No worries. "This is not a terrorism case. This could happen to any immigrant." Of course. Any immigrant could inadvertently get a job handling classified military documents, and mistakenly take some home with him, and -- who knows? -- perhaps without intending to let a few drop into the sight of Iraqi jihadists. But keep your shirt on! This could happen to anyone!
"Mystery Deepens Over WMD Documents," by Joseph Goldstein for the New York Sun (thanks to all who sent this in):
How the classified military documents from Iraq, which named the coordinates of where the Army suspected weapons of mass destruction to be hidden, ended up in an Arabic translator's apartment on Hoyt Street in Brooklyn, is clear.Not likely to be known anytime soon is what, if anything, the army contractor did with the documents.
The U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn, which is prosecuting the case, appears to have little direct evidence that Noureddine Malki passed information on to the insurgency, either during his time in Iraq in 2003 and 2004, or upon his return to America in 2005. But it has raised the possibility that he may have done so. The government has said Malki regularly called phone numbers connected to insurgents and took bribes of at least $11,500 from Sunni tribal leaders.
The government, prosecutors wrote in one court filing, could "establish that the defendant had an opportunity to provide stolen classified information to anti-coalition forces."
Yesterday, at a hearing in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, an Army officer with the 82nd Airborne Division described some of the reports that Malki had obtained. "The information is so critical that you do not want the information to get into the hands of anyone without the need to know," Lieutenant Colonel Michele Bredenkamp said, referring to a mission analysis report for the 82nd Airborne, to which Malki was attached. The document, among other things, described convoy routes and named known terrorists the Army was targeting. Between 60 and 70 individuals had authorization to view the document, which could be accessed through a secure computer, Colonel Bredenkamp testified.
"Would this be the type of thing for a soldier to take for a keepsake?" a prosecutor, John Buretta, asked.
"That's absurd," Colonel Bredenkamp said.
Malki has pleaded guilty to charges of unauthorized possession of national defense information. He is likely to be sentenced this spring. Prosecutors are seeking a 10-year sentence. Malki's lawyer, Mildred Whalen, is calling for him to be released on time served.
In court papers, Ms. Whalen has claimed that documents Malki "had in his possession were obtained or kept unknowingly."
In a short phone interview from prison last year, Malki told The New York Sun: "I never had bad intentions whatsoever."
"I loved this country more than them," he added, though it was not entirely clear to whom he referred. "I served this country in Iraq and they didn't."
Malki, a native of Morocco, immigrated to Brooklyn in 1989, his sister, Sonia Malki, said in an interview. While two of his siblings earlier moved to France, Malki decided to set out for America, after living in Paris for three months in 1989.
"This is not a terrorism case," Ms. Malki said. "This could happen to any immigrant."...
And I have to wonder why the goverment (i.e. FBI, CIA, military) have to insist on hiring muslims instead of Israelis'?
I would rather trust an Israeli that has a common bond with us for national security over a muslim anyday.
Why not hire Fibrahim Hooper (the dick-less wonder) as a contractor?
PROSECUTE, CONVICT, IMPRISON, then DEPORT him.
"But it has raised the possibility that he may have done so. The government has said Malki regularly called phone numbers connected to insurgents and took bribes of at least $11,500 from Sunni tribal leaders."
Maybe? What was he calling them for? this guy is obviously responsible for attacks on US forces, 10 years sounds way too lenient for what this guy did.
I wonder if the "Sunni tribal leaders" that bribed him 12k are the same tribal leaders that the US is relying on now with those steadfast "Awakening Council" friends and allies.
Muslims want the same thing that all Americans want.
Any immigrant? H*ll, it could happen to anyone. Just yesterday I found a whole briefcase full of classified military documents that I unknowingly brought home. I thought it strange, so of course I immediately called my friends in the Iraqi insurgency, but they didn't have any idea where they came from either. We laughed over such a simple, harmless misunderstanding.
Deport him upon release.
I followed the link and read the whole thing.
The final paragraph is a real sob story.
"Malki did not initially land on his feet in this country. He was homeless for a time [where, how long, exactly? Inquiring minds want to know]. At one point he drove for a car service [which one? where? owned by whom?]. A passenger robbed him, hitting his head so hard that he fell into a coma, Ms. Malki recalled.
Ms. Malki, who lives in France, said her brother went to Iraq as a translator out of gratitude to America, which gave him citizenship in 2000."
Anybody want to guess how tough a check was run on Malki's and his sister's accounts of his movements during those ELEVEN YEARS between 1989 and getting citizenship in 2000? Did he spend eleven whole years driving cars? What else was he doing?
Or on the period before he was hired as a translator in 2003? Given that Mr Hesham Islam's almost laughably flimsy story passed muster with the Pentagon who knows how many other flimsy yarns have gotten through?
I hope the prosecution have checked the story about driving for a car service (was he paying tax?). And the story of the robbery and subsequent coma: that should be checkable (police records; hospital records).
If I were a reporter covering this case I'd be trying to get an independent non-Muslim third-party confirmation for every last alleged detail of this guy's movements from the day he hopped off the plane in 1989 to the day he signed up as a translator. And above all else, I'd like to know what mosque or mosques he attended.
"This could happen to any immigrant."...
You don't even have to be an immigrant, it happened to Sandy Burgler. He was looking at some classified documents at the National Archives, when some of them accidentally got in his underwear, and sox.
He accidentally took them home, and can't remember what he accidentally did with some of them.
It can happen to anyone...
Treason.. plain and simple.. He deserves to be hung.
"...army contractor did with the documents."
I am not surprised. This is just another in a long line...of the sell out of everything in America. Don't worry within 20 years, we will have a foreign contractor fighting our wars for us too.
You know this is what happened to the Roman Empire. Too many Germans in the legions...
"This could happen to any immigrant."...
Riiiiight. This also happened to my grandfather. This exact same thing. Only it was the Germans. Yeah. Sure. His little brother too. Yeah. Right. His sister and mother had it happen also. Yeah.
Puuuuhlease.
Shouldn't it be the Holy borough of Brooklyn?
Stealing classified US documents worked for Sandy Burgler. Why not a Mohammedan?
/Whining and seething over this 'double standard' coming soon. Or islamophobia. It's a pick 'em.
Sorry, dah_swami. I posted my comment without reading yours. But Burgler was my first thought on this story, too.
Yet another to file under "How Can the Jihadists Take this Kind of Punishment?"
Who said "The Keystone Kops" was fiction.
Hilarious.
Well, when my ancestor immigrated to America..........
(He might have been give the choice of the colonies or prison)
......he disappeared for 11 years..........
(Actually, he worked as an indentured servant for a number of years)...............and then brought home secret government documents.........(Nope).
All the more reason for us to include a study of Arabic in college curriculums.