U.S. paramilitary adventurer imprisoned in Afghanistan takes up journalism

[seemslikeadream]

Americans Edward Caraballo, left, Jonathan Keith Idema, center, and Brent Bennett appear in a courtroom in Kabul, Afghanistan.
By Frank Greve

Knight Ridder Newspapers


He also received a 2001 National Press Club award for online journalism.


The latest, offered from prison last week via a U.S. freelance ally, bears this headline: "IDEMA: I STOPPED HUGE BOMB PLOT TO KILL GI'S IN AFGHANISTAN-Says He Used Loud Melissa Ethridge Music to Make Terrorist Confess."


from a prize-winning 1995 story about nuclear materials being smuggled out of Russia


Freelance TV cameraman Edward Caraballo of New York City, who was arrested and charged with Idema in Kabul, was in a "deep embedment" with Idema's mysterious Counter-Terrorist Group, Idema told reporters after their arrest.



TV producer Gary Scurka, 51, was wounded by Taliban gunfire while Idema and Scurka were on patrol with Northern Alliance troops in Afghanistan in November 2001.



In an MSNBC interview in February 2003, for example, columnist Mike Barnicle asked Idema, then in Afghanistan, whether he'd come across links between Iraq and al Qaida. Idema's response: "Oh, absolutely." The Sept. 11 commission and congressional intelligence committees have since found otherwise.


The evidence, Idema said at the time, included al Qaida's use of "Iraqi weapons, Iraqi documents, Iraqi false passports, Iraqi money, letters and contacts and information, computer programs and computers that would link them to Iraq and to the Iraqi intelligence agencies."


Idema often identified himself as a Green Beret even though he was discharged Jan. 27, 1984, according to the Defense Department.


more
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/9247934.htm

[seemslikeadream]

1. Idema Remember this guy?

Idema liked to tell reporters he'd played leading roles in secret U.S. military operations. He said that running afoul of federal authorities for protecting his sources was behind his 1994 criminal fraud conviction in Fayetteville for setting up phony companies that received but never paid for products that Idema resold. Idema represented himself in that case, at the end of which an exasperated U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle observed: "I think insanity might have been his best defense."


It was while out on bail before his fraud trial that Idema approached reporters with his biggest story. He said that while as a Green Beret in Lithuania after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990, he'd discovered that Russian smugglers were delivering nuclear weapons - "backpack nukes" - to Baltic agents.


Scurka bit. So did U.S. News and World Report. When the story appeared on "60 Minutes" and in U.S. News and World Report in October 1995, it had changed a lot. Investigators found no backpack nukes. They did turn up 4.4 tons of beryllium, which is used to make missile-guidance systems, high-performance aircraft, precision optical components - and nuclear reactors and warheads - in two Lithuanian bank vaults guarded by police.


U.S. News and "60 Minutes" reported that Russian crime syndicates had corrupted lab workers and smuggled the beryllium to Lithuania before Lithuanian and U.S. authorities blocked its resale.


The story won Scurka, "60 Minutes" and U.S. News the year's top prize from Investigative Reporters and Editors, a prominent national journalists' group. Idema's role, though, was deleted from the stories in part due to his fraud conviction. He threatened to sue over the omission, but no suit was ever filed.
more
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/9247934.htm

The Case of Keith Idema


In 1991 when the Soviet Union fell apart there was no happier fall-away piece than Lithuania, which was swallowed whole by the Soviet Union in 1940 and remained anti-Soviet until the Soviets collapsed in 1991. Somebody in Washington did some good thinking. Send some of our people over, make contact with the Lithuanian KGB - who really hated Russia and communism the whole time - and see what we could learn. And they couldn¡¯t have sent a better man than Special Forces Sergeant J. Keith Idema who quickly bonded with the Lithuanians and brought back information that may either save us all or serve us with fair warning of our impending physical obliteration!

(Idema's admirers claim Keith wowed the Lithuanian KGB guys by out-shooting them at the firing range and out-drinking them in the officers' club afterwards. I won t let that thought breathe outside of parentheses because the saga of Keith Idema is going to get plenty wild enough without it!)

The next year, 1992, Keith became the star at a Pentagon briefing by delivering the startling news that since the Soviet breakup, weapons-grade nuclear material had been, not leaking, but pouring into the hands of the international terrorist underworld. When a system like communism collapses, whatever you're sitting on top of becomes your currency. If you're supervisor of a shoe factory, you trade shoes for food, clothing, whatever. If you re in charge of a potato warehouse, potatoes are your new rubles. And those who were in charge of weapons-grade nuclear material found themselves in an enviable trading position.

Keith described to those at that Pentagon briefing the nuclear backpack or suitcase nuclear bomb, a tactical atomic device that could lay waste to 40 city blocks when detonated, Keith warned that the number of missing units from the former Soviet arsenal was unknowable. The traffic was lucrative to those who controlled that material and their tight Soviet-era control was now out of control.

more
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/7/22/1050...
check the source it's a bush love fest


Afghanistan vigilante intrigue widens: Financial Times July 23
http://search.ft.com/search/article.html?id=04072300077...


New info?
Mr Idema claims to be a former Special Forces operative and presented himself to officials in Kabul as working for a group named Task Force Saber 7.



Outsourcing War Crimes
It was late fall 2001, and the U.S. conquest of Afghanistan was nearly complete. A passel of foreign war correspondents milled about the lobby of the Hotel Tajikistan, waiting for the Tajik foreign ministry to issue permission papers we needed to pass the checkpoints between Dushanbe and the Afghan border, so we could go on to cover the siege of Kunduz. I popped into the Soviet-vintage hotel's business center to check my email. That's when I met Jonathan Keith "Jack" Idema, the former Special Forces soldier charged on July 5 along with two other Americans for kidnapping and torturing Afghans as part of an unauthorized, vigilante anti-Taliban operation run out of a private home in Kabul.

"U.S. citizen Jonathan K. Idema has allegedly represented himself as an American government and/or military official," the U.S. military said in a statement. "The public should be aware that Idema does not represent the American government and we do not employ him."

That's their current story, anyway.

Agents of the National Security Directorate, Afghanistan's new intelligence agency, say they found eight starved Afghan detainees--three of them hanging by their feet--in Idema's rented house in central Kabul, along with a few AK-47 rifles and blood-soaked clothes. None of Idema's prisoners were working against the Karzai regime, so the NSD plans to release them. Idema, say officials, was probably hoping to torture his victims into telling him the location of Osama bin Laden so he could collect a $25 million bounty.

