By Elaine Porterfield
FORT LEWIS, Washington (Reuters) - A U.S. Army soldier charged with trying to aid al Qaeda had a mental disorder that drove him to brag to undercover agents about ways to destroy U.S. weapons and kill soldiers, his lawyer said at the opening of his court martial on Monday.
Specialist Ryan Anderson was filled with grandiose visions of his own importance that led him to lie and encouraged him to role play, defense attorney Maj. Joseph Morse said in opening remarks in the case that has drawn national attention.
"They (prosecutors) want you to believe he was a militant Muslim, that he sympathized with al Qaeda," Morse said, "The evidence is not going to show it. He had a mental condition."
Morse did not specify what that mental condition was, and prosecutor Maj. Melvin Jenks, disagreed with Morse's claim.
"This is a case about betrayal," Jenks told jurors. "Betrayal of our country, betrayal of our Army and betrayal of our soldiers."
Jenks said he will present evidence from various sources, including instant text messages and e-mail, that Anderson intended to aid enemy forces and gave evidence to undercover agents posing as Muslim extremists.
The documents he is alleged to have given the agents provided detailed vulnerabilities in certain tanks and Humvees. It included specifics such as the caliber of a bullet needed to penetrate the tank's armor, Jenks said.
In earlier hearings, Ryan's attorney insisted much of the technical information Anderson provided was unclassified and relatively easy to find.
The 27-year-old converted Muslim and gun-rights advocate from Lynnwood, Washington, was based at Fort Lewis, near Tacoma. He could face up to life in prison if convicted.
His court martial is being heard by a nine-person panel of commissioned officers. Unlike a civilian court, which requires a unanimous decision, only a two-thirds vote by the panel is needed for a conviction.
In another departure from civilian court practice, the panel, not the judge, will set Anderson's sentence if he is convicted. His sentence would be served in a military prison. The court martial is expected to run at least through Friday.
Anderson, a tank loader, was scheduled to ship out to Iraq when he began posting messages on extremist Muslim web sites seeking to contact al Qaeda. He was caught in a sting operation in which he was videotaped blasting U.S. leaders over the war.
Anderson, also known as Amir Abdul Rashid, was arrested in 1998 for approaching an elementary school toting a rifle and bayonet while on a break from Washington State University.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=6106746
Monday, August 30, 2004 - Page updated at 02:21 P.M.
Trial begins for guardsman accused of trying to aid terrorists
By Melanthia Mitchell
The Associated Press
FORT LEWIS, Wash. — A National Guardsman jeopardized the safety of his country and fellow soldiers when he tried to share U.S. military information with people he believed were al-Qaida terrorists, prosecutors said today at the start of the soldier's court martial.
"This is a case about betrayal — betrayal of our country, betrayal of our Army, betrayal of his fellow soldiers," Maj. Melvin Jenks said in his opening statement.
Spc. Ryan Anderson's attorney, Maj. Joseph Morse, countered the government has no proof that the 27-year-old tank crewman had criminal intent when he contacted federal undercover agents he thought were members of al-Qaida.
A Muslim convert, Anderson pleaded innocent Aug. 9 to five counts of trying to provide the al-Qaida terrorist network with information about U.S. troop strength and tactics, as well as methods for killing American soldiers.
Anderson, a member of the Washington National Guard's 81st Armor Brigade, which is deployed in Iraq, faces life in prison without parole.
A conviction requires agreement by two-thirds of a panel of commissioned officers, unlike a federal trial that requires a unanimous decision.
The trial at Fort Lewis, an Army base south of Seattle, is expected to last five days. Wearing his dress greens, Anderson took notes during the proceedings today.
Pfc. Scott Specht, a witness for the prosecution, testified that Anderson once told him he had joined the Army so he could "go to the motherland and help liberate Muslim brothers."
"I was taken back by his statement. I was somewhat startled by it," said Specht, who trained with Anderson at boot camp at Fort Knox in January 2003. "I decided it was probably best that I kept my distance."
Shannen Rossmiller, a city judge in Montana, reiterated testimony she gave at Anderson's Article 32 hearing in May, saying she contacted Anderson after coming across a posting in October on a Muslim-oriented Web site she was monitoring for signs of extremist or terrorist activity.
Internet searches linked the name on that posting, "Amir Abdul Rashid," to Anderson, Rossmiller said, and when she posted a phony call to jihad against the United States, Rashid wrote back, saying he was "curious if a brother fighting on the wrong side could join or defect."
Rossmiller contacted the federal Homeland Security Department, which put her in touch with the FBI.
Soon Anderson was text messaging a federal agent he believed was a member of al-Qaida. The conversations culminated in a face-to-face meeting with two undercover investigators at a parking lot near the Space Needle in Seattle. The hour-long discussion was secretly recorded Feb. 9, just days before Anderson was to deploy to Iraq.
On the video, Anderson offers sketches and information about weaknesses in the M1A1 Abrams, the Army's primary battle tank.
"While I love my country, I think the leaders have taken this horrible road," he said on the video. "I have no belief in what the American Army has asked me to do. They have sent me to die."
He was arrested at Fort Lewis three days after the meeting.
Anderson was raised Lutheran but began studying Islam while attending Washington State University. He's been described by high school classmates in Everett as a paramilitary enthusiast who was passionate about guns.
Anderson asked that his court martial be heard by commissioned officers rather than a judge or a mixed panel of officers and enlisted soldiers.
"He's making a tactical decision. They believe the officers, given this type of charge, will give him the fair shake," said David Sheldon, a Washington, D.C., attorney who specializes in military law.
Capt. Jay Stephenson, a spokeman for the Judge Advocate General's Office, said the charges against Anderson amount to attempted treason.
"We're at war now. This is a big thing," Stephenson said. "This is a very serious and grievous offense."
http://www.kirotv.com/news/3691952/detail.html