Wednesday, October 1, 2003
Frontpage: Guantanamo Translator Arrested by Fox News
Ahmed Mehalba, a civilian translator at the camp in Cuba, was arrested Tuesday at Boston's Logan International Airport after it was found that he was carrying classified documents.
He is the third person to be detained for possible security breaches at the naval base, where a largely Muslim, non-English-speaking population of about 660 suspected Al Qaeda (search) and Taliban (search) fighters are being held.
At a brief hearing Tuesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mehalba entered no plea and was detained pending a probable cause hearing scheduled for Oct. 8. On the charge of making false statements, he could face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted.
Mehalba, wearing jeans and an orange golf shirt, said nothing during the hearing, except to tell the judge that he could not afford his own attorney.
Mehalba previously worked as a Boston cab driver. Two days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks he applied for a job as a Logan Airport gate guard and was turned down, said Jose Juves, a spokesman for Massport, the agency that operates Logan.[...]
The bad news is that this multi-breach must have been going on for some time. Who knows the damage that's been done?
The good news is that Logan security is actually stopping suspicious characters now rahter than, you know, like, letting them on the airplane to, y'know, slam it into a building. Of course, he was an arrival, but still...baby steps and all.
We can only hope that this is causing the Government to reexamine its security policy. Maybe they'll actually start to focus on members with an Islamist background, rather than pretending to this PC silliness by reviewing all 2800 military chaplains (for instance) equally.
Breaches will happen as long as we live in a free society and not a police-state, even in the military, but it's up to the people in charge to take sensible steps to prevent it.
They caught one by luck this time. How many more are out there?
Update: Don't miss Michelle Malkin's article, Christian soldier, Muslim soldier, at Townhall:
This is a story of two soldiers, one Christian, one Muslim. It's a cautionary tale that suggests how religious double standards and politically driven hypersensitivity threaten not only our troops, but us all.
Six months ago, Jack Moody tried to send his son, Daniel, a care package containing a Bible study and other Christian religious materials. Daniel is a 21-year-old Army National Guardsman serving in the Middle East. He had written home requesting spiritual support while he risked his life abroad. The literature his dad packed included Christian comic books. But when Daniel's dad approached the post office in the family's hometown of Lenoir, North Carolina, he was told he would not be allowed to send the items...