Idema was nice at first, chatting me up with jittery intensity as he alternately identified himself as belonging to--or, more accurately, implying identification with--the CIA and U.S. Special Forces. Griping about a Pentagon ban against supplying Northern Alliance forces with medical supplies, Idema slipped me a computer disc containing photos of gruesome wounds that had gone untreated because of the inhumane policy. He asked me to pitch a piece on the subject to my editors at The Village Voice, but with a caveat: "Don't publish those photos before talking to me first." I promised that I wouldn't. "If you do," he added, "you will die in great pain." He went on at length about the special shadowy brotherhood of Green Berets past and present, and described how anyone who crossed them would be marked for death. I would never have broken my pledge, but I didn't need a story that badly. I soon left for Afghanistan; so, eventually, did Idema.
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0722-11.htm

'Freelance' US fighter identified

Idema may have been acting beyond the control of US troops
Three foreigners arrested in Kabul this week were on a freelance counter-terrorism mission, the Afghan government says.
They include at least one US national, Jonathan K Idema, a purported former US special services soldier who says he helped fight the Taleban in 2001.

The men were detained for illegally holding Afghans in a private prison.

The Interior Minister, Ali Ahmad Jalali, said their activities had no legal standing.

US officials say Mr Idema had tried to pass himself off as an American government or military official.
more
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3876601.stm


'Keith Idema'
Stupid Victims or a Dire Threat?

Barry Farber
Thursday, Feb. 28, 2002

Through the Lithuanian KGB, now free to be anti-Russian as well as anti-Soviet, Idema learned that virtual Niagaras of Soviet weapons-grade nuclear material were being sold out of Russia into the hands of the international terrorist underground.

Idema returned to America and was the star of a Pentagon briefing in 1992. Afterward, two gentlemen came up to him, congratulated him on his intelligence coup, introduced themselves as representatives of the FBI and CIA, and said they were ready to take a list of his sources from him to continue his excellent work.

"Nothing doing," said Sgt. Idema. "I had to promise my Lithuanian sources I would reveal nothing to the FBI or the CIA. They say you're full of moles and full of holes and I should disclose my information only to the Defense Department or a representative of the president of the United States."

The two agents were displeased. They had Idema indicted and convicted on charges of something called wire fraud, giving false business references, or something like that.

Idema still says he's innocent, but the interesting thing is that, even if guilty, the sentence should have been six months. They kept shuffling Keith from one federal prison to another for over six years, giving the impression he was going to stay in until he played ball with the FBI and the CIA.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/2/27/2357 ...


July 08, 2004 -- 04:10 PM EDT // link // print)
Weird, weird, weird ... Late reports out of Afghanistan say that an American named Jonathan Idema was arrested with others for conducting a "self-appointed counterterrorism mission

that included abusing eight inmates in a private jail by hanging them by their feet."

Jonathan Idema is apparently the same guy as 'Keith Idema' who was a short-term commando celeb in Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002 appearing on various TV networks. He also turns up in various jails or suing Steven Spielberg et al. for stealing ideas for a movie script he and others allegedly wrote.

The US military has gone to great lengths to disassociate itself from Idema since he was apparently putting himself forward as some sort of US special forces operator or contractor. A statement from the US military said "the public should be aware that Idema does not represent the American government and we do not employ him."

Indeed, "security sources" tell the BBC that the "US military circulated warning notices about Mr Idema some time ago, describing him as armed and dangerous and accusing him
more
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com

Heart Of Darkness

"When I looked at these tapes, I said, ¡® My God, this is the same kind of stuff that we did in 1980.'"
Keith Idema, a former member of the U.S. special forces

60 Minutes II obtained these tapes from Keith Idema, a former member of the U.S. special forces. He is a Green Beret. He says he went to Afghanistan as a civilian military adviser to the Northern Alliance and was with them as they pushed towards Kabul.

¡°When they came across the Shomali Plain to this compound,¡± Idema says, ¡°they found a lot of documents. They had gotten the tapes right away but they were scared to bring the tapes forward. And they were scared to tell anybody they had them.¡±

Although Northern Alliance soldiers had described the trining tapes to him, Idema says he was surprised when he finally took a look.

¡°When I looked at these tapes, I said, ¡®My God, this is the same kind of stuff that we did in 1980,¡± he says referring to the United States¡¯ elite military units. ¡°So are their skills as good as ours? As good as the U.S. special operations community? The answer is no. Clearly, man for man, we¡¯d wipe them out. But they¡¯re not coming against us; they¡¯re coming against regular civilians and that¡¯s clear in their training. They don¡¯t use military tactics. Their training is not as sophisticated as ours, but it¡¯s not designed to be.¡±
more
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/01/16/60II/main3245
Spielberg Spies on White House?
Has America's most beloved filmmaker committed espionage against the United States? Green Berets Keith Idema and Jim Morris, along with Investigative Producer Gary Scurka and his wife Kathy Wolff, a network news anchor, have filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Spielberg and a half dozen others, including a former White House Official. The Complaint alleges that Spielberg and others, engaged in a conspiratorial enterprise for the purpose of stealing Idema¡¯s story to produce The Peacemaker film using materials Plaintiffs had submitted to Amblin, Spielberg¡¯s production company.

Spielberg is charged with receiving classified nuclear smuggling information and documents illegally removed from the White House by former NSC staffer Jessica Stern. Several defendants are accused of criminal violations of Federal laws. Fantastic as it sounds, there appears to be proof that DreamWorks derived the information for George Clooney's THE PEACEMAKER by accessing NSC Nuclear Smuggling Group information and materials.
more
http://www.pbnnews.tv/stealberg.htm


