# Fuckwit of the Month Club Selection: Captain James Yee **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 23, 2003, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuckwit-of-the-month-club-selection-captain-james-yee/203225 "2003-09-23T02:00:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuckwit-of-the-month-club-selection-captain-james-yee/203225/61 "2003-09-25T03:23:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. B \* > \*\*Ahhhhhhhhhh. Just what this forum’s been missing, the _canon_ fodder of the Christian Right. > > In case you won’t be able to squeeze _The Holy Qur’an_ into your busy schedule, there are [guides](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/sim-explorer/explore-items/-/0764555030/0/101/1/none/purchase/ref%3Dpd%5Fsxp%5Fr0/002-3032400-5520861) for people like you. Please come back when you’re more informed. \*\* Or, you could stop with the ultra-political correctness, and suggest a [more relevant](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0929765222/qid=1064460566/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_5/103-4072260-8839829?v=glance&s=books) book from Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2003, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuckwit-of-the-month-club-selection-captain-james-yee/203225/62 "2003-09-25T04:15:35Z")
Nice move, **Brutus**. I know I just _inferred_ “the book” was _The Qur’an_, but I wanted to hear it from **bri1600bv**. Now you’ve taken it completely off the table. _Ratfarts!_ Fine, just for the sake of argument, Iran _is_ the godfather. Are you then positing by extension that Islamic Fundamentalism, centered in Iran is erecting a wall in our Military along the border of Faith and Duty? **Blonde** , I hope you didn’t take offense at my “hi,” I just couldn’t remember having ever spoken with you directly. And thank you for your opinion regarding Mr. Bush, President Bush or The President. Apparently, you think “Shrub” is acceptable. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuckwit-of-the-month-club-selection-captain-james-yee/203225/63 "2003-09-30T20:16:40Z")
According to this [article](http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20030930084209990001&_mpc=news%2e6), another arrest has been made. (AOL Members only link) > [@](#): > > **Guantanamo Translator Arrested at Boston Airport** > By CURT ANDERSON, AP > > WASHINGTON (Sept. 30) – A physician working as a translator at the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba was arrested Tuesday, authorities said, in the latest of a series of apprehensions that have raised questions about security at the center for terror suspects. > > Dennis Murphy, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, said the arrest came at Boston’s Logan International Airport. A senior law enforcement official, discussing the case on grounds of anonymity, identified the suspect as Ahmed Mehalba. This source said that Mehalba had stopped in Boston Monday after arriving on a flight from Cairo. > > Agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement noticed documents that appeared to have come from the prison camp and that they suspected of being classified. The FBI was called in to interview Mehalba, who denied the documents were his, the official said. They’re crawling out of the woodwork! ---
**Author:** ![Daisy\_Cutter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@Daisy\_Cutter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daisy_Cutter)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2003, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuckwit-of-the-month-club-selection-captain-james-yee/203225/64 "2003-10-01T19:03:07Z")
If/when these scum are found guilty, I hope they will get the firing squad, which is a just punishment for their evil ways. They should also release the footage to be shown on tv/news. I also don’t find it the least bit surprising that **Diogenes the Terrorist Supporter** thinks that there should be even more infiltration into the US military by these traitors. Defeating the enemies at home is just as important as defeating the enemy overseas. There will be more muslim spy/traitor arrests soon, according to some media, but of course according to certain people here, this whole thing has nothing to do with muslims, lol. And just who is being ignorant here ? :rolleyes: In case certain people do not know, we are at war, primarily with islamic militants. These people do not what they do because they are just bad, and they happen to be muslims, by some weird coincidence. They do what they do, because their perverted, fucked up, hatefilled interpertation of a certain religion tells them to carry out their violent,primitive, murderous plans. And regardless what some politically correct, spineless people or terrorist sympathizers think here, there is profiling going on already, which is evidenced by all of the other muslim chaplains being looked into to also, something which is long overdue. I suppose we’ll see more terrorist sympathizers coming out of the woodwork soon, as more arrests are made. ---
