Ex-Chaplain Cleared in Spy Case an Obama Delegate
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A former Army chaplain at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who was cleared of spy accusations will be a delegate to the Democratic National Convention.
Former Capt. James J. Yee, a Muslim, was among the delegates pledged to Sen. Barack Obama who were elected by precinct representatives Saturday. He’s representing the state’s 9th Congressional District at the party’s convention in Denver in August.
The West Point graduate was accused in 2003 of being part of a spy ring at the U.S. prison for suspected terrorists in Guantanamo Bay.
After spending 76 days in solitary confinement, he was exonerated, resigned from the Army and received an honorable discharge.
Why was he cleared? The Associated Press doesn’t say, but Jim Hoft fills us in. It wasn’t for a lack of evidence, but rather due to the national security concerns surrounding the release of the evidence against him.
Yee has appeared as propaganda on Syrian television, where he has repeated detainee accusations of Koran abuse by U.S. military personnel. David Hicks, who undertook Al Qaeda training and plead guilty to “providing material support for terrorism”, was often counseled by Yee at Guantanamo Bay. Yee spoke out on Hicks’ behalf on at least one occasion.