'Blast from the past' - ICS (Idema Combat Systems) Vest

Shown here more for 'historical purposes', this is an ICS vest that Keith Idema (U.S. Army SF, ret.) made at Bragg in the early-mid 80's (according to J.S, who kindly included this vest along with the Paraclete RACK above). When I hear the name 'Idema', I somehow associate it with controversy (unjustly imprisoned) or paintball. If I remember correctly, Idema also made paintball vests for a time. Although the design and construction is dated by today's standards, it has interesting features that weren't seen on vests at that time. The front of the vest consists of two large velrco patches for modular pouches. The main body of the vest is made of large-weave mesh fabric, which is quite soft. On the right shoulder is a suede pad to provide a non-slip surface for a rifle butt. Below that is what looks like a shotshell/utility pouch. The left chest has a pouch which will hold two handgun mags, with a small compass/FFD pouch above that on the left shoulder. On the left hip is a radio pouch with a wire retaining tab on the left shoulder above the compass pouch. There's a utility pouch on the right hip as well. Inside the vest are two velcro-closed map pockets. The vest is not adjustable for height, but is adjusted for girth by four elastic tabs that interface with horizontal velcro strips on the lower back. The upper back of the vest has a expanding backpack with velcro closure.
The modular panels come in a few different configurations: triple M4 mag panel, 5 MP5 mag panel, shotshell panel (holds 24 shells), and a utility panel with two large pockets for which I'm unclear of the use. The mag pouches all have elastic retention and velcro lids. All in all, it was a pretty innovative vest for its time. I'd have been thrilled to have one in the early 80's, as I remember how excited I was to get my first vest - an Eagle TAC vest sometime in the late 80's.


http://www.militarymorons.com/equipment/equipment.2.htm ...

Al-Qaida tapes detail killing skills
Teams shown learning how to shoot, kidnap
Boston Globe
Last Updated: Jan. 14, 2002

Unlike other al-Qaida training videos that have been found, which show members receiving basic military training like running through obstacle courses, these tapes focus on the group's plans on using hostage-taking tactics and assassination as part of their activities.

The tapes were recently discovered in the possession of Northern Alliance forces by J. Keith Idema, a former U.S. Army Special Forces non-commissioned officer and counterterrorism specialist who now advises the Afghan military. Idema, who is called Jack in Afghanistan, said he decided to make the tapes public to underscore the threat al-Qaida still poses. "These videos put a face on al-Qaida," he said recently. "I think every American should see these tapes."

The Globe, along with other select news organizations, including CBS and the BBC, was allowed to see the tapes. The tapes are expected to be aired by CBS on Wednesday.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/attack/jan02/12503.asp

By: oda324
Date/Time: 5/26/2004 5:07:05 PM
Message:
Anyone who has questions regarding Keith Idema and his active
army service in the 1970's may email me at oda324<-at->yahoo.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------
By: Lloyd V Evans, ll
Date/Time: 5/25/2004 5:05:30 PM
Message:
I just sent this to Post Cmdr Fred:
Hi Fred, I feel that I've been down this road before, but is membership open to the members of this associaiton that have received, from the MND/ROC on Taiwan, the Honor Medal for 823 Bombardment (1958) and/ot the US-ROC Mutual Defense Comemortive Badge (1955-1979)? Most meet VFW (AFEM) acceptance and many not (as they have no AFEM)but all have one or both of the aforementioned honoraria.

If so, is theiran application you can email me; what are dues and how does one get them to you?

Get back to me (A review of www.taiwanvets.com ) will evidence who we are. We number 5,000 to date.

LLOYD Evans (25MAY04)
823 Badge of Honor Assoc.USA
--------------------------------------------------------------------
By: Mel Painter
Date/Time: 5/24/2004 6:39:16 AM
Message:
There is always JD & Coke for any member that passes through Basra, Iraq. Just call me at cell 780-100-7907 or 202-216-6295 x206 (Washington DC phone that rings in Basra, Iraq.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
By: Mac Thompson
Date/Time: 5/22/2004 8:54:21 PMMessage:
The SKY BBS is up and running again, now that the A-hole who sort of hijacked it has been banned. Take a look at: http://www.gilhooleyssaloon.com / and click on SKY BBS
Mac
---------------------------------------------------------------------
By: Jim Luke
Date/Time: 5/19/2004 9:50:13 AM
Message:
If you¡¯ll Google this guy you¡¯ll find all manner of info on him from congressional hearings to designing LBE. Lotsa stuff on the Fringe Right ¡°news sites¡±.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
By: Sam Stapleton
Date/Time: 5/18/2004 4:18:17 AM
Message:
To: Jim McClain
Sorry for the intrusion on your list. I'm a humanitarian ops working in Afghanistan and am also trying to find out who this Keith Idema is, but so far not succeeding. I came across your post online. Journalists are asking me who this is - saying he is in Afghanistan (or was) trying to find him. Some folks I know at Bagram told me to stay away from the guy. I don't know. . . .
---------------------------------------------------------------------
By: Jim McClain
Date/Time: 5/9/2004 1:44:02 PM
Message:
As posted before, my/our intent is not to create any animosity or conflict, but to discover where the supposed 'stories' are coming from and to protect our families reputations. If anyone can offer any insight, it'd be appreciated. PS Went to SunNFun, didn't see any Ravens around the O-1 park, but a few were for sale. We've got 4 O-2s and an L-19 where I am. Give a call if you're in town. Banzai Sends
---------------------------------------------------------------------By: Jim McClain
Date/Time: 5/6/2004 5:16:16 PM
Message:
Anyone in-country or at home know of a Keith Idema, supposed counter-terr expert, trainer, and SF grad? He is targeting vets and humanitarian orgs who seem to be questioning his bonafides. He has a support group that gives him intel on real world ops as well as news contacts for photo ops. I, and several other Desert One vets, were identified as being 'wannabes' on one of his friends internet sites with the result that we have received hate mail/calls/email. Our only desire is to ask this person where he gets his facts. We were told he was on the "MC130 that blew up due to a CIA time bomb, and not the helo impact", but we did not see him on our plane as we were there nor do we remember the 'bomb' being on the cargo manifest. Our inquiries so far have resulted in an attorney threatening to sue us for questioning his authenticity. Any ideas or info would be appreciated as we are just poor church mice retired Air Commandos on disability. Thanks. Jim "Banzai" McClain..we go home
By: oda324
Date/Time: 5/26/2004 5:07:05 PM
Message:
nyone who has questions regarding Keith Idema and his active
army service in the 1970's may email me at oda324<-at->yahoo.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------
By: Lloyd V Evans, ll
Date/Time: 5/25/2004 5:05:30 PM
Message:
I just sent this to Post Cmdr Fred:
Hi Fred, I feel that I've been down this road before, but is membership open to the members of this associaiton that have received, from the MND/ROC on Taiwan, the Honor Medal for 823 Bombardment (1958) and/ot the US-ROC Mutual Defense Comemortive Badge (1955-1979)? Most meet VFW (AFEM) acceptance and many not (as they have no AFEM)but all have one or both of the aforementioned honoraria.

