Military violates own rules in chaplain’s case

The hearing for a Muslim Army chaplain charged with mishandling classified materials was delayed because others in the military accidentally mishandled classified materials in his case, defense officials said on Dec. 3.

Army Capt. James Yee was to face the military version of a preliminary hearing at Fort Benning, Ga., on charges he violated security rules at the US prison for terrorism suspects in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

But it was postponed after prosecutors discovered Monday that the legal staff at Guantanamo mistakenly put a classified document into investigation packets delivered to Yee’s attorney and to the hearing officer, said Army Lt. Col. Bill Costello of the US Southern Command.

Yee was arrested in September and later charged with disobeying an order by allegedly taking classified material from Guantanamo without proper security containers.

Last month, the military added charges of making a false statement, storing pornography on a government computer and having sexual relations outside marriage, a punishable offense under military law. (Associated Press)

Army Reserve battling an exodus

The US Army Reserve fell short of its reenlistment goals this fiscal year, underscoring Pentagon fears that the protracted conflict in Iraq could cause a crippling exodus from the armed services.

The Army Reserve has missed its retention goal by 6.7 percent, the second shortfall since fiscal 1997. It was largely the result of an exodus of career reservists, a loss of valuable skills because such staff members are responsible for training junior officers and operating complex weapons systems.

With extended deployments and increasingly deadly attacks by Iraqi guerrillas, Defense Department officials are scrambling to combat a broader downturn in retention and recruitment that they fear is on the horizon.

The US Army is offering reenlistment bonuses of $5,000 for soldiers serving there. The Army National Guard is extending an official thank-you to members by arranging services to honor returning soldiers. The Massachusetts National Guard is offering rewards ranging from plaques to NASCAR tickets to members who lure recruits. And throughout the branches, recruitment advertising is up and programs are being launched to make the military seem more family-friendly.

The Army also is resorting to a policy called “stop loss” that allows the Pentagon to indefinitely keep soldiers from leaving the service once their time has expired. The policy, used during war, is designed to prevent staffing shortfalls in key sectors. (Boston Globe)

Poison gas plot uncovered

Federal authorities this year mounted one of the most extensive investigations of domestic terrorism since the Oklahoma City bombing.

Three people linked to white supremacist and anti-government groups are in custody. At least one weapon of mass destruction, a sodium cyanide bomb capable of delivering a deadly gas cloud has been seized in the Tyler, TX area.

Investigators have seized at least 100 other bombs, bomb components, machine guns, 500,000 rounds of ammunition and chemical agents. But the government also found some chilling personal documents indicating that unknown co-conspirators may still be free to carry out what appeared to be an advanced plot. And authorities familiar with the case say more potentially deadly cyanide bombs may be in circulation.

William J. Krar last week pleaded guilty in Tyler federal court to possession of a chemical weapon. He faces up to ten years in prison. His common-law wife, Judith Bruey, pleaded guilty to lesser weapons charges and faces up to five years in prison.

Evidence seized and the fact that none of the defendants will talk has given rise to speculation that unknown conspirators may be still be involved in a broader plot to use Krar’s home-built chemical weapons, government officials say. (CBS 11)

Fort Bragg: deserters on increase

The number of soldiers illegally leaving their Fort Bragg-based companies has increased in the past couple of years, the Army says.

Between September 2002 and September 2003, Fort Bragg listed 235 total reports of absent without leave and desertion, up from 107 dating back to September 2001.

The Army attributes those figures, in part, to an increase in the actual number of mobilized reservists and other soldiers training on post. Thousands of soldiers pass through Fort Bragg annually, especially since the latest military operations in Iraq.

A soldier who does not show up for duty is classified as AWOL for 30 days. After that, he or she becomes an official deserter. During a time of war, the 30-day grace period disappears.

At that point, the soldier is on the run. The federal warrant shows up when a police officer scans the person’s record, or when a potential employer does a credit check. And the pressure doesn’t let up for the next four decades. If the soldier is caught, the nearest military authorities show up to cart him or her back to the parent unit. (AP)

Islamic group sues NC representative for remarks

The country’s largest Islamic civil liberties group has sued a North Carolina congressman, saying that he defamed the organization when he called it “the fund-raising arm for Hezbollah” and said that the stress of living near its Washington headquarters had contributed to the breakup of his marriage.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations filed the suit on Dec. 2 against Republican Cass Ballenger based on comments he made in an Oct. 4 article in the Charlotte Observer. Earlier that day, Ballenger, 76, had announced that he would retire after nine terms in Congress and 38 consecutive years in public office.

