Former Army chaplain is an Obama delegate

Published 10:54 pm Tuesday, May 20, 2008

A former Army Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who was cleared of spy accusations is now a Democratic National Convention delegate pledged to Sen. Barack Obama.

Former Capt. James Yee was among the delegates who were elected by precinct representatives Saturday at the party’s 9th Congressional District convention at North Thurston High School.

Yee, a West Point graduate, was accused in 2003 of being part of a spy ring at the U.S. prison for suspected terrorists in Guantanamo Bay. He spent 76 days in solitary confinement before being exonerated. He later resigned from the Army, receiving an honorable discharge.

Yee now lives with his wife and daughter in Olympia. He said that during the gathering Saturday, “I came out and basically reiterated that Sen. Obama is really the only candidate that consistently campaigns on rejecting torture without exception, on closing Guantanamo Bay, restoring habeas (corpus) and adhering to the Geneva Conventions.”