WASHINGTON -- Sen. Charles Schumer criticized Pentagon leaders Tuesday for what he said was a failure to take a close look at those it hires to be Muslim imams in the military, months after he raised warnings and asked for an investigation.
Schumer's criticism follows the arrest earlier this month of Army Muslim chaplain Capt. Yousef Yee, who ministered at the U.S. military's prison for suspected terrorists in Cuba.
Yee is being held at a military brig as investigators try to determine if he misused classified documents.
Pentagon officials said Tuesday an Air Force enlisted man was being held for possibly misusing classified information. It was not immediately clear if the two cases are linked.
Schumer, D-N.Y., first requested an investigation from the Defense Department in March to look into the groups that the military uses to endorse clerics.
Schumer complained Tuesday that the organization which gave the military Yee's ecclesiastical endorsement, the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Association, is a subgroup of the American Muslim Foundation which has been investigated by Customs agents for possible financial ties to terrorism.
"I fully support the teaching and worship of Islam in the military but I think it's common sense to ensure the groups in charge of vetting people don't have links to terrorism, and are fundamentally pluralistic," said Schumer, who faulted the Defense Department's Inspector General for not taking action on the issue despite his six-months-old request.
"It's business as usual, and we're going to pay a price for it," said Schumer. "We can't afford to have this continue to happen again and again."
The U.S. Army has faced a similar problem before. Former Sgt. Ali Mohamed helped teach Green Berets about Muslim society, then joined up with Osama bin Laden to train terror cells and raise money for terror groups.
Mohamed, an Egyptian who became a U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty in 2000 to training terrorists and bin Laden's security detail.
Email This Page!