If this is true?

[akarunway 1]

Someone DOES need to be hung by their balls American Says He Was on bin Laden's Trail




Aug 21, 4:41 PM (ET)

By PAUL HAVEN

(AP) U.S. citizen Jonathan Idema responds in court in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 16, 2004. Idema...
Full Image












KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - An American on trial for allegedly torturing Afghan terror suspects in a private jail claimed Saturday in his first interview from custody that he was hot on the heels of Osama bin Laden and other militant leaders when he was arrested on July 5.

Jonathan Idema told The Associated Press he had official sanction from Afghans and Americans to hunt down terrorists and said he has been prevented from showing the evidence in court. Prosecutors say Idema was waging a private war, and he faces up to 20 years in a crumbling Afghan prison if convicted.

"We would have had (renegade Afghan warlord Gulbuddin) Hekmatyar in 14 days or less. We would have had bin Laden in less than 30 days" had he and his team not been arrested, said Idema, a colorful former U.S. Army soldier who spent three years in jail in the 1980s for allegedly bilking 60 companies out of more than $200,000 in goods.

Following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, Idema came to Afghanistan and was featured in several books about the war and the search for bin Laden. He has also worked with several western TV networks. He said he came to Afghanistan again earlier this year because he felt U.S. anti-terror efforts were failing.

At least four Afghan intelligence officials sat in on the 75-minute interview in a sparsely decorated room on the top floor of a building at the National Security Directorate - Afghanistan's chief intelligence agency.

Though none interceded, Idema made frequent references to not being able to speak freely in their presence. He claimed he was badly beaten repeatedly by his jailers, though he had no visible cuts or bruises.

"Everything I was accused of doing (to the Afghan prisoners) got done to me," said the Poughkeepsie, N.Y.-native, sitting in a T-shirt, black pants and brown combat boots on a couch between two of the officials. He was not handcuffed.

As he has done during his trial in a Kabul court, he wore dark sunglasses throughout the interview and refused a request to be photographed.

Idema accused the FBI of orchestrating his arrest, saying the agency was trying to cover up its own incompetence in hunting for terrorists.

But the U.S. government has described Idema as a vigilante working on his own. An Afghan government spokesman told AP that Idema had met with two top Afghan politicians. But there was no confirmation his mission was approved by either U.S. or Afghan officials.

After initially denying any knowledge of Idema's activities, the U.S. military announced in July that it had received a prisoner from the American and held him for more than a month at Bagram Air Base before deciding that he was not the man Idema said he was. A military spokesman said the military did not realize Idema was working on his own at the time.

Idema also convinced NATO peacekeepers to help his group on three raids in the capital of Kabul. The security force said experts found traces of explosives in two houses raided by Idema and his colleagues.

Idema, Americans Brent Bennett and Edward Caraballo, and four Afghans stand accused of torturing about a dozen prisoners in their private jail. The Afghan prisoners, including a senior judge and six of his family members, have been released. Idema hinted there were other operatives in his counter-terror crew that had not yet been arrested.

The trial is set to resume Monday.

Idema denied the torture charges.

"Nobody was hung upside down. Nobody was burned with cigarette butts ... nobody was beaten, nobody was tortured, nobody had boiling water poured on them," he said. "Did we interrogate people? Absolutely. Did we keep them up with sleep deprivation? Absolutely."

Idema said that earlier this year he sent information to the FBI's Counter-Terrorism Watch command center, including the address of a hide-out then being used by bin Laden. He said he passed the information along while he was living in Fort Bragg, N.C., in January or February.

He said he got his information from three Afghan agents working for him in the field, but he would not say how the agents communicated with him in America.

"I gave (the FBI) bin Laden's exact address right outside Peshawar," a northwestern Pakistani city, he said. "I gave them the grid coordinates, the street and house number and everything. They got there five days after he left. It's like, what are you doing? Do you not want to catch bin Laden?" He said the FBI later confirmed bin Laden had been at the house.

FBI spokesman Bill Carter said Saturday the agency couldn't respond to the allegations.

"He was arrested by Afghan authorities and there is an ongoing trial which precludes us from commenting on any matters concerning Mr. Idema at this time," Carter said.

Most intelligence officials believe bin Laden is holed up in the mountainous tribal region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Peshawar is the nearest major city to that region.

Idema said he also passed along the location and satellite phone number of Ayman al-Zawahri, the alleged al-Qaida No. 2, but the FBI again failed to act. He said the incident occurred earlier this year and that his frustration prompted him to come to Afghanistan himself in April.

Idema repeated claims that he had also uncovered a plot to send 36 al-Qaida agents into the United States, kill Afghan President Hamid Karzai and attack the main U.S. base at Bagram with a high tech explosive that he said is not detectable by bomb-sniffing dogs.

"This is too unbelievable for me to make up," he said.

Idema claimed that higher ups in the FBI were slow in acting on his intelligence, embarrassed that his Afghan sources were giving him better information than they were getting, and angry that he would not reveal their names.

"This (his arrest) was not driven by the Northern Alliance, this was not driven by the Afghans. If the Afghans had their way, this never would have happened. This was driven solely by the American FBI. Solely. Because they didn't want to be embarrassed," Idema said.

Idema reiterated claims he had approval of top Pentagon officials, including officials in Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's office.

