Five soldiers at Ft. Jackson were arrested over allegations they had poisoned part of the food supply on base. Those allegations proved false, but other issues surfaced. The five men are reportedly Muslims and part of the Arabic translation training program, called ‘Lima 09.’ Congressman Joe Wilson represents Ft. Jackson in his district and also serves as a member of the U.S. Armed Forces Committee.
Wilson gives an update on the investigation: “The good news is that has turned out to not be the case. Additionally, there were allegations they were disloyal, that was not proven either. But, sadly, there were some petty crimes, like stealing, sufficient enough for them to be removed from the program,” says Wilson.
Wilson says there is some good news: “Our troops are safe. And, then that we have the military leadership at Ft. Jackson backed up by MPs, CID, the Criminal Investigation Division, the FBI. It has been taken seriously, it has been acted on,” says Wilson.
Four of the soldiers were discharged from the Army for petty crimes. The fifth soldier returned to his national guard unit in Virginia. Wilson says he understands the reasons for the initial investigation.
“We learned, I believe, from Fort Hood that if you are suspicious you have every right to bring that to the attention to the MPs, and from there, there should be a full investigation. We certainly shouldn’t be waiting for a crisis to occur,” says Wilson.
The investigation is on-going. Wilson says part of this continuing investigation involves information found on the soldier’s laptops.
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