'He is not guilty and he is not innocent' - from The Guardian Spin Machine

When Guant¡namo chaplain Captain James Yee was arrested allegedly with secret documents about the prison, he was threatened with execution and branded a traitor. So why after 200 days in jail was he only charged with adultery and quietly released? Oliver Burkeman on a strange and troubling tale from the new American era of homeland security (my emphasis)

In order to pick apart articles in the Guardian spin machine you have to write and article 5 times as long as the original. But here goes a stab (pun intended) at it.

There is no 'allegedly' about it - he had classified documents with him, it is just the charges were dropped in a plea bargain deal.

Every American service member knows the punishment for espionage. But when was the last soldier executed? 1961 - for rape and attempted murder.

And he was not just charged with adultery, he was also charged and convicted of downloading porn as well. Don't forget he is suppose to be a Muslim.

Quietly released? Implies the military was embarrassedd and wanted it to go away 'quietly'. Anyway, how do you noisily release someone'?

Captain James Yee became a prime target in the war against terror one morning last September

Oh please.

Yee was up to no good, and may have been plotting a jailbreak of barely comprehensible audacity.

Are you laughing yet?

Now the Guant¡namo chaplain seemed to have confirmed the worst anti-Islamic prejudices, and imperilled his country at the same time.

Fanning the flames aren't they?

Pentagon lawyers threatened the death penalty, which was unsurprising, because Yee's case was deeply alarming. It still is, but for different reasons.

Remember the UK is overwhelming opposed to the death penalty. Flames are getting higher.

President Bush's war was not Yee's first

Look how it is "Bush's war". Attacks are happening all over the world; the UN has just apponinted a new terrorst czar and the EU has done the same.

He was raised a Lutheran, but had drawn close to Islam, and after the conflict he left the army to study the Koran in Damascus for four years.

Damascus - that would be in Syria right. There's that word again - Syria.

From paragraph 2 of the article we get this

The military has offered no evidence for its allegations that he was a spy or a traitor

But in paragraph 7 we get this

In the middle of trial preparations, military prosecutors accidentally delivered some of them to the home of Eugene Fidell, Yee's defence lawyer.

It goes on and on so I won't. The US is still trying to find out if there is a connection to Yee and Senior Airman Ahmad al-Halabi (earlier post). When Halabi was arrested he was on his way to - wait for it - Syria!

Who knows what really went on here but the Guardian just used this case to bash Bush and fan anti-American sentiment. Read the article as an ordianary citizen here in the UK would without going to other sources and look at the picture of America you get.

Disgusting and biased. Shame on the Guardian. Keep your eyes out for Syria.