If so, is theiran application you can email me; what are dues and how does one get them to you?

Get back to me (A review of www.taiwanvets.com ) will evidence who we are. We number 5,000 to date.

LLOYD Evans (25MAY04)
823 Badge of Honor Assoc.USA
---------------------------------------------------------------------By: Mel Painter
Date/Time: 5/24/2004 6:39:16 AM
Message:
There is always JD & Coke for any member that passes through Basra, Iraq. Just call me at cell 780-100-7907 or 202-216-6295 x206 (Washington DC phone that rings in Basra, Iraq.
------------------------------------------------------------------
By: Mac Thompson
Date/Time: 5/22/2004 8:54:21 PM
Message:
The SKY BBS is up and running again, now that the A-hole who sort of hijacked it has been banned. Take a look at: http://www.gilhooleyssaloon.com / and click on SKY BBS
Mac
---------------------------------------------------------------------
By: Jim Luke
Date/Time: 5/19/2004 9:50:13 AM
Message:
If you¡¯ll Google this guy you¡¯ll find all manner of info on him from congressional hearings to designing LBE. Lotsa stuff on the Fringe Right ¡°news sites¡±.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
By: Sam Stapleton
Date/Time: 5/18/2004 4:18:17 AM
Message:
To: Jim McClain
Sorry for the intrusion on your list. I'm a humanitarian ops working in Afghanistan and am also trying to find out who this Keith Idema is, but so far not succeeding. I came across your post online. Journalists are asking me who this is - saying he is in Afghanistan (or was) trying to find him. Some folks I know at Bagram told me to stay away from the guy. I don't know. . . .
---------------------------------------------------------------------
By: Jim McClain
Date/Time: 5/9/2004 1:44:02 PM
Message:
As posted before, my/our intent is not to create any animosity or conflict, but to discover where the supposed 'stories' are coming from and to protect our families reputations. If anyone can offer any insight, it'd be appreciated. PS Went to SunNFun, didn't see any Ravens around the O-1 park, but a few were for sale. We've got 4 O-2s and an L-19 where I am. Give a call if you're in town. Banzai Sends
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By: Jim McClain
Date/Time: 5/6/2004 5:16:16 PM
Message:
Anyone in-country or at home know of a Keith Idema, supposed counter-terr expert, trainer, and SF grad? He is targeting vets and humanitarian orgs who seem to be questioning his bonafides. He has a support group that gives him intel on real world ops as well as news contacts for photo ops. I, and several other Desert One vets, were identified as being 'wannabes' on one of his friends internet sites with the result that we have received hate mail/calls/email. Our only desire is to ask this person where he gets his facts. We were told he was on the "MC130 that blew up due to a CIA time bomb, and not the helo impact", but we did not see him on our plane as we were there nor do we remember the 'bomb' being on the cargo manifest. Our inquiries so far have resulted in an attorney threatening to sue us for questioning his authenticity. Any ideas or info would be appreciated as we are just poor church mice retired Air Commandos on disability. Thanks. Jim "Banzai" McClain..we go home
more
http://www.chinapost1.org/guestbook.asp


J. Keith Idema, an American civilian adviser to the Afghan United Front,

Security experts in Kabul believe Osama bin Laden's group may have been thinking of a second attack on the former president, this time during a golf tournament.

"The documents clearly list how presidential protective details are structured, what they do and what vulnerabilities to look for," said J. Keith Idema, an American civilian adviser to the Afghan United Front, also known as the Northern Alliance, one of the members of the Afghan Interim Administration. Idema has analyzed captured al Qaida records, including graphic terrorist training video tapes recently aired on CBS' "60 Minutes" television program.

"Al Qaida studied the strong points and weak points of Secret Service protection, concluding that streets and open areas are the best locations for a presidential assassination," added the former member of the U.S. Army's elite special forces. An al Qaida assassination manual includes a study of U.S. presidential protection.

"Bodyguards always watch the crowd around the principal, instead of watching him," said one passage that concluded a relaxed, open setting would be the ideal environment for an attack. Another part of the text analyzes the sequence of vehicles in presidential motorcades, noting the heavily armed reaction teams go behind the presidential limousine.
more
http://www.upi.com/print.cfm?StoryID=04022002-082828-84 ...

A highly decorated spokesman for both the U.S. Ranger Association and the 75th Ranger Association, flatly stated that General Shinseki's action is an insult, as well as a collective and official slap in the face, to everyone who ever volunteered for an Airborne, Ranger, or Special Forces unit and completed the arduous training. A former Ranger writing to the editors of USA Today stated that General Shinseki's dictum "steps on the graves of every Ranger who gave his life for his country." Keith Idema, in a letter to the editor of the Fayetteville Observer, astutely observed that, to carry his theory to its logical conclusion, General Shinseki should "issue every single soldier a Congressional Medal of Honor," complete with an appropriate ceremony, then, when each was "instantaneously transformed into an All-American ... hero," we could reduce the Army to 10,000 super-warriors, thereby "saving a ton of money."
http://www.rangerblackberet.com/sof.php3

A reviewer, someone who was there, December 29, 2003,
Good true tales but disappointing tangents
Moore writes a readable and often engaging true yarn of America¡¯s best soldiers. The book usually reads like eyewitness accounts based on his on-the-ground research. Moore is supremely qualified for this and delivers an excellent story especially regarding key battles in Afghanistan like Tora Bora. However, this tale is best read with a fair degree of objectiveness. He strays into rightwing political dogma based on few facts (the Clinton administration hardly left the military hallow and the CIA¡¯s clandestine service was in fact on a recruiting drive in the late 1990s). He unfairly berates all non-Special Forces soldiers (although not without a point). Finally, his work is greatly weakened when he includes stories that are not relevant to the story of the Green Berets he¡¯s trying to give justice to. One case in point are the tales of Jack, who is in fact Keith Idema, and not several people as he suggests.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry ...