**Author:** ![Testy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Testy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Testy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuckwit-of-the-month-club-selection-captain-james-yee/203225/65 "2003-10-02T07:12:49Z")
Islam, at least as it is practiced around here, does indeed teach hatred of the west and all it stands for. Tomorrow at the noon prayers/sermon, the local mosque behind my garden wall will be telling the attendees to “rise up and destroy the Godless Americans and British.” That is an actual line that gets used every Friday. These are the clerics that remain after the government jerked the licenses of the militants a few months ago. As an oh-by-the-way, if you go to Syria, stay in the Damascus Sheraton. It isn’t like any other Sheraton hotel you’ve been in, guaranteed. _S_ Regards Testy ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuckwit-of-the-month-club-selection-captain-james-yee/203225/66 "2003-10-02T08:08:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Daisy Cutter \* > If/when these scum are found guilty, I hope they will get the firing squad, which is a just punishment for their evil ways. And if they’re not found guilty, will you admit you were wrong and apologize for the pre-judgmental comments you’ve made? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuckwit-of-the-month-club-selection-captain-james-yee/203225/67 "2003-10-02T10:43:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Testy \* > Islam, at least as it is practiced around here, does indeed teach hatred of the west and all it stands for. Tomorrow at the noon prayers/sermon, the local mosque behind my garden wall will be telling the attendees to “rise up and destroy the Godless Americans and British.” That is an actual line that gets used every Friday. I’ll bite. So because of anecdotal information gathered _sub rosa_ from one mosque, you are able to generalize about all of Islam. Since you happen to be in a very enviable position there, I’m sure a lot of Dopers would be interested in what goes on at this particular mosque. Would you be so kind to type up, in Arabic, this Friday’s (tomorrow’s) “sermon” where a cleric condemns the West and all it stands for and asks his _flock_ to “rise up and destroy the Godless Americans and British?” Please make sure you keep it in perspective, even if it turns out to say “God willing, may our brothers in Iraq be protected from the infidel and prevail against the Godless American and British horde.” ---
**Author:** ![Testy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Testy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Testy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuckwit-of-the-month-club-selection-captain-james-yee/203225/68 "2003-10-02T14:29:29Z")
No generalization was made about “all of Islam.” And by the way, let me express my appreciation of you stuffing words into my mouth. Speeches like I mentioned above are both common and popular in Riyadh during Friday prayers and the sentiments expressed are not limited to a single mosque. On the other hand, Bahrain, Kuwait, the Emirates, Oman, and Qatar all frown on such speeches by the Immams. Which of the above statements would you like to consider as “anecdotal”? As far as my location goes, we obviously have different opinions on what constitutes “enviable.” I think a better description would be “tolerable.” Regarding your snarky request for me to type up tomorrows diatribe. If you believe that I will sweat through 90 minutes of frenzied Arabic to convince you of my correctness you greatly overestimate the importance of your opinion to me. Regards. Testy ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuckwit-of-the-month-club-selection-captain-james-yee/203225/69 "2003-10-05T23:21:57Z")
Thanks for the local report, **Testy**. Please keep us updated. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuckwit-of-the-month-club-selection-captain-james-yee/203225/70 "2003-10-08T18:57:20Z")
Well, since **Testy** hasn’t deigned to report in from the Saudi bureau, here’s a little news from other regions: > [@](#): > > This just in from the _[The Age](http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/10/08/1065601909564.html)_ out of Melbourne > > \ > > US-based Australian lawyer Richard Bourke claims detainees at Guantanamo Bay were subject to “medieval” torture techniques, including having rubber bullets fired at them and being forced to stand in a crucifix position in the sun until they collapsed. > [@](#): > > From [MSNBC](http://www.msnbc.com/news/977037.asp) > > \ > > WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 — Military authorities have taken unusual steps to protect evidence in an espionage investigation at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, including classifying routine court documents and forcing visiting reporters to promise in writing not to ask about the case. **So the only way we can get information out of GTMO is through attorneys and spies**. How come so few Dopers (thumbing to **Diogenes** , who’s been roundly misquoted here) have a problem with this? ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuckwit-of-the-month-club-selection-captain-james-yee/203225/71 "2003-10-09T03:31:54Z")
