Danny Miki (signature, top left) was incredibly talkative and friendly. He was quick with jokes, and expressed desire for further communication and following of his work through his myspace page. He is inking everywhere in the most popular marvel titles for the last three years. He even had a special thanks to him back in Cable #1. Rob Liefeld is an artist known for creation of Cable, one of the most popular marvel characters to come out of the nineties. Miki told of his story of Liefeld helping him get oriented into the comics scene at the time, later to return to Marvel as one of the most prolific inkers. I’m hoping next time he comes to commission him to ink a drawing of my own (unless he’d like to do so for free). He is very talented, but I would like to learn more about the extent of his work in how and where it is used in the process.

By the time I had arrived for Matt Fraction’s signing, everyone had already cleared out. I was a bit shocked, since the comic books of mine which he wrote are incredibly popular and very well written. The night before arriving at Black Cat, I read my first issue of Iron Fist; one he wrote. It contained a dialogue between the previous Fist, and the up-and-coming one. Between the writing and the artist’s depiction of the dialogue, as well as the seriousness discussion and content, the issue was phenomenal. I was then reminded that he did one of my favorite dialogues ever, read only months ago in the first three issues of Punisher War Journal. This was the confrontation and history between Steve Rogers and Frank Castle (Capt. America and The Punisher). Both are soldiers bred for war, but both have become entirely different sides of the same coin. They are finally put on the same side, in Marvel’s Civil War, in the same room where Captain America has been offered the chance to accept the aid of known criminal super-villains (killers) in order to win the war. Punisher makes an entrance into the room filled with “New Avengers” and takes the temptation from “Cap” riddling the villains with flurry of lead, covering the heroes in brains and blood. The writing that follows is to die for…written by the highly prolific Matt Fraction. Since the signing I have picked up every punisher issue he has done, as well as the “Thor: Ages of Thunder” one-shot, which was also amazing.

Thanks again to Matt, Miki, and Greg.

Captain James Yusef Yee is a third generation Chinese-American, and third generation soldier for the U.S. Armed Forces. His grandfather fought in World War II and his father served in the Vietnam conflict. Yee graduated from West Point in 1990, where his emphasized studies were in Air Defense Artillery and Nuclear Missiles. Although Yee was raised Lutheran, in 1991 he converted to Islam and even journeyed to Mecca. In January 2001, Yee became the tenth to twelfth Muslim Chaplain in the history of the U.S. Army. At Ft. Lewis Washington he taught Muslim education to soldiers who headed to Afghanistan or Iraq. He taught the Pillars of Islam, how to build bridges between faiths, how to recite the Quran, and how to speak Arabic.

In December of 2002 Yee was posted at Guantanamo Bay. His two roles were to advise camp commander on religious practices, and to serve as Chaplain to all Muslim soldiers, personnel, and 660 detainees (among them spoke Farsi, Pashto, Urdu, Arabic, and French). Yee was one of the few who had free reign amongst the prisoners, but was always highly visible under supervision. Commanding Officers requested Yee’s assistance because detainees were finding ways to commit suicide; this made interrogations of those detainees impossible. Yee believed this was not because detainees were trying to hide information. Based on detainees’ stories of how they were tortured, he believes these were desperate acts toward release from spiritual torment brought upon by their captors. To solve the problems of the detainees and the interrogators Yee suggested some reforms. Specifically, he had cloth slings placed in top corners of individual holding pens in order to hold their Qurans high up and safe, which is the traditional respectful treatment. It is considered disrespectful to Allah to let the “Words of God” touch the ground. Yee also mediated the process of handling the Qurans, as they had been mistreated intentionally and unintentionally in “cell searches.” At Camp Delta he suggested the process of how the detainee would present and flip through the Quran, then would be pre-shackled through the bars, and his person searched as the steel mesh cage was opened. He achieved respect for the Quran and plausible security precautions to allow for it.

For all Yee’s successful work, he was accommodated by his supervisors, and after 10 months of his 12 month tour of duty, he was granted 2 weeks of “R & R” back home in the United States. Boarding the flight back to Jacksonville, Florida, Yee noticed an M.P. (military police) speaking to an officer. The officer motioned back at James Yee. Once they hit the ground on September 10, 2003, before being let off base, he was questioned about classified documents which were removed from the base. His person and possessions were searched. He had no knowledge of any documents, and none were found. Later he would hear that the NCIS and FBI reported having “found suspicious and classified documents on his person.” He was arrested without a stated cause (once documents were not found) and placed in a “3 pieced Suit” style of shackles. Blacked out goggles were put on his eyes and Industrial ear muffs were put on his ears. Although he was still allowed to smell, and potentially taste, these other restraints are a mild form of torture known as sensory deprivation. These techniques were used on him throughout his 76 days of solitary confinement at a Naval Brig in South Carolina.