Team House Guestbook 2004

All should know. That Keith Edema was NEVER a SGM, or a member of Delta. Selection, which was alive and well at Dawson for those folks, would have chewed his punk a-- up and spit it out because this is a test of performance and not conning anyone, and he would have been found wanting, this pitiful Bite.
Jake
USA - Saturday, May 08, 2004 at 23:06:35 (EDT)

Mr. W. Hunter. The folks at Socnet.com (http://www.socnetcentral.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threa ... ) have it wrong. idema was not a rigger, though he did go into that business later after his enlistment. idema, did go into the gear/kit producing business. This led to him to be able to go on and obtain his felony ('s). idema did go to the 10th when it was still at Ft. Devens, I think as a 12B (now 18C), because he couldn't handle the 05B, (18E) training regimen. I think that he was soon put off of Team and relegated to a Support role there, and got on out when able.
Jake
USA - Saturday, May 08, 2004 at 20:17:57 (EDT)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Do you mean to tell me that Edema is a real person? And all this time I had thought that he was a figment of his own imagination. BTW: The next time he says he was a Sergeant Major, you are authorized to call him a bald-faced liar.
Wannabee Hunter
Down East, NC USA - Saturday, May 08, 2004 at 19:11:19 (EDT)
---------------------------------------------------------------------...to continue...Edema would have been "peered out" in my opinion. He is a convicted felon, Search www.google.com . Keith Idema, felon. His rap is that the USGov. planted these charges. Reality is that he was convicted of defrauding east coast business associates. I wouldn't let this guy near my dog, much less feed her...much less do business with him in any way. This sorry individual was and does remain a blight on the SF Community in my opinion. Regards, Jake
Jake
USA - Saturday, May 08, 2004 at 19:07:09 (EDT)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As relates to subject Idema...I knew him when going through training group. He was an a--hole, a Buddy and Team F--ker. It's as simple as that. If I remember correctly, was kicked out of TG, but re-instated because his dad was a NY power broker who had some pull with their local Congresscritters. Too bad this guy went through TG before there was Selection because he would have surely been
Jake
USA - Saturday, May 08, 2004 at 18:47:00 (EDT)
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To address the person(s)asking about J. Keith Idema, SF. To date, there is much online about his past SF exploits as well as his present SF enterprises. He is reported to have gone to Afghanistan in 2001 with a humanitarian org, then reappeared as a combatant leading freedom fighters. He has supposedly sued CNN for nonpayment of a video from there as well as Spielberg for an adaptation of the Peacemaker movie which was supposed to be based on his exploits. He is supposed to be on the ground in Iraq now working for an agency interrogating prisoners. Independently, he has several news agencies as well as LEOs trying to question him but has a legal defense that does not allow access to him. If one does try to confront him or print anything (such as this posting)even mildly about him, they will find themselves receiving legal threats, hate email, hate phone calls. I, for one, along with several other SF, Ranger, and Air Commandos, have been accused indirectly by members of Idema support groups of being wannabes or worse. I am USAF Ret, member of Air Force Assoc, Air Commando Assoc, Special Ops Assoc, DAV, Kiwanis, and presently sqdn command for a Civil Air Patrol Sq. I am mentioned in No Room For Error by Carney/Schemmer, The Guts To Try and Air Commando by Phil Chinnery. I assist disabled veterans at no expense with claims as well as documenting their experiences in photostories. I am known at SOCOM and AFSOC units to this date and my son carries on as a third generation Air Commando. I was the loadmaster on the aircraft that was destroyed at Desert One Iran on 24 April 1980, which his supporters say I was not as he was there on the same plane, as well as in country months before and also training Delta supposedly elsewhere. Truth or not, doesn't matter to me. What does matter is that before accusing someone, get the facts first. There are several fine retirees/vets who have been hurt by Idema's supporters. In any event, I do not feel I have to be defensive, outraged, or foaming at the mouth. I would hope that anyone caught in a similar situation keep their perspective, sense of humor, and mostly not feel sorry for people who feel they have to prove themselves at the expense of others. As in most situations...those who have been there are the Quiet Professionals.
jim mcclain <[e-mail] >
cape coral, fl USA - Saturday, May 08, 2004 at 09:45:40 (EDT)
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:hwVa6O0yhmwJ:teamhou ...


FBI Agent Philip Hanssen Was Involved in the Idema Case!!!

Breaking News!!
FBI Agent Philip Hanssen Was Involved in the Idema Case.
FBI Agent, and Soviet Spy Philip Hanssen was involved in the Idema case. The American Green Beret claimed the CIA and FBI were compromised by the KGB. In 1993, the former Special Forces NCO, Idema, refused to give up the names of his agents in the Soviet Union, claiming the FBI and CIA were compromised, and his agents would be killed. Idema specifically named the Soviet Spies' FBI positions.

Green Beret J. K. Idema
in El Salvador 1984

Idema had pinpointed Soviet agents in the FBI and CIA in early 1994 conversations with former CNN Vice-president Ted Kavanau. Subsequently Aldrich Ames was arrested, and two years later, Earl Edwin Pitts. Idema has steadfastly insisted that there were other Soviet agents in the FBI, and specifically named them as formerly assigned to the New York Counter-intelligence Office - Team I-8. Now Philip Hanssen has been arrested. Yet the FBI and Clinton administration consistently prevented Idema from testifying in front of Congress- WHY? what were they hiding?

Hanssen had access to Idema's case information, and worked in New York Counter-intelligence. During the height of the Idema incident, Hanssen worked out of the Washington Field Office 1994), which directly dealt with Idema's information, he then went to the NSD in December 1994 (where he had continued access to Idema's case and his information.

PBN News is working to FOIA the documents linking Hanssen to Idema and the FBI's botched investigation of the nuclear smuggling incidents. Other news agencies are encouraged to pursue FOIA requests for documents linking Hanssen to the 1993-1996 Russian nuclear smuggling investigations
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:36_oZcH_I3cJ:www.nev ...

Any Lesser Man - A Keith Idema documentary about Soviet nuclear smuggling, KGB Double agents in the FBI and CIA, and how one US Army Green Beret went to prison for trying to expose it.
http://newswire.fathermag.com/dir/Society/Issues/War,_W ...


January 1, 2001 Update!
After dozens of radio interviews about the documentary in progress, Idema & Scurka temporarily put interviews on hold in order to devote their time to working with famed author Robin Moore on the Idema book, tentatively titled "NEVER GIVE UP".

Last fall Idema broke the story on the April 1993 secret meeting Janet Reno had, during which US Army Delta Force personnel warned Reno about taking action at Waco, saying they feared an ill-prepared FBI assault would take innocent lives. Read World Net Daily's Mail Archives. These incredible revelations, along with secret documents, proved that Reno and Freeh lied to the American people during their congressional testimony. Idema also spoke out about the real story behind Yosef Bodansky's White House press release claiming Osama bin Laden has suitcase nuclear weapons, to use against America for terrorist attacks. See Smuggling and Black Markets.

