Enemies Within?

By Johanna McGeary Sunday, Nov. 30, 2003
    • Did jihadists penetrate the Guantanamo prison facilities that the U.S. military uses to house suspected terrorists? It seemed to be a possibility when U.S. officials leveled charges this fall against a Muslim Army chaplain and two base interpreters. But the notion that U.S. personnel were working for the enemy took a knock last week when the cleric, Captain James Yee, was freed from pretrial detention in a naval brig to work in the chaplain's office at Fort Benning, Ga. Yee still faces charges that he improperly took classified material from the prison, but suspicions that he might be a spy seem to have evaporated. If the Pentagon had real concerns about Yee's loyalty, says a military official, "he wouldn't be free." At the same time, concerns about security at Gitmo were raised again last weekend when Army Colonel Jack Farr, a top official in the group conducting interrogations, was charged with mishandling classified material.

    And then there are the cases of the two Arabic interpreters. Air Force Senior Airman Ahmad al-Halabi faces multiple charges that include spying for Syria and aiding the enemy. Contract interpreter Ahmed Fathy Mehalba is accused of unauthorized possession of classified information. The military and FBI fear that these or other linguists may have "submarined" interrogations of suspects—that is, selectively omitted important leads and facts, inserted disinformation to throw off questioners and told al-Qaeda ringmasters abroad what the detainees had said. FBI officials are debating whether to redo all the interrogations with fresh interpreters; discrepancies between new and old answers could illuminate a suspicious pattern of undermining the sessions.

    A special task force formed by the military and FBI to pursue the investigations is exploring theories that the base was penetrated by al-Qaeda or a state intelligence service. But law-enforcement officials tell TIME that the force is leaning toward the conclusion that the two linguists acted on their own and independently of each other.

    Meanwhile, the Army has slapped Yee with additional charges, including adultery—a crime in the military—and keeping pornography on a government computer. Eugene Fidell, Yee's lawyer, called the new charges "vindictive" and said, "We intend to fully litigate the matter." A military official denied that the supplementary charges were spiteful but conceded that "adultery is not normally investigated in the military. Even if it's common knowledge, nobody goes after it."

    Since Yee's arrest in September, Guantanamo inmates have had no chaplain. Yee's replacement is to arrive this month—but will not be allowed any contact with the detainees.

    Reported by Viveca Novak/ Guantanamo, Eli Sanders/ Seattle and Elaine Shannon/ Washington