After 11 days of incarceration, his family, wondering where he was, saw a report in the news, thanks to a Pentagon correspondent to the Washington Times. His name was mentioned as being held for suspicion of consorting in a “Three Man Spy Ring” in Guantanamo Bay. Over the upcoming weeks, his family contacted Eugene Fidel, a prominent civilian lawyer with experience in military courts. Fidel worked to get information on Captain Yee. Upon his “release” after 76 days, he was to be seen at a military tribunal, where he was to be charged with “Disobeying a Direct Order during Wartime”, punishable by death. At some point the charge was brought down to “Improper Handling of Classified Documents”, punishable by 14 years to life imprisonment. All charges were dropped because 1) there was no record of his arrest, although it was clear he had just been released from the arrest. 2) There was no investigation, and no case had even begun to be prepared, even after 76 days. 3) Upon request to see the evidence, classified or not, in order to establish Yee’s possession of the documents, none was to be offered. Thus all charges were dropped.

Yee was immediately reinstated, without explanation, apology, or the rest and relaxation he was promised. He finished up his last two months, and was given a medal for “Exceptional Meritorial Service” upon being honorable discharged. Yee does not hold a grudge, although he does not appreciate the lack of integrity expressed by the Armed Forces nonchalant attitude toward improper and inhumane treatment of soldiers (in this rare circumstance). And it makes him mad that the reason was most likely that someone frowned on his “sensitivity to prisoners.” He also expressed anger that he was taunted upon his arrest, such as “Chinese Taliban”, or “Slanty-Eyed Rag-Head.” He is a proud patriot of the United States of America who has served honorably for his country and his God. He is proud of his Chinese heritage and Islamic beliefs, and resents the racial hatred to his bloodline and religion. Although Yee hopes for the discontinuation of the practices of Guantanamo Bay, Yee would definitely serve again as Chaplain, or to teach military courses on “how to win hearts and minds” rather than on how to wage war.

For a long time now, many of our First and Second Amendment rights have been highly regulated. Thanks to the patriot act, we have also lost security of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments. According to an L.A. federal district judge, the patriot act steps on the First Amendment protections by its vagueness in declaring “expert advice or assistance” to terrorists as a criminal activity. It infringes on the Fourth Amendment, which protects from unreasonable search and seizures, by changing the burden of “reason” and rerouting the decision from an impartial judge into the hands of an agent on the case that may be partial.

The Fifth Amendment protects our freedom from being “deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. The patriot act requires the attorney general to arrest aliens who are considered a “threat to national security,” and can hold them for up to seven days without charges. If the alien is an illegal immigrant, the Constitution does not apply; he or she can be held indefinitely. In our “War on Terror” the administration in charge has decided to ignore international law regarding Prisoners of War. According to Capt. Yee, because other countries have given us grief about the rights of “prisoners,” we are very careful in calling them detained “unlawful combatants” or “detainees” at Guantanamo Bay. The administration defends this decision by stating that we are not fighting a nation, but terrorists. Terrorists do not play by any rules of war; they have attacked citizens, embassies, and soldiers. The problem here is that international law regarding POWs protects against torture. When we disregard “Rules of Engagement” or human rights protections, we hurt innocents, and collateral damage increases. We are no longer the good guys when this occurs; we have merely sunk to the level of our enemies.

The Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to assistance of council or representation, as well as a trial by jury and unanimous decisions against criminal guilt. The patriot act inhibits the privacy assured by attorney-client relationship, and even prevents or restricts obtaining aid of a lawyer altogether. Any conversations that elicit “reasonable suspicion” to “further or facilitate” terrorist activities are now monitored. The Bush-Cheney administration has determined that U.S citizens can now be declared enemy combatants. Suspected terrorists will not be tried in civilian courts, but in U.S. military courts called military tribunals. Military tribunals do not use the same rules of evidence. If it is believed to be important to the case or decision, it is admissible without regard to the legality of how such information was obtained, and possibly without regard to the legitimacy of the evidence. They also only require a two-thirds panel agreement for a conviction. The military and administration believe it would be difficult to try certain matters of “intelligence” in a civilian criminal court without classified material becoming public. Also, they fear real terrorists being freed on technicalities.

Although Capt. Yee has been witness to, even subject to, many of the above perceived injustices, there is no clear path to recompense. The military is presumably immune to law suits due to the fact that fear of accountability beyond the chain of command may keep soldiers and officers from completing the tasks needed to fight and win wars, and keep our country safe from harm. Based on precedent set by 1950 Supreme Court ruling, Feres v. The United States, military members cannot “sue the U.S. Government for injuries resulting from the negligence of others in the armed forces.” While there is a claim process, a service member may only reap the benefits of what the Department of Defense offers. That’s that. It has remained this way based on the Feres Doctrine for over fifty years.

The final topic of debate was the future of our country with regards to Guantanamo Bay. One of the lawyer panelists suggested that since all remaining candidates have spoken (vaguely) out about closing down Guantanamo, it will be gone within six months of the next election. One of the political science panelists thought this was a little naïve, stating that what generally happens is they close down the program and reopen it a little differently, or close it down where it is at, and re-open differently elsewhere. He said something to the affect of, “We make a lot of mistakes, but we learn from them. We won’t make the same mistake, just one very similar.” Capt. James Yee thought both of these views were highly optimistic. Based on the size of the buildings built, the vast amounts of work and money that went into securing the areas and building them to such quality, he believes those prisons aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. I lean towards Yee, but wasting money has not been a problem for military contractors. For all they care, we can knock it down tomorrow, and rebuild something else it its place -more work.