Additionally, Idema and Scurka were engaged in a special project for the last year resulted in uncovering massive amounts of exculpatory evidence in a national murder case. That project also delayed completion of Scurka's documentary until late 2001. Idema and Scurka, along with a special team of Green Berets, were successful in uncovering additional former Soviet/communist spies in the American government, and the resulting story on a Green Beret Colonel, wrongfully accused of murder, can be seen at www.pbnews.tv

Last year Barry Farber, a national talk radio host, dedicated a special two hour program to the Idema story.

In a rare in-studio interview, authors Robin Moore and Jim Morris, who were in New York to pitch their own new books, joined Farber to talk about the Idema story. Also on the show were Ted Kavanau, the man who started CNN¡¯s news bureau, and there to talk about the movie, was Producer Gary Scurka.
Update 12/2001
America's War on Terror, again, has put Scurka's documentary on hold. Scurka was wounded by al-Qaida and Taliban forces in Northern Afghanistan in November 2001, and Idema is currently engaged in supporting America's War on Terror in an undisclosed role.
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:36_oZcH_I3cJ:www.nev ...


Keith Idema says it was by making collect pay telephone calls to the Barry Farber talk radio show that he was able to tell the world he had uncovered evidence that Russians had smuggled nuclear material and weapons out of their country.

Idema also used the Barry Farber show to say he was being imprisoned on phony wire fraud charges because he refused to give the FBI and CIA the names of the secret sources who had fingered the Russians for him. Idema says he refused to divulge his sources because he was told spies had penetrated both the FBI and CIA and so feared for his contacts' lives. Today's WorldNetDaily Waco exclusive is just the latest example of the intersection of talk radio and the Internet -- of New Media in action, the theme of WorldNetDaily's first-ever conference to be held Sept. 17-19 in Los Angeles.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=17185


JudiLyn

This story linked in seemslikeadream's collection was never aired before
I'm SURE I've never heard it, but first of all, it's from UPI, so I guess it matters what the date was when Rev. Moon bought UPI, doesn't it? It used to be reputable.

Al Qaida may have tried to kill Clinton
By Martin Arostegui
Published 10/18/2002 6:34 PM

The following story is a re-release of an article that United Press International originally published by on Feb. 6, 2002.

KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Al Qaida may have tried to kill former President Clinton, apparently while he was in office, and perhaps planned further attempts on world leaders, United Press International has learned.

Specific references to Clinton were found among handwritten notes and sketches of U.S. Secret Service protective methods recovered from the Shomali compound near Kabul where al Qaida members received specialized training in assassination and hostage taking.

"We have attempted to kill Clinton, but failed," documents in Arabic released exclusively to United Press International Monday state. Although the text indicates the attack was planned around some high-level conference or international summit, it does not mention an exact date. Analysts in Kabul believe the attempt was planned about two years ago.

Nor does the text reveal whether the plan was abandoned or had failed in some other way.

Security experts in Kabul believe Osama bin Laden's group may have been thinking of a second attack on the former president, this time during a golf tournament.

"The documents clearly list how presidential protective details are structured, what they do and what vulnerabilities to look for," said J. Keith Idema, an American civilian adviser to the Afghan United Front, also known as the Northern Alliance, one of the members of the Afghan Interim Administration. Idema has analyzed captured al Qaida records, including graphic terrorist training video tapes recently aired on CBS' "60 Minutes" television program.
(snip)
http://www.upi.com/print.cfm?StoryID=04022002-082828-84...

Idema sounds unhinged, actually. But WHO KNEW this plotting was going on about Clinton by anyone other than our own right wing? Hmmmmmmmm.

Makes you wonder why he didn't decide he was going to try to take over the world, just like little Dubya in mock revenge, doesn't it?

The man who thinks he's George Clooney. A story of today's Kabul

Duncan Campbell and Kitty Logan in Kabul
Friday July 9, 2004
The Guardian

In the meantime, he had become something of a media security pundit, popping up on television programmes to comment on security matters.

During the war in Afghanistan in 2001, Mr Idema and a number of other former US military members linked up with the Northern Alliance rebel group, who were fighting the Taliban. He offered his services to the media and appeared on American television news programmes after having supposedly found al-Qaida training camp footage in Kabul.

When Fox News showed the footage, Mr Idema launched another civil action, seeking $2m damages for supposedly showing the footage without his permission.

He also threatened to punch Geraldo Rivera, the controversial Fox News commentator, who, Mr Idema claimed, had messed up the operations of the Northern Alliance by irresponsible reporting.

Mr Idema, who has a reputation in Kabul for volatility, is also the source of much internet gossip on sites used by ex-members of the US special forces, not all of whom would describe themselves as admirers.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,1284,1257...


Defense Department Operational Update Briefing
United States Department of Defense.
News Transcript
Thursday, July 8, 2004 3:12 p.m. EDT

Q Larry, Afghanistan, the three Americans who were arrested. One of them is named Idema. I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing that right. But he's supposed to be former Army Special Forces. Do you have any information about his background?

MR. DIRITA: Not much. I do understand that there appears to be some former military -- he has a military background, but I don't know to what extent, how long he was in the service. I don't have those details. It's -- there have been a handful of people scooped up, and he's one of them. But beyond that, I don't think we have much detail.

(To General Rodriguez) Do you have anything?

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: No, we do not.
Q He's not presently in the military?GEN. RODRIGUEZ: No, he's not presently in the military.

Q How recent, do you know -- (inaudible) --

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: No, I don't know how recent, no.

Q -- or what type of service he had?

MR. DIRITA: We don't have a lot of detail, just other than it appears it has been confirmed that he had some military service.

GEN. RODRIGUEZ: Yes.


Ex-local man, 2 others allegedly imprisoned Afghans
By Nik Bonopartis
Poughkeepsie Journal

A former Poughkeepsie man is being held by Afghan authorities for allegedly operating as a mercenary, ''arresting'' eight Afghans and imprisoning them in a Kabul home where he allegedly had them hanging by their feet.
Jonathan Keith Idema, 48, is being held along with two other American men by Afghan security officials after they were arrested and detained Monday in the Kabul home where they allegedly kept their prisoners, said Brenda Greenberg, a State Department spokeswoman.