I’m going to say this: When someone knowingly gathers information that is explicitly forbidden, there is a preexisting and purported degree of conscientious objection that (by their own oath) should already have been made manifest. Giving your own most solemn vow to uphold a well and fair system (the United States), demands no less. I am deeply concerned about misdeeds and want them punished in equal fashion. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuckwit-of-the-month-club-selection-captain-james-yee/203225/72 "2003-10-09T04:05:42Z")
**Zenster** , I appreciate your insight. That sounds like a reasonable argument, though I’m not certain how there can possibly be a “battlefield conscientious objection,” so this analogy is a little loaded; to the extent that one might have an awakening in the midst of battle, he might similarly acquire a simmering sense of injustice at scenes of torture or abuse. I submit these men were ideologues, due in part to their Faith, and irrespective of Islam. Duty is simple to enforce, in peace or war, but it may be tested in the fog of war or in a remote prison, by individuality and self-actualization. Scholarly, thoughtful personnel who were distanced or outright excluded from their platoons were perfect carriers of dissent. One might suppose they took the sense of injustice and converted it to a powerful weapon against the ideology of the United States, a place from which they originated and a military system by which they felt cheated and abused. They took and understood the risks. The hell of it is they may even have felt they were working _in_ the interests of America. With regard to punishment: whatever penalty was applicable at the moment of the crime should be duly appplied to these men should they be found to have spied. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuckwit-of-the-month-club-selection-captain-james-yee/203225/73 "2003-10-09T04:09:40Z")
uh…“applied to these men.” ---
**Author:** ![bbart4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/51bf81/32.png) [@bbart4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbart4)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuckwit-of-the-month-club-selection-captain-james-yee/203225/74 "2003-10-12T16:34:40Z")
Just an [update](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10532-2003Oct10.html) on James Yee’s story: > [@](#): > > A former Muslim chaplain at the military prison for suspected al Qaeda and Taliban fighters was charged yesterday with two counts of mishandling classified material for allegedly trying to take documents from the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to his home. > [@](#): > > “All this suggests they really don’t have much on him,” said Kevin Barry, a retired Coast Guard captain and military judge who now researches military legal affairs. “It indicates the Army has decided to lowball this.” This particular incident has turned to be much less of a story than first indicated. It would be interesting to see what’ll happen with the other similar cases. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuckwit-of-the-month-club-selection-captain-james-yee/203225/75 "2003-10-12T16:54:49Z")
bbart4: Or it could merely suggest they haven’t completed the investigation into the espionage case, the charges just lodged were done to maintain him in custody, and doesn’t have a thing to do with “lowballing” it That being said, I wonder what those folks in this thread who are so quick to condemn all Muslims based on the espionage charge will have to say if the government doesn’t actually lodge such a charge. ---
**Author:** ![bbart4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/51bf81/32.png) [@bbart4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbart4)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuckwit-of-the-month-club-selection-captain-james-yee/203225/76 "2003-10-12T17:08:43Z")
Monty, Of course we have to wait and see how all this pan out. But what’s telling from the article are some of the following tidbits: > [@](#): > > Yesterday’s announcement about Yee by the Florida-based U.S. Southern Command, which oversees operations at Guantanamo Bay, repeatedly said his case is being treated as a lower-level special court-martial case. > > Military law experts said that is a clear sign that high-ranking officials think the case is relatively insignificant. > > …“This all seems very innocuous,” said Gary Solis, a retired Marine prosecutor who now teaches the law of war at Georgetown University. “It’s the pettiest of stuff.” But again I am not suggesting that this is over. Something may come out later that could go either way. The article merely puts forward that for this particular case (Capt. Yee’s), it’s probably much less serious than first thought. ---
