yee is uncertain about what he will do after the book tour ends. But he said he hopes his tale will resonate a little longer.
"Perhaps someone like
Steven Spielberg will really be gripped by my story and want to make a movie," he said.
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{Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.}
(Holy Quran-16:125)
{And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33)
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all."
[Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah]
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