Idema, the former owner of a Hyde Park ammunition and gun shop who claims he is a former Green Beret, has been in Afghanistan for about three months, fighting terrorism and serving as an adviser to Afghan forces through ''extensive contacts with the (Afghan President Hamid) Karzai government,'' said his lawyer, John Tiffany of Bloomfield, N.J.

''He's been tracking terrorists,'' said Tiffany, who said he was retained by Idema after ''wanted'' signs with his name and photo began appearing in the Afghan capital.

Military and national records officials could not confirm Idema's purported former military service. The State Department said Idema does not currently serve with the military
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/today/localnews/stor...

Bogus commandos held
Afghans say 4 posed as Special Forces unit


KABUL Four men claiming to be Americans and posing as Special Forces commandos were arrested by Afghan security agents in a raid on a house here, NATO and Afghan officials said. At least eight men being held prisoner in the house and four interpreters were also detained, the officials said.
.

A spokesman for the NATO force, Commander Chris Henderson, said that he was aware of the case, and that at least one American was among four foreigners arrested Monday. He said that the men were not connected to U.S. forces and that he had "no idea" who they were.
.
The U.S. Embassy said it was investigating the matter. "We have reports that there are three Americans, but we don't have confirmation," an embassy official said. The men did not have documents to prove their identity, he added.
.
One of the men detained, identified as Jonathan Idema, was known to the military and had apparently been under surveillance. He was the subject of a media advisory by the U.S. military press center several days ago, which warned that he was an impostor pretending to be a member of the U.S. military.
.

.
The mine hit a pickup truck on a road in Khogyani district of Nangarhar province, 100 kilometers, or 60 miles, east of Kabul, said Faizan ul-Haq, a provincial government spokesman.
.
A UN spokesman said the driver was seriously hurt and had been flown to Kabul for treatment. Afghans say 4 posed as Special Forces unit
more
http://www.iht.com/articles/528562.html

At the heart of their investigation is a former American special forces soldier, Jona than Keith "Jack" Idema, who is alleged to have run the private jail and was being questioned on Thursday night.

Idema, who is said to be always heavily armed, is far from the only ex-military man to be making a living in Kabul, which has an atmosphere redolent of The Third Man, Graham Greene's thriller about postwar Vienna.

Many of the private security guards attached to embassies and commercial companies have military histories, either real or imagined. Typically, they can be seen in dark glasses and camouflage gear, sub-machine guns slung over their shoulders as they ride through the city. They are often to be seen at the Mustafa hotel, one of the few bars that sell alcohol to ex-pats, who gather for the hotel's popular roof-top barbecues.

Idema, it emerged on Thursday, has a colourful past. A volatile former Green Beret with a criminal record in the US, he describes himself as a security adviser. He also claims that he is the person on whom George Clooney's part in the Hollywood film The Peacemaker was based.

While there has been no official explanation of what sort of operation he was running, there are large rewards on offer for the capture of al-Qaeda members in Afghanistan, which has led to a boom in the private security business.

The biggest reward of all -- $25-million -- remains on offer for information leading to the capture of Osama bin Laden.
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=118432

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?040524fa_fact

The people assigned to the program worked by the book, the former intelligence official told me. They created code words, and recruited, after careful screening, highly trained commandos and operatives from America¡¯s ¨¦lite forces¡ªNavy seals, the Army¡¯s Delta Force, and the C.I.A.¡¯s paramilitary experts. They also asked some basic questions: ¡°Do the people working the problem have to use aliases? Yes. Do we need dead drops for the mail? Yes. No traceability and no budget. And some special-access programs are never fully briefed to Congress.¡±

In theory, the operation enabled the Bush Administration to respond immediately to time-sensitive intelligence: commandos crossed borders without visas and could interrogate terrorism suspects deemed too important for transfer to the military¡¯s facilities at Guant¨¢namo, Cuba. They carried out instant interrogations¡ªusing force if necessary¡ªat secret C.I.A. detention centers scattered around the world. The intelligence would be relayed to the sap command center in the Pentagon in real time, and sifted for those pieces of information critical to the ¡°white,¡± or overt, world.



Idema and his colleagues rented the house near Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel, and told neighbors that they were operating an export company that traded Afghan rugs, the Afghan official said.

The Americans were mainly detaining men with long beards on the outskirts of Kabul who they suspected -- based on their appearance -- to be members of al Qaeda, the interior ministry official said.

The official said the story would "definitely have a negative impact on the image of Americans" among Afghans
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/07/09/afghan.... /

Idema, the former owner of a Hyde Park ammunition and gun shop who claims he is a former Green Beret, has been in Afghanistan for about three months, fighting terrorism and serving as an adviser to Afghan forces through ''extensive contacts with the (Afghan President Hamid) Karzai government,'' said his lawyer, John Tiffany of Bloomfield, N.J.

''He's been tracking terrorists,'' said Tiffany, who said he was retained by Idema after ''wanted'' signs with his name and photo began appearing in the Afghan capital.
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/today/localnews/stor...


Peter Bergen told beating by Americans hung by the ceilings. Idema never worked for Afgan government. Attorney says the charges are wrong. FBI has a vendetta against him. Unclear what the Americans are being charged with.

First Afghan Presidential Election On October 9

An Afghan security official told the Associated Press news agency the men had mistreated captives imprisoned in their house in Kabul. The official said a police raid on the house led to the discovery of several prisoners "hanging upside down".

They was also evidence that the captives had been beaten, he said. Four Afghans were also detained along with the three US citizens. The prisoners are now reportedly in the hands of Afghan intelligence officials.

Afghan Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali said the arrested men's activities had no legal standing. "They apparently said that their aims were to act against those carrying out terrorist attacks," Jalali told journalists in Kabul.

"But they did not have a legal relationship with anyone and the United States was also chasing them - they are actually rebels," he said.
more
http://www.indolink.com/displayArticleS.php?id=07090408...

Ex-soldiers blur Afghan security
By Andrew North
BBC correspondent in Kabul

It's becoming harder to spot genuine troops like this American

...........

Often they are private contractors.

Phil Halton of Anso, an organisation that provides security advice to aid agencies, admits there may be a "perception" problem now.

He points out that it is well known that the US government uses many private contractors.

For instance, a private US security firm is guarding President Hamid Karzai.

Contractors have also been used by the CIA to interrogate detainees in Afghanistan.