In the Observer article, Ballenger was quoted as saying that when the council moved into an office on the same block as his townhouse, it “bugged the hell” out of his wife, Donna. He said that she grew increasingly nervous about the group’s presence after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and that women wearing “hoods” were entering and leaving its office. He also told the newspaper that he had reported the group to the FBI and the CIA.

The council said in its lawsuit, which seeks $2 million in damages, that Ballenger’s comments harmed its reputation and were not protected because he was not speaking in his role as a member of Congress. (Washington Post)

Spending bill hijacked by Bush administration

Scattered throughout a massive $328 billion “omnibus” spending bill are millions of dollars in spending for specific pet projects of influential lawmakers. The number of lawmaker-specified projects, or “earmarks” in the spending bill, usually for popular programs in their home states or districts, has been rising exponentially since the 1990s.

The bill, which is set for a vote in the House of Representatives on Dec. 8, also contains a collection of policies backed by President Bush that in some instances flatly contradict the wishes of House and Senate majorities, including provisions governing travel to Cuba and restricting media ownership concentration.

Though both the House and Senate voted to retain federal rules that limit the number of television stations owned by a single network, the White House urged lawmakers from the Senate and House Appropriations Committees, who were drafting the spending bill, to include a compromise on the question.

At the Bush administration’s insistence, appropriators also removed language that would have eased restrictions on travel to Cuba, a provision that had won support in the House and Senate. (Knight-Ridder)

Hotel employee removed by Secret Service

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is asking the Secret Service for an explanation and apology regarding the treatment of an Arab-American hotel employee prior to a fundraiser for President George W. Bush at a Baltimore hotel on Dec. 5. The individual, who works on the catering staff of the hotel, was approached that morning before the fundraiser by a hotel superior and two Secret Service agents. They asked him if his name was Mohamed. He told them that although he did not use the name casually in daily life, Mohamed was indeed the first name in his full legal name. The agents and hotel employee then informed him that he should leave the hotel for the day, by order of the Secret Service.

The man is a United States citizen with no criminal record and a spotless employment history. (ADC Press Release)

Diebold backs off legal challenge

Diebold Election Systems is withdrawing legal threats against voting activists and internet service providers for publishing copies of internal staff e-mails that the company says were stolen from its servers.

The documents pointed to security flaws with Diebold’s computerized voting machines and suggested the company knew about those flaws long before it sold machines to several states.

Beginning in August, Diebold issued cease-and-desist letters to more than a dozen individuals who posted the documents or links to sites hosting them on the Internet. The nonprofit ISP Online Policy Group and two Swarthmore College students sought a court order in October to block Diebold’s action.

On Dec. 1, Diebold reversed itself without explaining its decision, saying only that it would not sue over the copyright claims. Diebold said it would send letters to the ISPs retracting demands that they take down the documents. (Wired News)

Inquiry into reports of Medicare bribe requested

Democrats and a legal watchdog group have asked Attorney General John Ashcroft to investigate allegations that Republicans offered a House member $100,000 in contributions for his son’s election campaign if he would vote for a Medicare prescription drug benefit passed by Congress last month.

Such an offer could be interpreted as a bribe that violates federal law.

Media reports have alleged that an undisclosed Republican told Rep. Nick Smith, R-Mich., that if he voted for the bill, business interests would contribute $100,000 to help his son, Brad, succeed him. Smith is not seeking re-election in 2004. His son is one of several Republican candidates running for the seat.

Smith told Gannett News Service on Nov. 24 that he had been lobbied heavily to support the bill. He said he had received promises that business interests and GOP leaders would help his son’s campaign in exchange. He said he also was told those same groups would work to defeat his son if Smith voted against the bill.

Charles Lewis, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, a public-interest research group, said there was little chance the Justice Department or the House ethics committee would investigate. (USA Today)