He also said senior Afghan officials including Defense Minister Mohammed Qasim Fahim and former Education Minister Yunus Qanooni were also aware of his operation.

Idema said he has documents to prove his claims, but has so far been prevented from showing them in court. He also complained that his access to documents seized during his arrest has been limited. The documents were handed over to the U.S. Embassy in July, and returned to Idema only Tuesday. He said many were missing. U.S. Embassy spokesman Roy Glover had no comment.

The chief prosecutor in the case, Mohammed Nahim Dawari, acknowledged Saturday that Idema had met with senior Afghan officials like Qanooni and Fahim, but he said that was not evidence that they knew what he was up to.

"They received him because he was a foreigner," Dawari said.

Qanooni and Fahim were not immediately available for comment, but a brother of Qanooni, Mohammed Hibrahim, told AP he was present at a meeting between Qanooni and Idema. He said Idema identified himself as a U.S. special forces operative.

Qanooni and Fahim were prominent in the Northern Alliance, which helped the United States sweep aside the Taliban in 2001. Idema was in Afghanistan during the war and says he has documents that prove he fought with the Northern Alliance and continues to be an adviser.

Dawari, the prosecutor, said he believed Idema's motives were good, but that his methods were "extreme."

"I believe he was against terror and against al-Qaida," Dawari said. "But the methods he used were not good ... What he did was wrong and he should be punished."

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[quade 4]

It's the perfect defense for him.

Think about it. There isn't any way the US government is going to say, "yeah, we told him to torture people" (even if they did) so he'll claim a huge cover-up. Conspiracy theorists will have a field day and he'll be held up by some people that believe him as a sort of hero (which -can't- be the case if he was torturing people, but you -can- fool some of the people some of the time).

So, the perfect defense.

I -think- he was simply a bounty hunter and probably felt he could get away with quite a bit in the search -- and he probably could have if he had delivered the goods before getting charged.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[akarunway 1]

Kinda like that Mad Dog bounty hunter guy that caught the Max Factor heir guy? How come when these type of people go OUTTA THEIR WAY to do justice they get fucked?.

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[quade 4]

Quote

How come when these type of people go OUTTA THEIR WAY to do justice they get fucked?

Because we live in a society which maintains the belief that no one is above the law and that while tracking down Osama may be a noble goal (or mercenary one depending on your point of view and motivations) it does not in and of itself justify torture.

Make no mistake, any psychological humilation at Abu Ghraib prison is nothing compared to what an individual with the motivation of $25 million or so in front of him can produce. And also don't make the mistake of thinking that Jonathan Idema is some kind of saint. He ain't.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[PhreeZone 20]

Check out this thread: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1168546#1168546

He's just a nut job that was trying to make a quick buck and believes his own hype it seems.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

Quote

Quote

How come when these type of people go OUTTA THEIR WAY to do justice they get fucked?

Because we live in a society which maintains the belief that no one is above the law...

<*choke*guffaw*snicker*> REALLY?

Oh, I suppose we maintain the belief. But in practice????

Look at some of the ridiculous crap the "elite" in this country get away with. How bad is Ken Lay suffering right now for fucking up people's lives and futures? How about those Tyco scumbags? The Worldcom scumbags? The Adelphia scumbags? And that's just the fuckin' FINANCIAL scumbags. How was O.J. Simpson's round of golf yesterday? Did he check out to see if maybe the groundskeeper's hand fit in the glove? How long did Ted Kennedy serve for involuntary manslaughter for Mary Jo Kopechne's death? What was Clinton's fine and sentence for perjury? How long did NIXON go away for? Oliver North, did he do time, I forget, but either way he's not hurtin' for cash and lifestyle now. How about Lon Horiuchi, the piece of shit FBI "sniper" who could hit a quarter at 200 yards (his own boast) but couldn't avoid shooting an unarmed MOTHER as she HELD HER INFANT at Ruby Ridge?


Yeah, no one's above the law.

Blue skies,
-

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[akarunway 1]

THANK YOU VERY MUCH. What he said

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[TypicalFish 0]

Word up, Jeff. Well stated.

"I gargle no man's balls..." ussfpa on SOCNET

[sundevil777 102]

Quote

claimed Saturday in his first interview from custody that he was hot on the heels of Osama bin Laden

We would have had bin Laden in less than 30 days" had he and his team not been arrested,

30 days! Doesn't sound like "hot on the heels" to me.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[akarunway 1]

Yeah. Well maybe if he had the (US) govt on his (our) side they would catch the fucker. I believe we don't wanna catch him. Would slow down the WAR MACHINE

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[billvon 3,120]

>Someone DOES need to be hung by their balls . . .

Why? Clinton tried to kill him once, then passed up several other opportunities to kill him. Bush has stated that he's not that concerned about Bin Laden; the head of the Joint Chiefs said that capturing him was not a goal. Heck, Bush even passed up three opportunities to capture Zarqawi because it would be harder to argue for the war if there were fewer terrorists in Iraq. Why hang anyone by their balls if our leaders make it clear that they are just not that interested in capturing terrorists?

[sundevil777 102]

Quote

I believe we don't wanna catch him. Would slow down the WAR MACHINE

Ya right...

But if he is caught before the election, dems will claim the announcment was delayed for political gain - Catching him will be a big prize for whoever is president whenever it happens.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am