That makes it harder for the US authorities to convince people that they are not involved with people like Jonathan Idema.


The Kabul house where Idema and two other Americans were held

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3881317.stm
¡¡

Private Prisons for America

The Community Web Log on Media, Government, and Politics in Midland, Texas
Home of George & Laura Bush, General Tommy Franks....AND Wahoo McDaniel

AN EMPTY PRISON? GASP! WE CAN'T HAVE THAT!

If there was ever any doubt that the prison system has become big business, that fact should be readily apparent now.

"For several months, more than 500 of the beds in the detention center have remained empty. That's because the federal government's Bureau of Prisons (BOP) hasn't given them the inmates they need. This has leading to a financial catastrophe for the county."

Yet more evidence that government is too big and bloated. It now has a vested interest in keeping inmate population numbers high. And how might they accomplish that, you ask?

By making everything a felony, that's how.

In recent years, the number of misdemeanor crimes that have been reclassified as felonies is frightening. On top of that, a good portion of them carry mandatory minimum sentences, especially repeat possession offenses. Even some traffic offenses have been given felony status in Texas, including evading and -- get this -- drag racing.

Meanwhile, almost every small town in America either has its own prison or is vying for one to help boost its local economy. In the words of S.O.D., "They're trying to build a prison -- for you and me to live in."
more.....if you can take it!
http://www.jessicaswell.com/MT/archives/000938.html

The dark side of glorifying rule-breakers
Last summer, Robert Kaplan did a piece which urged the US to emphasize special-ops efforts which would have a lot of autonomy and even work in clandestine ways. He's compared this to the techniques used by the British and Roman empires (the type of person that Kipling's "Stalky" evolves into) -- and uses the American character in "A Bell for Adano" as his ideal -- a tough military-trained guy who doesn't always follow military procedures. At the time, I felt this was highly optimistic, and that this kind of situation could encourage people who were basically being mercenaries to set themselves up as warlords and kingpins. And even if they had good intentions at first, they could easily end up like Kurtz in "Heart of Darkness".
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2003/07/kaplan.htm


Bad company: 'Jack' Idema and the bounty hunters of Kabul

US payouts for Taliban and al-Qa'ida captures are attracting strange and dangerous adventurers to the 'Wild East'
By Kim Sengupta and Paul Lashmar and Nick Meo in Kabul
11 July 2004


The arrest of Jack Idema and two companions after a shootout in Kabul gave a glimpse of a savage and largely unreported war taking place in the shadow of the Iraq conflict, and the assortment - mercenaries and misfits, fortune-seekers and fantasists - who have come to take part. Idema, now in custody of the notorious Afghan security chief, Baba Jan, in many ways epitomises these latter-day men who would be king in this part of the "Wild East". His is a colourful background across three continents: author, adventurer and convict.

Some of us first met "Jack" in 2001, when the Taliban had retreated from Kabul, victorious Northern Alliance fighters were parading in the streets, and US and British forces were pouring into Bagram airbase. A dapper man in a black T-shirt and combat trousers, a Glock pistol strapped in his shoulder holster, Idema gave a graphic account of his supposed experiences as a former US army Green Beret who had trained with the SAS and, as an adviser to the Tajik and Uzbek militias, had helped plan the operation to take the Afghan capital.


Some operating in this murky world do indeed have official connections. David Passaro, a former Green Beret who arrived on a CIA security contract, is currently under arrest, accused of beating a 28-year-old Afghan detainee to death. US federal prosecutors have filed a protective order seeking to restrict the use of classified material at his trial.

The war on terror is lavishly funded when it comes to bounties. The US State Department is offering $340m in bounties for information leading the capture or killing of 30 top suspects worldwide. The reward for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al-Qa'ida commander believed to be a leading player in the Iraqi insurgency, was recently doubled to $25m, the same as Saddam Hussein and Bin Laden. So far, $56m has been paid out internationally. Small wonder, then, that all kinds of adventurers are now buzzing round this honeypot.

more
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?stor...



By Greg Barnes
Staff writer

snip

Idema was about to go to prison when at least three high-ranking military officials fought to have him released until his sentencing.

''Keith is an honest, hard-working American vet of the highest order who deserves the trust of those who are appointed to enforce constitutional rights and laws of the American public,'' Army Master Sgt. Peter L. Conners wrote to U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle on May 18, 1994. ''I would like to add to the list of those asking for his presentencing release on appeal.''

That list included Timothy G. Connolly, then the principal deputy assistant secretary of defense.

''While others may find occasion to call his character into question, my experience with him over the last 10 years leads me to a different conclusion,'' Connolly wrote to Boyle. ''Keith Idema may be one of the last individuals for whom the phrase 'I give you my word' still has meaning. To Keith, honor is everything.''
http://www.fayettevillenc.com/story.php?Template=news&S...


NATO Aided U.S. Vigilantes


A group of Americans arrested on a freelance counterterror operation and found to be running a private jail in Afghanistan duped international peacekeepers three times into assisting their illegal raids, the NATO-led force said Wednesday.

The three have been charged with hostage-taking and assault, officials said. If found guilty, they could be confined to Afghanistan's rudimentary jails for up to 20 years, Attorney General Abdul Fatah told The Associated Press.

Afghan security forces arrested the three, led by a former U.S. soldier named Jonathan K. Idema, on July 5 after finding eight Afghans in a makeshift holding facility in the capital, Kabul.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/09/11/world/main310701.shtml
more

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=541131

An American vigilante caught running a private torture chamber in Kabul fooled Nato soldiers into joining illegal raids with him three times, the military admitted yesterday.

Jonathan Idema, a retired US Special Forces soldier, called bomb-disposal squads to buildings where he seized Afghans. The Afghans were later found hanging upside down in his secret prison.

A spokesman for Isaf, the Nato-led peace- keeping force, said Idema, who was in US uniform, had been "very credible". Isaf eventually realised the US military task force Idema and two other foreigners said they belonged to did not exist.

Commander Chris Henderson said: "They were operating in military style, with US flags on their shoulders, and representing themselves in such a way that Isaf believed them to be who they said they were." Special Forces soldiers in Afghanistan wear a mix of civilian and military clothing and adopt a buccaneering style.

Commander Henderson said explosive traces and suspicious electrical components had been found at two of the places Idema called Isaf to. He said the Afghan intelligence service is now handling the arrests.

...more...
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=541131