**Author:** ![Daisy\_Cutter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@Daisy\_Cutter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daisy_Cutter)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuckwit-of-the-month-club-selection-captain-james-yee/203225/77 "2003-10-12T18:58:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\*And if they’re not found guilty, will you admit you were wrong and apologize for the pre-judgmental comments you’ve made? \*\* Sure why not, if all the people on here who are making excuses for these alleged criminals/traitors will admit that they were %100 in the wrong, if/when they are found guilty. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuckwit-of-the-month-club-selection-captain-james-yee/203225/78 "2003-10-13T00:48:21Z")
Oh, blow it out your ass, you ignorant hateful spiteful and stupid fool, Daisy Cutter. Nobody’s making any excuses for Yee. You, OTOH, make plenty of excuses for those who would deny following the laws, paramount among the laws is the Constitution–that document we already know, thanks to you parading your stupidity here, you don’t give a tinker’s damn about. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuckwit-of-the-month-club-selection-captain-james-yee/203225/79 "2003-10-13T01:57:27Z")
I’m not sure how much help it will be, given the level of emotionalism this thread has achieved, but in the bad old days when Uncle Ho was haunting Lyndon Johnson’s dreams and the Rooshians were poised at the mid-German border, I was involved in the court-martial of an American soldier for disclosing classified information. The soldier was a draftee, a native of Haiti who spoke better Creole than English. The foreign agent was his East German girl friend, a local bar girl. The classified information was a phone book with the listings of administrative and support facilities at a US facility in Germany. It had stuff like the phone number of the PX, the quartermaster furniture warehouse, the base library, and the dental clinic. Although the book was marked “official use only” it was widely available in the military and civilian community. The case was tried to a full court–a panel of six or seven officers headed by a lieutenant colonel. The court returned a not guilty verdict after not more than 15 minutes of deliberation. I spoke to the court president later and he said that the board thought that the whole thing was silly and he figured that the general had referred the case to mollify his intelligence people. I don’t know the facts of the Git-mo cases, just because precious little information is being let out, but if the old German classified phone book case is any indication there may be a lot more smoke here than fire. ---
**Author:** ![Daisy\_Cutter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@Daisy\_Cutter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daisy_Cutter)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuckwit-of-the-month-club-selection-captain-james-yee/203225/80 "2003-10-13T07:11:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Monty \* > \*\*Oh, blow it out your ass, you ignorant hateful spiteful and stupid fool, Daisy Cutter. Nobody’s making any excuses for Yee. You, OTOH, make plenty of excuses for those who would deny following the laws, paramount among the laws is the Constitution–that document we already know, thanks to you parading your stupidity here, you don’t give a tinker’s damn about. \*\* I don’t know if your birth mother dropped you on your head when you were an infant, but you are certainly showing showing signs of mental deficiency, which could lead one to draw that conclusion. Let’s take a breath for a moment and examine your foolhardy statements. **"Nobody’s making any excuses for Yee."** Oh, really ? 😃 Here’s just a couple of examples inorder to refresh your memory, since your cerebral area must not be functioning too well. \*What use is this information to the enemies of the USA? I cannot see it. - - - \* \*I think we need a lot more spies in Guantanamo. I trust this cleric a hell of a lot more than I trust anything coming out of the White House. I say kudos for anyone who can get some news out to the public. - - - \* \*There’s no evidence that he was giving the information to terrorists or trying to kill Americans. That’s just a load of bullshit. - - - \* I have now concluded that you are a pathetic, dishonest fool, and you’ll probably write a pile of useless shit for your next reply. You sir, are a P A TH E t I C - - - M O R O N. (And a worthy contendor for troglodyte of the year) :wally [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuckwit-of-the-month-club-selection-captain-james-yee/203225.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuckwit-of-the-month-club-selection-captain-james-yee/203225.md?page=5)