The US Army has told a reservist who has spent half his life in the military that he is barred from re-enlisting, asserting he "leaked" classified information to this reporter during an interview in which he spoke candidly about his experiences working as a guard at Guantanamo Bay eight years ago.
"In accordance with your security clearance agreement during 2003-2004, you are not authorized to freely talk to the press about your duties at GITMO or what you might think have occurred there to the press," states an April 2 "developmental counseling form" presented to Pfc. Albert Melise that was signed by Alphonso Holt, a lieutenant colonel in the US Army reserves and the battalion commander of Melise's reserve unit. "I have reported your actions to the security manager and I am initiating a bar to re-enlist."
It's unknown whether Holt's recommendation to bar Melise from re-enlisting was approved by the Department of the Army. Melise said he still has not received a copy of his administrative file despite being honorably discharged June 27. An Army Reserve spokesman, who declined to confirm or deny whether the re-enlistment bar was accepted, told Truthout to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in order to obtain additional information about Melise's status.
Truthout conducted a series of interviews with Melise beginning last November, after being told by former detainee David Hicks, who had just published a memoir about the five-and-a-half years he spent at the prison facility and gave his first interview to Truthout, that Melise was one of the guards to whom he owed his life.
http://www.truth-out.org/army-accuses-reservist-classified-information-truthout-guantanamo/1314206461
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
