from Jihad Watch

Jihad Watch posts this from the AP:

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A former Navy sailor convicted of leaking details about ship movements and the best ways to attack them was sentenced Friday to the maximum 10 years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Mark Kravitz said Hassan Abu-Jihaad, of Phoenix, betrayed his country and endangered his fellow sailors.

"I cannot really overstate the seriousness of this crime," Kravitz said. The leak "does constitute a fundamental betrayal of your country and of your oath. You endangered your colleagues, you endangered your vessel and other vessels and other sailors, and you endangered your country."

Abu-Jihaad, 33, was convicted last year of disclosing classified national defense information. Prosecutors labeled him a traitor who was trying to help foreign terrorists replicate the bombing of the USS Cole, which killed 17 American sailors.

Abu-Jihaad, an American who is formerly known as Paul Hall and whose chosen Muslim name means "father of jihad," was a signalman aboard the USS Benfold who was honorably discharged from the Navy in 2002.

He was accused of posting information to a Web site in London that openly espoused violent jihad against the U.S. The information included the makeup of his Navy battle group and a drawing of the formation the group would use to pass through the dangerous Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf in April 2001.

The ship was not attacked.

Abu-Jihaad did not speak during Friday's hearing. His attorney, Dan LaBelle, said his client maintained his innocence and appreciated the fairness of the court.

He said his client's demeanor in court has been "very remarkable."

Prosecutor William Nardini encouraged Kravitz to consider Abu-Jihaad's actions, not his demeanor in court. He said the former sailor praised the Cole bombing as an operation carried out by martyrs.

"That is a twisted view of the world," Nardini said.

Abu-Jihaad believed engaging in a fight against his own country would make him a martyr, Nardini said.

"His alliances are not with America but with the American enemies" Nardini said. "He embraced those enemies. When he did that he betrayed his oath, he betrayed his security clearance and he betrayed his country."

Kravitz said Abu-Jihaad's sentence should be a deterrent for anyone who supports terrorism....

Thankfully, this scuzbucket is an anomaly in the Navy. Most Sailors serve with honour and pride, with at least a minimum love for their country. I hope there's something that can be done to yank that "Honourable Discharge" this traitor got, but really don't know. Think I'll add it to my Santa list.

Here's the Oath my grandfather, father, brother, uncles, cousins, father-in-law and husband have all taken:

I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

My last thought before bed - I wonder if enlistments are up or down since the Ascension?