Given the whitewash of what happened at Fort Hood, the news that an army investigation has concluded there was no plot to poison the food at Fort Jackson but that 4 of the 5 translators involved have been dismissed from the army, I think some further clarification is in order.

In fact, the way this story has been played by the army leaves a lot of questions unanswered. It was left to a Congressman, Representative Joe Wilson, to announce the news that the investigation revealed that there was not an effort to poison food," Wilson said. The probe also showed the men had not been disloyal.

So why were 4 of the 5 dismissed from the army? Petty theft, according to Wilson. Sounds reasonable. Except if the investigation into the food poisoning threat is over, why did they seize and are still analyzing the soldiers' laptops?

Republican Rep. Joe Wilson, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, said the soldiers' laptops had been seized and were being analyzed. Congressional officials with knowledge of the case said cell phones and Arabic writings had been confiscated as well.

Wilson said the soldiers were discharged because of unrelated incidents of minor theft.

Are you buying this? If there's no question of their disloyalty, why the continuing investigation? Why not wait until all the facts are in to exonerate these guys?

Strange indeed.

What about those discharges?

Wilson also disclosed for the first time that four of the Muslim soldiers had been "administratively separated" from the Army, a military designation that means they were discharged with neither honorable nor dishonorable status.

"If you don't succeed (in the Army), you can be administratively discharged without a court-martial and without a full military review," Wilson said.

The fifth soldier was removed from active duty and returned to the National Guard's jurisdiction in Virginia, Wilson said.

I must confess to being ignorant about most military procedural matters but if they stole from their fellow soldiers, shouldn't that rate a dishonorable discharge?

Lots of questions, few answers. I wonder if we'll ever know all the facts?