Muslim Chaplain School: Possible Ties to Al Qaeda
Charles Johnson
Tue Sep 30, 2003 at 11:56 am PDT • Views: 153
One of the Islamic schools relied on by the Pentagon to certify Muslim chaplains has been under investigation for possible financial ties to Al Qaeda—for the past 18 months. (Hat tip: Sean II.)
For the last six years, the Pentagon used an unaccredited school in Leesburg, Va., to train and certify most of its 13 Muslim chaplains. But in the last 18 months, the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences also has been part of a federal investigation into possible financial ties to al-Qaida, ABC reported.
One of the chaplains mentioned in correspondence between the Pentagon and the school is Army Capt. James Yee, who was arrested by military authorities last week over possible security breaches at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba.
In an April 2000 letter obtained by ABC, the school’s executive dean, Ahmed Alwani, wrote to the office of the Army’s Chief of Chaplains saying while Yee was never a student at the school, the academic qualifications he had earned elsewhere were the equivalent of courses offered at the facility.
Eighteen months? Did the feds fail to communicate with the Pentagon about this investigation, or was this a massive sting operation?
Unfortunately, I don’t think we can realistically rule out the former possibility.
Frank says: