Read Jack’s piece–The Lords of War. Jack called it, back in October of 2005, and it has all come down exactly as he predicted. I notice no more comments from the Smear Jack Cabal peanut gallery. Figures.

Although this isn’t how the piece begins, I thought I’d jump in and point out his comparison of Afghanistan to Iraq, and how in Afghanistan, we fought alongside the mujhahideen and made a difference.

Afghanistan—is the forgotten land, again. Nobody seems to care much about Afghanistan anymore. Like so many times before, it is left for the history books. Iraq has dominated the news for more than two years. Networks and news agencies have a meager, barely visible presence in this war torn region. Exploding cars, carnage, and bodies make for bigger audiences. Iraq is better for television, and the print journalists follow the cameramen. It is our fascination with the morbid and violent. Bad news sells, good news doesn’t. Everyone knows that.

But in its forgotten niche of the world, where Iraq stands as a perfect example of how not to fight, win, and then lose a war, Afghanistan stands as the one place where we actually did make life better. Where the people really did want democracy, and where, unlike the Iraqi’s the Afghans really did fight by our side to free their country.

My friend Lieutenant Colonel Jim Morris, author of War Story, the definitive book on the Vietnam experience, asked me “does anyone even give a damn about Afghanistan anymore?” Most Americans probably do not. If we aren’t being bombarded with headlines and breaking news, and with images of blood and twisted metal, we quickly sweep the old news from our cluttered psyche.

So here is a tip. We better start caring. Iraq insurgents are flooding into Afghanistan. Afghan Taliban extremists are being trained in Iraq and sent back to Afghanistan to import a new strategy against Afghan democracy. That strategy is car bombs, IED’s improvised explosive devices, and suicide bombings; something new in Afghanistan after 25 years of war. If we don’t start caring Afghanistan will very quickly go from a miracle of democracy to the explosions and flames of defeat. Our defeat—and the Afghans’ defeat. Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida movement cannot allow Afghanistan to be a success. This is clear in a letter just released by ODNI, Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The letter, dated July 9, 2005, between two senior al-Qaida leaders, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was obtained during counterterrorism operations in Iraq. While its contents may come as a revelation for the ODNI, it is something those of us fighting in Afghanistan have known for years. Al-Qaida is working hard to open up a two front full scale insurgency against America, and Afghanistan in the second front.

Jack’s observation about how the insurgency is flooding back into Afghanistan through the recently re-opened Pakistani border and from Iraq is an important and frightening one. The other point he makes that we need to pay attention to is Al Qaeda’s two-prong approach; a full scale insurgency against America on two fronts; both Afghanistan and Iraq.

In the Lords of War Jack thoughtfully compares the brave mujahideen who fought in Afghanistan for their country for over 20 years to our founding fathers and their struggle for freedom. Consider what is ahead for them as they continue to rebuild what Karzai has destroyed, and they work to take their country back from the Taliban/Pashtuns who were easing themselves back into power. The fight of the Afghan people against the Taliban and Al Qaeda is also ours, and we must recognize the necessity of wrangling the power away from President Karzai, who by all appearance now, has lost his struggle to reinstate the Taliban with American government complicity under cover.

Jack now compares the late great Massoud and President Karzai, and explains why Massoud’s aspirations for Afghanistan continue to live on.

Like Washington, Massoud was a selfless defender of freedom in his country. He wanted democracy and he demanded liberty. He willingly sacrificed everything to get it for his people. Massoud never allowed a road to be built to his village. He often said the last road built in Afghanistan would be the road to his village. Massoud showed pride in the fact that he lived in an austere mud hut with the worst road in Afghanistan running to his door. George Washington had let Mount Vernon go into a virtual state of disrepair and ruin during the revolution. Massoud did the same with his own house and village.

Under Hamid Karzai’s leadership, the first new road was built to Karzai’s village and birthplace. It was already the best road in Afghanistan—the Taliban had made sure of that. The road to Kandahar was the longest and still the most difficult to build. At a staggering cost I might add. Often said in jest by US Special Forces soldiers, but with much truth, the Kandahar road accomplished little more than giving the Taliban a fast smooth ride to Kabul. If the purpose of building roads was to boost the economy and rebuild the country, the best road to have built first would have been the road between Jalalabad and Kabul, which was the principle route of supplies and trade. But if the logical choice was made then Karzai’s relatives couldn’t visit his palace in comfort. But like America’s first president, Karzai is keen on capes, chapan capes. Didn’t someone once say, “Senator, I worked with John F. Kennedy; I knew John Kennedy. Senator, you’re no John Kennedy.” Well, President Karzai, I know you, and I knew Commander Massoud, and you sure as hell aren’t him. Nor will you ever pass through, no less stand, in the shadow of George Washington.

While Massoud’s hope for Afghanistan was one of liberation and democracy for all people, he was also realistic about politics, diplomacy, and cultural and religious influences. Massoud understood that it would be a long struggle and worked day and night to make it a reality before his time left on earth was over. Those around him never realized how soon he would be taken. His loss for Afghanistan was no less than America’s loss of John F. Kennedy, who died before his dream was realized.

Read the whole thing. When I first read this, it was inspiring and compelling. The second and third read have been equally so.

As much as the American media has tried so desperately to depict the Northern Alliance as “warlords” guilty of any number of human rights violations, the reality of the situation is surprisingly different. The reality is this: When faced with the Taliban versus the Northern Alliance, the people spoke at the polls and the Northern Alliance claimed victory in Parliament. The struggle of 20+ years is not over; because Karzai and his enablers (the American Government) granted the Taliban “amnesty”. Unbelievably, the Taliban have been sitting among our valiant Northern Alliance mujahideen; because they were allowed to participate in the elections. Some are murderers of tens of thousands of Afghans, members of the Taliban, who would have done it all over again had it not been for the people who still carry Massoud’s dream of freedom and democracy in their war torn hearts. While carrying the healing bullet and schrapnel wounds, some sustained from cavalry charges alongside American Special Forces who won the country back in 2001, they have now taken the battle to Parliament. Let’s pray they continue winning.

Watch for some incredible news about Jack, Brent and Ed and their release. We are cautiously optimistic and expect that’s it’s just a matter of time before they are freed. We are also awaiting a huge change in policy- that electricity will be turned back on at Pulacharke prison…for GOOD. Say bye-bye to specially-paid-for-privil eges (like electricity [that Americans take for granted] for the American Embassy and others at the peoples’ expense!

Yes, friends, it is time to reflect, to pray, and for more optimism, because we are on the brink of an incredible announcement where Jack and his men are concerned–from the new victorious mujahideen in Afghanistan–our true allies.

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The SuperPatriots and Jack images, including the text of “Lords of War” on this site are used by Cao’s Blog with written copyright permission and any use by any third party is subject to legal action by SuperPatriots.US

Her piece is entitled “Operation Desert Fraud How Keith Idema marketed his imaginary Afghan war.”

The title really tells all. But it should read: Stacy Sullivan’s connection with the Smear Jack Cabal.

Oh, but let’s get to the good stuff, shall we?

In January 2002, as U.S. Forces in Afghanistan were hunting down Al Qaeda suspects, the CBS news show 60 minutes II got its hands on some sensational footage; seven hours’ worth of videotape showing Al Qaeda terrorists training in an Afghan camp. The source of the tapes, a former U.S. Special Forces soldier named Jonathan Keith Idema; known familiary as Keith, was more than a little dubious. Idema claimed to be working as adviser to the Northern Alliance, but he was also an ex-con who had served three years in federal prison for wire fraud and had a criminal record in three states. He was, in addition, a serial litigator who had once sued CBS. But the tape’s content featuring a masked man in a bullet-scarred compound training to assassinate and kidnap world leaders proved a TV producer’s dream.

Ok, so we’ve already established what went on…she just demonstrates the usual anti-military bias that elitist “journalists” tend to proliferate (thanks, Jim). Yes, CBS got its hands on the VideoX Al Qaeda tapes. And yes, Jack was the source; but I’m not sure how exactly he was “dubious”. His background is well known in Special Forces; as illustrated in this post and this post from SF Ops coming forward on his behalf. Interestingly, Task Force Saber 7 WAS, in fact, acting in the capacity of “advisors” to the Northern alliance.

And yes, he spent some time in prison. I spent some time in the hospital–doesn’t mean I’m a mental patient. Let’s be clear on this point. He spent some time in prison, but he wasn’t the primary in the case. The “primaries” in the case were let go. Sounds weird, doesn’t it? He was convicted of “aiding and abetting” when the original perpetrators of the crime were let go. Campbell put it very succinctly in his letter to ABC:

I worked closely with several journalists checking out the tapes and Jack’s background and qualifications. One of my colleagues was Elizabeth Neuffer, an experienced and highly regarded correspondent with the Boston Globe. She had impeccable contacts in the US military, and volunteered to check out his credentials to comment on the tapes. Her conclusion was that he was a highly unsavoury character but was “one of the best people in the world to be talking about this.” Elizabeth was later killed in Iraq, but the articles she wrote about the tapes and about Jack attest to her conclusions about him.

Elizabeth Neuffer’s contacts were none other than the Assistant SecDec So/LIC, General John Keane, and another sensitive high-level source, which puts the more accurate reporting about Jack Idema in the hands of some heavy weight experts.

It may have also proved too good to be true; Mary Mapes, who famously vouched for the documents purporting to show that George W. Bush was given preferential treatment by the Texas Air National Guard, was the producer of the segment. CBS News arranged for Dan Rather to fly to Kabul for an interview with Idema. 60 Minutes II touted its footage with the promise that as the most intimate look yet at how the world’s deadliest terrorist organization trains its recruits and what it wants them to do to the West.

Ok, so what? As Elizabeth Neuffer, Eric Campbell and others reported, the Al Qaeda tapes were vetted and authenticated…and from genuine military like General Gary Harrell, senior commander on the ground at Bagram air base.

Special Forces soldiers, other journalists, and Army Intelligence immediately questioned the tapes’ authenticity.

Woah here we take a left turn into…noman’s land…

Tracy-Paul Warrington, formerly a chief warrant officer with U.S. Special Forces who now advises American police forces on counterterrorism, says the tapes are not an intimate look at anything except clumsy military play acting. Eighty-five percent of terrorists attacks in the last decade have been bombings, Warrington says.

Geez. Let’s take a look at this one. Warrington was fired from CUBIX Defense Company for misuse of company email, among other related things, when Warrington accused Jack of conducting mortar attacks on civilians from mosques, and used company email to do it. Right about the same time he said this, al-Qaida and Taliban terrorists in Kabul kidnapped several UN personnel in the middle of Kabul city in an attack that was portrayed in Jack’s 8mm VideoX tapes exactly as it was practiced three years earlier. What’s more is–Warrington has never even seen the seven hours of tape. Only the CIA, the DIA, and several other alphabet agencies have ever been given those highly restricted 7 hours by Jack, although most of it was shown to Dan Rather (CBS) and Eric Campbell (ABC) AFTER Jack got permission from a US Army PAO. Warrington, Stacy’s “expert,” has never even been to Afghanistan.

In this film we see raids. This was a method that went out in the seventies, when Idema was in the Army. I was looking at seven hours of tape of something that Al Qaeda doesn’t do. Another Retired Special Forces soldier, a longtime acquaintance of Keith Idema’s, contacted CIA sources aand learned the agency had similar concerns about the tapes’ authenticity. The CIA ran voice analysis on the tapes and concluded they were staged, he says, adding that the agency didn’t publicize its findings because it didn’t want to waste its time on someone it considered harmless. Contacted about this claim, CBS spokeswoman Kelli Edwards said the network showed the tape to three former British Special Forces offricers, who verified the tatics being practices in the video were consistent with those of Al Qaeda, and to a top US military official in Afghanistan, who told us that, in his opinion, the video was authentic. In the terror-charged atmosphere of early 2002, in any event, there was no public outcry over the piece’s authenticity.

Woah. As is mentioned above, Warrington hasn’t seen any 7 hours of videotapes…the only thing he’s seen is that which CBS aired. Next, I’d love to know who this other “expert” is in this piece. Could it be –oh–uh–JOE CAFASSO? WOW I wouldn’t have published his name, either, brain trust. These tapes were vetted–there was no CIA voice analysis that found them to be fakes. The “top military official” in Afghanistan was General Gary Harrell, senior commander on the ground at Bagram air base, who has served in every major American conflict in the last two decades, including Grenada, Panama, the Gulf War and Somalia, and a former commander in Delta Force (a real one, not a fake like Cafasso). It would seem to me that a REAL military official’s professional opinion should outweigh that of an aging loser who lives with his mother in New Jersey and only served 44 miserable days as a private in the Army many moons ago. A guy who ran off on a girl without marrying her after getting her pregnant, and who’s scammed at least 3 women out of money in similar scenarios. This is a guy who I’m supposed to believe from the Smear Jack Cabal that “cares” about people and has done more things for people than I’ll ever know. Well let’s hope he’s paying his child support. Maybe the kid could come forward and tell us how much good ole’ pop is helping his mom out. I understand it’s somewhere in the neighborhood of $25 a week for 200 years.

The CIA doesn’t have the resources to do what Cafasso is saying there–the CIA has absolutely not run a voice analysis on those tapes.

That could well change soon, as many things concerning the life and career of Keith Idema already have. Among other things, it is now clear that Idema was anything but harmless; On September 15, an Afghan court sentenced Idema to a ten-year prison term on charges of entering the country illegally, running a private prison, and torture. Idema had been accused of operating a detention cum interrogation center in concert with another former U.S. soldier and a TV cameraman, who were sentenced alongside him the same day. When Afghan police arrested the trio on July 5, they said they saw a smaller-scale version of the gruesome prisoner-abuse photos from the Baghdad interrogation cells at Abu Ghraib. Early press reports indicated that three prisoners found in Idema’s custody during the raid were blindfolded and beaten and strapped to the ceiling by their feet; five others were tied to chairs with rope in a small, dark room down a hall that was littered with bloodied clothing. All of the prisoners in Idema’s custody were subsequently reqleased; none was shown to be connected to Al Qaeda.

This S*** keeps getting better and better. They were declared INNOCENT of the charges in the second trial, so kiss my grits.

The terrorists weren’t “innocent Afghans’–they were connected with the TALIBAN and Gulbudin Hekmatyar, you idiot. (Sorry this just pisses me off.) Do your research! You could start with Peter Bergen’s Holy War, Inc. Hekmatyar is best remembered for his bloody siege on Kabul and killing more than 20,000 civilians, women, and children with Russian Katucha rockets and tank shells. According to Peter Bergen, one of the world’s foremost authorities on terrorists, and author of HOLY WAR, INC based on his meeting with Osama bin Laden, Hekmatyar is an “ultra-Islamic Taliban” who once “slaughtered 36 men under the Command of Ahmad Shah Massoud… in July 1989,” and later killed “thousands of civilians in Kabul…” from 1992 onward (quoted from page 76, Holy War, Inc., courtesy of Peter Bergen).

Judge Sidiq is connected to Hekmatyar who is connected to Al Qaeda AND Bin Laden. The fact that the US Government took Hekmatyar and Mullah Omar off the most wanted terrorist list should give you an indication as to what’s happening here–and it’s not because they’ve been killed or caught. Hekmatyar is extremely anti-American, but in March of 2003 (if I’m not mistaken), he extended an olive branch to Karzai-and now Hekmatyar is giving his full support to the Karzai administration.

You have to wonder where these people were when Gulumsaki was found with letter in his pocket from his brother at Gitmo..obviously not interested in the amazing story of Jack’s accurate intelligence gathering–and Jack’s amazing penchant/talent for getting–from Gulumsaki, the terrorist who was nabbed off the bus-other terrorists including Judge Sidiq–and as a result of that, he got- the bomb plans, the explosives and the plans to blow up Bagram AFB. If that’s not impressive, he discovered they were going to drive fuel trucks into the barracks at Bagram aiforce base and kill a couple thousand American soldiers. There were also the bomb plans to kill Qanooni who was the main opponent to Karzai and the leader now since Massoud died to the Northern Alliance. AND the plans to kill Marshal Fahim the minister of defense, and all the other guys that were the top allies with the United States. Isn’t it just too bad that Jack blew the whistle on Karzai’s knowledge of these planned assassinations and the State Department’s complicity and silent approval (doing nothing about it)? Something stinks here…really bad. whew!

Just days before Idema’s arrest, CBS News received a video feed from this same Kabul house of horrors, featuring Idema in U.S. Army fatigues and brandishing an assault rifle as he arrested supposed terror suspects. Idema had been in regular contact with Dan Rather since 2002, says Idema’s lawyer, John Edwards Tiffany, of Bloomfield, New Jersey. Rather was planning to go over to Afghanistan to interview Idema again before his arrest because he hoped to get access to the Al Qaeda suspects my client was capturing.” Tiffany insists you can distinctly hear Rather’s voice over a cell phone in footage of Idema discussing network coverage; for its part, CBS says that one of its technicians in Kabul transmitted the feed to CBS News, but denies that there was any ongoing relationship between Idema and the network.

First, if you haven’t read the accounts of Jack’s living among the Afghans and building his well-trained militia, then the stuff about his brandishing an assault rifle sounds outrageous. If you had a picture, though, of what was going on there, you might think of this a little differently. Campbell wrote about it in Absurdistan:

Jack stopped the convoy, suggesting that everybody relax with a little shooting practice. He and his soldiers took turns firing across the gorge with glee, then offered us the rifles, laughing at our clumsy attempts to shoot. Everyone took happy snaps of each other holding weapons in one of the silly, matey rituals of war zones. Within minutes we heard the crack of gunfire overhead as soldiers further up the mountains joined in. It was not much of a threat as a kind of answering birdcall. After 23 years of conflict, gunfire had become part of the natural order. The new government faced an interesting future.

That isn’t exactly the kind of scenario you’d see playing itself out in any of America’s neighborhoods today, so quit playing on peoples’ sensibilities and get a grip on the real situation.

Naturally C-BS is spreading the lies that there was no ongoing relationship. They were the elephant in the room taking video alongside Caraballo, and got out of there shortly before Jack and his team were arrested. The reason they didn’t report on it or use any of the footage is because it would connect them with another scandal, and they certainly couldn’t afford to do THAT, considering all that which Stacy mentions in that paragraph–RATHERGATE and the fake Bush memos.

But the question still remains; How does a freelance torturer claiming false military credentials turn up in American living rooms as an expert on the war on terror?

Well because he’s not a freelance torturer and doesn’t claim false military credentials, that’s why. He’s a former soldier, and a Green Beret as was established previously here, and here. All the actual JOURNALISTS who’ve done their research know that to be fact, and that includes Dan Rather.

The short answer is that, like other con men, Keith Idema made a very powerful impression. Even in that 2002 broadcast, Rather allows, in his voice-over, that Idema is “controversial” but goes on to claim that his most troubling quality his murky past is what makes him perfectly at home in Afghanistan’s freewheeling Wild West atmosphere. The anchor might also have added that Idema has made himself at home in all sorts of places; on military bases, at the head of a fictional company, in Lithuanian police-training camps, in dealings with U.S. embassies, and as Idema now alleges with American military officialdom. And at every step along the way, Keith Idema increased his mastery of the fine art of press manipulation.

It’s odd to me that you would do a piece like this and wouldn’t even bother to investigate what being a Green Beret entails. I’ve been on a crash course since I took this thing on–read Hunt for Bin Laden-Absurdistan-and have even more reading to do–like Jim Morris’ War Story and others. This is a mindset. This is a culture. And it’s more extreme than Marine Corps or regular Army. When you’re on the outside looking in, it’s easy to dismiss things that scream out to people with actual military knowledge, or special forces operators.

This is where the longer answer comes in. The war on terror has been a Wild West insofar as a loose and growing cohort of freelance military subcontractors is concerned. To this day, many veterans are in Afghanistan in the employ of private companies, as volunteer U.S. forces have been depleted or reassigned to Iraq. Even for uniformed soldiers, it can be difficult to tell who is and is not working for the government.

Whether he was officially working for the government is not the issue. If Jack HAD been working for some company like Blackwater, I’m certain this case would have ended up very differently–like the one recently where the men who were charged and held for 35 days were simply released. From Forbes online….

KABUL, Afghanistan - Dozens of armed police burst into a Kabul guest house in October, arresting the stunned occupants. For an American, two Britons and an Indian, the raid began a trip through the Afghan justice system marked by violence, uncertainty and the possibility of years in prison.

A possibility that was quickly ruled out, because they were part of BUSINESS that has erupted in Afghanistan…Heinrich called himself a “partner” in a company involved in construction projects, including work with the defense contractor Blackwater’s U.S. agreement to train Afghan border police. Eaton also said he was involved in reconstruction, including a project to provide potable water. Shaw said he was a security consultant, and Joshi said he worked in logistics. So there you have it, and you know exactly what happens when the Afghans figure out your entire situation, and that situation is connected with big business…some money is exchanged and you’re free.

There is absolutely no question that Jack wouldn’t be in this predicament if he had been employee of Halliburton or Blackwater.

Keith Idema was in many ways tailor-made to exploit this sort of confusion. His time in the Afghan docket came at the end, not the beginning, of a very long and colorful career as a free agent at the strange intersection of paramilitary enterprise and sensational on-the-scene media. And regardless of whether Idema’s claims of government complicity in his actions prove true, they overlook the crux of this complicated saga; The Keith Idema story is a fable of fame, macho swagger, and opportunism in the age of terror, fueled most of all by the craving for ever more vivid and dramatic kinds of media attention. it’s the kind of tale that Joseph Conrad might concoct if he were reincarnated as a screenwriter for Fear Factor or the Apprentice.

Actually, the military has found itself in dire straits since Clinton cut it back by 40%. What we’ve discovered is–we can’t continue to disarm when we might-oh my goodness–NEED them! And to my way of thinking, commiting as our president has done to beefing up the UN Peacekeeping forces and abandoning our own defenses is absolutely no way to fight this terror war.

As Peter Bergen pointed out in his piece “Shadow Warrior”, civilians carrying out jobs that were formerly military jobs is not unique.

Peter: Yeah. I mean, the larger picture here is there are now more American civilian contractors in Iraq than there are British troops. Kind of an astonishing statement if you think about it. Britain is our biggest ally in Iraq, yet there are more American civilian military contractors. So this is a new phenomenon. We’re increasingly privitizing things that the Armed forces would have done, whether that’s interrogating Al Qaeda members, or guarding senior figures like Karzai the president of Afghanistan, and, you know, Idema operated in this kind of shadow world between the civilian and the military. He was in contact with the Pentagon, he did have senior level contacts in the Afghan government.

This has been confirmed in numerous pieces by some heavy weight journalists including Elizabeth Neuffer, Eric Campbell and Jon Lee Anderson.

One of the entire reasons that Special Forces were called into this mess was because we’re undermanned and underfunded–plus, the bureacratic red tape that my son consistently complains about, prevents people from really DOING anything proactive. This is the reason why many have said that the FBI hasn’t made much progress where Bin Laden and his cohorts are concerned–they’re merely cleanup crews who go out an identify bodies AFTER THE FACT.

It’s interesting that you should bring up that “wild wild west” reference, because in the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, the SF Ops who were building partnerships with the Northern Alliance were an interesting mix of ancient and modern warfare techniques. This was, to be sure, an “unconventional” war; and old techniques from early in our heritage had to be utilized.

For example; when my son was down at the Marine Military Academy, I met an old guy who had taken care of the horses when they were there. We’d missed the horsemanship lessons the young men learned by a few years–the horses had been gone for a few years by the time my son went to school there. The cavalry was an old military tradition that has not, in fact been allowed to die all the way. And that’s one of the reasons SF Ops in Afghanistan were able to so quickly join forces with the Northern Alliance. General Dostum, as a matter of fact, had a love of cavalry charges.

And Jack is a man’s man–he’s no liberal pansy ass terrorist sympathizing nutcase like the elitist halls of academe are pumping out.

Much about Idema’s life and times is disputed. But this much is clear: Well before he became a pariah, he was a military enthusiast and a media hound. When he was 12, he was inspired to become a soldier after seeing John Wayne in the movie version of Robin Moore’s best-selling 1965 novel, The Green Berets—a stirring, heroic account of how Special Forces soldiers in Vietnam were vanquishing the communist enemy. By the time Idema, a Poughkeepsie native and only son of a Marine who served in World War II, was old enough to join the military in 1975, the Vietnam War was nearing its end. Recruits for Special Forces—a.k.a. the Green Berets—were thinning, and despite his diminutive height (five foot nine) and bad eyesight, the young man was accepted. But military records do not indicate that Idema was all that special a soldier. One particularly harsh evaluation, written by Captain John D. Carlson near the end of Idema’s three-year tour, read: “[He] is without a doubt the most unmotivated, unprofessional, immature enlisted man that I have ever known.”

Oh YEAH?

“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…. Keith will do what he has pledged to do, no matter how difficult…”

“I have relied on him in the past, and never been disappointed.”

(Signed; [The Honorable] Timothy Connolly, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict) on official US DOD stationary (the top Pentagon civilian over all US Special Operations units in the world).

“In fact, I was assigned to teach surveillance operations to a British SAS commando force during which time Idema was their principal instructor in hostage rescue and close quarter battle. He [Jack] was the consummate professional with only two goals in mind; saving lives and combating terrorism for the red, white and blue.”

(Letter written by Peter D. Montfort, former Special Forces operative and Senior Detective with the Dutchess County, New York Sheriff’s Office. The letter is dated May 25, 1994)

“SGT Idema possesses a strong personality and a highly developed individualism…He is sure to abrade an occasional superior. Such occasional abrasion is a scant price to pay for his often demonstrated abilities; and besides, some superiors can use a little scraping now and then…Idema is definitely a person, and I prefer a thoroughbred that on occasion needs the bridle, but never the whip, to a plodding cart horse. SGT Idema is the man I want around when the going is rough and in times of stress and crisis. He is a tough and hard driver when you need him. I think the Army needs him and that he belongs in the Army for as long as we can keep him.”

(Excerpt from a 1978 efficiency report contained in a letter of support for Idema written by his former commanding officer, Special Forces Captain Ray Carney. The letter is dated April 30, 1994)

“Idema is a stand-up kind of person. He is what we call a self starter. He is a leader of men and not a follower. He speaks his mind in a true and honest manner and is not a bureaucrat. Although some may not agree with his tact in which he uses to get his point across he is true to his word and is dependable in the highest caliber. I would stand side by side with Idema in the toughest situations in both military and civilian life.”

(Letter of support for Idema written by Special Forces operative and counter-terrorism expert, Master Sergeant Peter L. Conners (later Command Sergeant Major). The letter is dated May 18, 1994 on Department of the Army stationary from a classified unit)

“I have known few people as loyal and dedicated to their Country as Keith Idema.”

(Letter of support for Idema written by John M. Comparetto, New York City Police Detective and Executive Director of the Rockland County SPCC, and later Chief of State of New Jersey Corrections). The letter is dated June 1, 1994)

“Idema goes in locked and loaded and never quits.” “But he’s not afraid of pain, and he’s not sweating death. It’s never occurred to the guy to yield; never crossed his mind…. No doubt about it, Keith is a hardass, but a true patriot, a man of courage and inviolable honor.”

(statements of Major James Morris, recipient of FOUR PURPLE HEARTS, and FOUR BRONZE STAR Medals for valor in Vietnam. Major Morris served three combat tours in Vietnam and has covered eight wars and conflicts as a combat correspondent. He is the author of the best-selling book WAR STORY.

“Idema’s word can be taken as gospel.. I would want him with me in any battle…”

Command Sergeant Major Alex Schwarcbher, US Army Special Forces, and the Senior enlisted man for the United States Army Special Warfare School at Fort Bragg — the school that trains and qualifies Green Berets. Schwarcbher’s medals include the purple heart, the bronze star, the silver star, the MSM, AM, and Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.

Jack Idema is

“a man who has walked the moral high ground, and has lived according to the creed ‘Duty, honor, Country’…”

Lt Colonel Rick Lester, Classified Special Operations unit (TF-160).

“Idema is the best Special Forces Weapons Sergeant I have ever known, and one was one the most valued team members in my command.”

And, in a letter of commendation,

“…his ability to train indigenous foreign armies is unsurpassed.”

Written by Colonel Gary Rohen (MACV-SOG Vietnam Team Leader) who is currently the Deputy Director of the FBI’s Counter-Terrorist Watch Command in Washington, DC.

In an official letter dated January 7, 1976, Colonel Charlie A. Beckwith, School Commandant, who became famous as the First Commander of Delta Force, commended Jack on his “perseverance, motivation, and professionalism” in Special Forces:

“During that selection course you excelled by meeting every requirement set upon you, whether it be arriving at your objective on schedule, navigating across hazardous terrain, evading detection or leading an ambush. The initiative you took and the motivation you showed in attaining every objective of a course that was designed to be impossible to complete reflects greatly upon yourself and Special Forces.”

[Signed,] Charlie A. Beckwith
Colonel, Infantry
Director, Special Forces School

For some, the words duty, honor, country still have meaning. Thank God for guys like Keith Idema, and I am so disgusted with all that’s happened as a result of his honorable efforts to fight the Taliban, Bin Laden and Al Qaeda.

uh…you people are messing with the wrong guy, believe me. I understand he has a genius’ iq and could be carrying a mensa card. (That’s for all you elitists out there)

Disputed? Not until the hit pieces came out. It’s too bad that you couldn’t tear yourself away from the mirror long enought to do some research. Check out who the people are who are making those statements of support, because those statements you made about his supposedly “poor” military record are so far off base they just make you look like a complete dufus-and make me want to puke. That’s why it’s so unfortunate-that people like Stacy Sullivan hang a guy out to dry on the basis of statements made by guys like Joe Cafasso and Tracey-Paul Warrington in the face of heavy weight military people who’ve been around for a while who ARE experts, not fake ones.

Jack is a pariah to the smear Jack Cabal–they want to make sure he stays one. He’s a pariah to people who are new to the story, which would include you. The journalists who have been following this story–the ones who have seen him in action, the people he’s affiliated with, the emails he’s received from people in government, can see the level at which he operates. Those of you who are reporting from your desks in nowheresville don’t have a clue. I suppose you might call me one of those folks in nowheresville–except for one thing. I’m interested in telling the truth about Jack Idema–not the lies that the Smear Jack Cabal are so desperate to hang onto. I’ve contacted people at ABC, and other news outlets, and I’m privy to a tremendous amount of information that the media who has reported on this case have left out–ON PURPOSE–to paint a terrible picture of this man. The record must not stand as it is; it must be corrected.

I’m going to stop here, as it should be plain that this piece is a waste of time…like the piece in Columbia Journalism Review called “The Education of Stacy Sullivan”. If you try to read it, make sure you have toothpicks to keep your eyes open and plenty of coffee. It’s completely tedious minutiae. You might wonder what the connection is there…because it’s pretty apparent someone at Columbia is pretty interested in every hair on her pretty little head. Couldn’t be interested in what’s IN it, that’s for sure.

Believe us, if we wanted to we could put up a 100 pages of Jack’s awards, diplomas, letters, and pictures from all over the world, including with General Hugh Shelton (Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff), Foreign Generals from more than one dozen countries, and combat ops in six countries. Let’s just start with this page and address the two main points- First, was the war in Afghanistan “fictional” as claimed by that moron at Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) and did Jack con us all into thinking he actually did something for America in Afghanistan, or did he just sit in a hotel bar and write stories like the way half the journalists did their “frontline” reporting? Second, was Jack a lousy soldier and never a Green Beret, like Floggin, CJR, and New York Magazine writer Stacy Sullivan said in her “Desert Fraud” article?

During the 2001 War in Bamian, western Afghanistan

Jack stitching up a soldier’s leg in a desert fort in Gardez during Operation Anaconda

Jack leading a patrol of Afghan MOD and Ministry of Interior Troops during the 2002 War

Jack at Dostum’s Qali-Jangi fortress during the 2001 war (Jack was supposedly never there either)

Jack carrying a wounded little girl into the German ISAF surgical tent during the Nahrin earthquake disaster, picture by an Afghan soldier (According to “journalists” Jack supposedly made up everything in the Hunt For Bin Laden - do an internet search on an AP story called “Jack Does House Calls- Nahrin Earthquake) - April 2002 Jack spent eight hours getting this little girl down from a village where everyone else was afraid to go. She would have lost her leg had it not been for some brilliant German Army surgeons);

At a press conference with General Hazrat Ali in December 2002- Maxim claims Jack told the General that this was a group of DOD reporters– Now lets see– could the General really be that stupid? An ABC microphone on the table, Newsweek’s interpreter, and a bunch of people wearing press jackets? Duh. Hazrat Ali is one of the smartest men in Afghanistan, and one of America’s best friends– he gave press conferences weekly, sometimes daily, but Maxim wants you to believe that Jack conned him- yeah right, that’s why they’re still close friends. (Owe, almost forgot, the press claims that Jack was publicity hungry during the war– TRY to find this picture ever before with Jack in it. Not possible. Jack had himself cut from all pics that day, and the only agreement the press there made, contrary to lies by stupid journalists we are sure Jack will see in court one day, is that they would agree not to have Jack in their pictures- check the book THE HUNT FOR BIN LADEN - Jack is clipped OUT of the picture)

Jack-handing his US Passport to the Chief of the Border Police at Kabul Airport in April 2004, where TASK FORCE SABER 7 was met by a HUGE entourage, which included the Chief of the Border Police, the Chief of Customs, The Chief of the National Police, The Kabul Police Chief, and one of Karzai’s brothers. This should dispel the notion that they entered the country “illegally”. But if not, there are also tapes of this.

Idema FINDING the Real Explosives- NOT “Traces” as reported in Rolling Stone. This is a piece of A1X2 explosive (similar to SEMTEX Explosive except is is incendiary and untraceable by bomb dogs). Thanks to TF SABER7 ISAF and US MPs at Bagram were able to obtain 4 kilos of this explosive to train their bomb dogs. Prior to finding this explosive in Serajan’s pillow, neither US or Coalition Forces had the ability to detect this special explosive which was designed for sabotage and terror attacks. A search of the house netted the team explosives, detonators, firing devices, ammunition, and IEDs inside pillows, rice bags, and mattresses. The French Foreign Legion, Netherlands EOD Teams, and Swedish Liaison officers all thanked Jack profusely.

This photograph was supplied to Rolling Stone by Polaris Images in NY, yet Rolling Stone still stated only “traces” of explosive were found. This is enough A1X2 to flip a car over the roof of the US Embassy, if used correctly. Traces? We believe the press is saying this because they can not bring themselves to admit they were wrong and that these men found and captured the real terrorists that were going to kill American soldiers.

This is a picture of a meeting that occurred in May 2004, between the TOP Corps Commander Generals who then controlled each of the Corps Commands throughout Afghanistan. These are ALL Lieutenant Generals or full Generals at the time, and two are now governors, one is a deputy minister in charge of opium/heroin interdiction (working on a project and plan Jack introduced), and another is a top ministry of defense official now. From Left to Right:

1- Afghan CIA officer (required to be cropped out of picture before publication),
2) General Wassiq - Mazar,
3) Jack,
4) General Daoud - Kunduz & Taliqon,
5) General Atta - Mazar,
6) General Hazrat Ali - Jalalabad,
7) General Gulhaider- Southern Front command.

This meeting was to coordinate Jack’s operations throughout Afghanistan. ANYONE reading this should be asking plenty of questions-

• What planet was the press on when they were reporting this story about a renegade American working “outside” the government?


• Is there any possible way Jack and his guys were not working with the consent of the Afghan government?


• Is Karzai an American ally, or not?


• If he is not, then why are we sending him money?


• If he is, why are Jack and his guys (and a JOURNALIST) in prison?


• Exactly what is Karzai and his partner Khalilzad hiding?


• Could it have been the rigged elections Jack uncovered?


• Or the terrorists in the Karzai government?


• Or the plan to kill Karzai’s opponent, Yunis Qanooni?


• And why the hell isn’t the American government approving their release and getting behind these guys–particularly since they’ve been declared innocent of the charges??

On Unmotivated and Unprofessional:

A. Jack Idema was an Honor Graduate in his 1975 Special Forces Communications Course- and received a letter of commendation from the commander (Idema’s final score was a perfect 100).

B. He was the Distinguished Graduate in Phase I of his Special Forces Course. He was one of only 16 to graduate out of a class of 1250 Airborne and Ranger qualified soldiers to start selection. He set eleven records Light Weapons Records in his Phase II Special Forces Light & Heavy Weapons Course. According to the Chief of the SF Weapons office at least three records still stood in 2004 (just shy of 30 years later).

C. In 1976, according to official records at JFKSWC (JFKCENMA/JFKSWCS) he was chosen to participate in the most elite course in the Army; the Special Weapons and Hand to Hand Combat Instructor School.

D. Within six months Idema was qualified as the youngest instructor ever, and one of only 11 (there were 44 total in all service branches and combined Special Ops units)

E. In November 1976 he was chosen to go to USAJFKSWC-SFUWOC, the Army’s “Navy SEAL” Course. He broke two swimming records - You can call the school HQs to confirm this- We heard this from a former commander there.

F. Over the next five years he went to various NATO schools, including German Mountain Climbing, Ski School, City Warfare School, and was on the Special Forces Pistol Team where he competed at the Camp Perry National Matches, ranking 6th in all combined services on his first attempt. Thousands of the best shooters in the world compete. He also competed at the Secret Service matches and shot a “possible” (a perfect 100) at the NA Day FBI matches at Camp Peekskill (a “possible” means your target is sent to Quantico to placed in the running for the FBI’s highest score/champion for the year, NA means National Academy). Most FBI agents dream of doing that– very few ever do in their entire career.

G. He went to the top secret SWC (different from Special Warfare Center above- it stands for Special Weapons Course- and we can’t even hint at what that was on this website).

H. In 1985 he graduated the US Army Special Forces Jumpmaster Course. But according to the press he wasn’t even in the Army then.

I. Idema graduated the Special Forces Instructor Course in 1986 and was then qualified to teach at the Special Forces Schools, where he was assigned as a Senior Instructor in a variety of positions (but according to journalists Idema was thrown out of the Army in 1978).

J. His MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) was NOT that of “rear base radio operator” but was 11B4S-W9– the designation of a Special Forces Senior Weapons Sergeant SCUBA qualified sniper. His secondary MOS was 11C4S-W7 designating Heavy weapons sergeant, and his “additional” MOS was 05B3S-W7 which was for cross-trained commo sergeant (Special Forces Morse Code radio operator). He was later re-designated 18 series when the Army changed Green Berets to their own branch (18). He was also cross-trained in demolitions and combat medicine.

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The entire press corps has been promoting a wide range of vicious lies- as an example, one journalist, Tod Robbeson, quoting an “un-named source,” claimed that Idema stole food from his classmates in the Special Forces Course– if this wasn’t so viciously slanderous we’d be rolling on the floor– (the only time you lack food in the SF course is during Phase I- the portion where you do land navigation, survival, and E&E ops. During that portion of the course in 75-76 you WERE COMPLETELY ALONE ! You walked for about 14-16 days ALONE- so exactly who would have been there for Idema to steal this food from? Was Tod Robbeson counting the chipmunks in the forest?)

Apparently the press feels free to make up whatever they want because they don’t think this guy is ever coming back; that would be a stupid assumption if anyone really knew Idema. The press needs to portray this guy as a lousy soldier, otherwise their myth of torture and conning coalition troops starts to evaporate. Here are some quotes the press MISSED, but we know that Rolling Stone, Columbia Journalism Review, and others were given copies of the original letters:

“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…. Keith will do what he has pledged to do, no matter how difficult…” “I have relied on him in the past, and never been disappointed.”

(Signed; [The Honorable] Timothy Connolly, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict) on official US DOD stationary (the top Pentagon civilian over all US Special Operations units in the world).

“In fact, I was assigned to teach surveillance operations to a British SAS commando force during which time Idema was their principal instructor in hostage rescue and close quarter battle. He [Jack] was the consummate professional with only two goals in mind; saving lives and combating terrorism for the red, white and blue.”

(Letter written by Peter D. Montfort, former Special Forces operative and Senior Detective with the Dutchess County New York Sheriff’s Office. The letter is dated May 25, 1994)

“SGT Idema possesses a strong personality and a highly developed individualism…He is sure to abrade an occasional superior. Such occasional abrasion is a scant price to pay for his often demonstrated abilities; and besides, some superiors can use a little scraping now and then…Idema is definitely a person, and I prefer a thoroughbred that on occasion needs the bridle, but never the whip, to a plodding cart horse. SGT Idema is the man I want around when the going is rough and in times of stress and crisis. He is a tough and hard driver when you need him. I think the Army needs him and that he belongs in the Army for as long as we can keep him.”

(Excerpt from a 1978 efficiency report contained in a letter of support for Idema written by his former commanding officer, Special Forces Captain Ray Carney. The letter is dated April 30, 1994)

“Idema is a stand-up kind of person. He is what we call a self starter. He is a leader of men and not a follower. He speaks his mind in a true and honest manner and is not a bureaucrat. Although some may not agree with his tact in which he uses to get his point across he is true to his word and is dependable in the highest caliber. I would stand side by side with Idema in the toughest situations in both military and civilian life.” (Letter of support for Idema written by Special Forces operative and counter-terrorism expert, Master Sergeant Peter L. Conners (later Command Sergeant Major). The letter is dated May 18, 1994 on Department of the Army stationary from a classified unit)

I have known few people as loyal and dedicated to their Country as Keith Idema.”

(Letter of support for Idema written by John M. Comparetto, New York City Police Detective and Executive Director of the Rockland County Child Abuse Agency, and later Chief of State of New Jersey Corrections). The letter is dated June 1, 1994)

“Idema goes in locked and loaded and never quits.” “But he’s not afraid of pain, and he’s not sweating death. It’s never occurred to the guy to yield; never crossed his mind…. No doubt about it, Keith is a hardass, but a true patriot, a man of courage and inviolable honor.”

(statements of Major James Morris, recipient of FOUR PURPLE HEARTS, and FOUR BRONZE STAR Medals for valor in Vietnam. Major Morris served three combat tours in Vietnam and has covered eight wars and conflicts as a combat correspondent. He is the author of the best-selling book WAR STORY.

“Idema’s word can be taken as gospel.. I would want him with me in any battle…”

Command Sergeant Major Alex Schwarcbher, US Army Special Forces, and the Senior enlisted man for the United States Army Special Warfare School at Fort Bragg — the school that trains and qualifies Green Berets. Schwarcbher’s medals include the purple heart, several bronze stars, the silver star, several MSMs, several AMs with V device, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.

Jack Idema is “a man who has walked the moral high ground, and has lived according to the creed ‘Duty, honor, Country’…”

Lt Colonel Rick Lester, Classified Special Operations unit (TF-160).

“Idema is the best Special Forces Weapons Sergeant I have ever known, and one was one the most valued team members in my command.”

And, in a letter of commendation,

“…his ability to train indigenous foreign armies is unsurpassed.”

Written by Colonel Gary Rohen (MACV-SOG Vietnam Team Leader) who is currently the Deputy Director of the FBI’s Counter-Terrorist Watch Command in Washington, DC.

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But lets sum it all up- take ALL the unnamed unidentified alleged sources about what a lousy soldier Idema was and how he barely made it in Special Forces School, and then read what the Commandant of the SPECIAL FORCES SCHOOL said about Keith “Jack” Idema.

In an official letter dated January 7, 1976, Colonel Charlie A. Beckwith, School Commandant, who became famous as the First Commander of Delta Force, commended Jack on his “perseverance, motivation, and professionalism” in Special Forces:

“During that selection course you excelled by meeting every requirement set upon you, whether it be arriving at your objective on schedule, navigating across hazardous terrain, evading detection or leading an ambush. The initiative you took and the motivation you showed in attaining every objective of a course that was designed to be impossible to complete reflects greatly upon yourself and Special Forces.”

[Signed,] Charlie A. Beckwith
Colonel, Infantry
Director, Special Forces School

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Jack Idema (on the left) Graduation day, in 1975 outside USAIMA (aka United States Army Institute For Military Assistance, as it was called then) Student Barracks on Smoke Bomb Hill at Fort Bragg.

The average Green Beret has six years in the Army before he makes it to the course. The age average is between 27 and 35. Idema was 18. Is it no wonder he got shit from his peers??? Most of them were still living with mom and dad at the age that Idema was a fully qualified Green Beret. He was roughly seven years younger than the average soldier in his Special Forces class. That says volumes to me.

Idema being awarded his Hwa Rang Do Instructor Qualification by the legendary Michael Echanis. You had to be a Sergeant on your second enlistment to be selected into the course. Idema was only an E-4 (corporal) with less than two years in the army.

Jack Idema at the Special Forces U/W Ops School- he is wearing an Emerson Closed Circuit Rebreather system for covert infiltration of enemy coastlines and clandestine Submarine lockouts- this was ONLY available to Special Forces and Navy SEAL Teams. Idema was only 20 at the time, making him one of the youngest graduates ever of what is known as the hardest course in Special Forces. He later went to the Navy SEAL /UDT Orientation Course at Little Creek, VA. (the actual BUDS Qualification Course is at Coronado). This picture has never been released before. (Picture courtesy of the SF Schools archives.)

Idema as a principle Senior Instructor the the British 22 SAS Commandos. He is seen here, for the FIRST time ever, placing a STABO extraction harness on Colonel Patty Baker- the British SAS Commando who became legendary during the battle of Oman. Colonel Baker later wrote of Idema as the finest young Green Beret he had ever worked with and invited Idema to SAS Headquarters in Hereford in the mid-80’s. The rope you see is attached to a hovering helicopter. In other words Colonel Baker was trusting Idema with his life.

With Ronald Reagan as the President from 1980 until 1988, clandestine and covert Ops, as was Special Forces, were at an all time high. Idema formed the Counter-Terrorist Group, and developed counter-terrorist and hostage rescue concepts and doctrine which would be followed by counter-terrorist units all over the world. He is seen here training the President’s son, Ronald Reagan, Jr., in combat pistol techniques.

Idema being awarded Royal Thai Commando Wings in 1985 by the Commander of the Thai Special Warfare Command in LopBuri Thailand. The man on the left is holding a Royal award device reserved for awards authorized by the King. The row of men standing are all Thai General Officers. This picture was taken in 1985 when there were supposed to be no Green Berets in South East Asia. Idema is alleged to have called the Thai Commander “Uncle George.”

That should give you a little taste as to the real background of Jonathan Keith Idema, shame on the people who are trying to discredit him.

The SuperPatriots and Jack images on this site are used by Cao’s Blog with written copyright permission and any use by any third party is subject to legal action by SuperPatriots.US

Jack Idema

Colonel Bob Morris

Knightsbridge International

In April, 2004, a former US Special Forces Soldier named Jonathan Keith Idema started shopping a sizzling story to the media.

He claimed terrorists in Afghanistan planned to use bomb-laden taxicabs to kill key US and Afghan officials, and that he himself intended to thwart the attack.

Shortly thereafter, he's headed to Afghanistan, where he spent the next two months conducting a series of raids with his team, which he called Task Force Saber 7. By late June, he claimed to have captured the plotters, and started trying to clinch a deal with television networks by offering them "direct access" to one of the terrorists who, he said, had agreed to tell all.

In exchange for footage and access, Idema wanted a minimum of $250,000 and prominent play. He asked that ABC send Peter Jennings or Cristopher Cuomo to cover the story. Ultimately ABC turned the story down, as did CNN, a CBS spokesperson, Kelli Edwards, says the network "never seriously considered" it, although Idema was regularly e-mailing Dan Rather's office and in June, the network sent two employees to Idema's Kabul headquarters to pick up the sample tape.

Idema, who was paying an Emmy Award-winning cameraman to document his activities, even distributed a sample tape of himself arresting people and interrogating hooded suspects. In one scene he is shown blocking a road and emptying passing vehicles. "Put your fucking hands up or I'll blow your fucking brains out," he screams at a group of men who have shuffled bewilderedly off a bus and are standing with their flimsy tunics whipping in the wind.

It appears that Idema still hadn't sold the taxicab story by July 5, when his situation took a turn for the worse. The Afghan police raided his headquarters and discovered eight prisoners, some of them tethered to chairs in a back room, which was littered with bloody cloth. The men told reporters that they had been starved, beaten, doused with scalding water, and forced to languish for days in their own feces.

Afghan authorities determined that none of the detainees had links to terrorism and set them free. Idema, on the other hand, was arrested, along with two other Americans (the cameraman and a former soldier) and four Afghans, and charged with running an unauthorized prison and torturing inmates. After a cursory trial, he was sentence to serve ten years. (This case is on appeal.)

For all its outlandish twists, the saga of the taxicab plot was not extraordinary for Idema, who over the years had fed the press a variety of sensational material that seemed to shed light on the shadowy world of secret soldiers, spies and assassins. This time the story never ran, but Idema had been a key source for numerous questionable stories that did. A self-proclaimed terror-fighter who has served time for fraud, Idema took a willing media by storm, glorifying his own exploits, padding his bank account, and providing dubious information to the American public.

In January 2002, Idema sold CBS sensational footage, which he called the "VideoX" tapes, that purported to show an Al Qaeda training camp in action. The tapes became the centerpiece of the bombshell 60 Minutes II piece, "Heart of Darkness", reported by Dan Rather and touted as "the most intimate look yet at how the world's deadliest terrorist organizaton trains its recruits." Idema also sold video stills to a number of press outlets, including the Boston Globe. MSNBC, ABC, NBC, the BBC, and others later replayed the tapes. Questions are now emerging about their authenticity, some of which were detailed in a piece by Stacy Sullivan in New York magazine in October.

Idema also served as an expert military commentator on Fox News and was a lead character in Robin Moore's best-selling book "The Hunt for Bin Laden", which was supposed to chronicle the exploits of U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan. And he fielded hundreds of interviews with major newspapers, television networks, and radio stations, which seem to take his swaggering claims--that he was an active-duty Green Beret in Afghanistan, an undercover spy, an explosives expert, and a key player in the hunt for Osama bin Laden--at face value.

Idema used the platform the media provided to spread dubious information, much of it with curcial implications for national security and foreign policy. For example, he claimed to have uncovered a plot to assassinate Bill Clinton; that Bin Laden was dead, and that the Taliban was poisoning the food that the United States was air dropping to feed hungry Afghans. (In fact, people were getting sick from eating the dessicant packed with the food.)

His first mission was to provide ground assistance to the air drops of U.S. humanitarian aid rations. He had also conducted an investigation into the rumors circulating among Afghans that the rations were poisoned.

“I found out who did it,” Jack said, “and it was not Al Qaeda or the Taliban. And there wasn’t any poison. The people were eating the desiccant” –the preservative drying agent—“that comes in little packets in each ration pack. It says “Do Not Eat” in English, French, Spanish and Chinese. But not in Farsi or Pashto. They thought it was spices! So there were some severe injuries and several presumed deaths. One guy who died ate the Handi Wipes, the desiccant—everything. These people, I mean they don’t even have napkins, how do they know what a Handi Wipe is? I gather he thought it smelled good, so he ate it.” Other people had become ill, Jack found, because many of the ration packs had exploded on impact, and the food inside had been exposed and become contaminated. Jack said that he wrote a report that was sent to DOD, and about a week later the problems were sorted out.

Even though they had six DZs (drop zones) mapped and ready to receive food drops, the Air Force continued to drop the food packs blind, suing what was referred to as "flutter method," an untested procedure where the HDRs were simply dumped out of the back of cargo planes. Idema was not happy with the way food drops were being conducted and started firing off messages to his friends at Fort Benning, Fort Bragg, and the Pentagon. While he waited for a response he started collecting airdropped food packs. Recovering some from the mountains and the desert floor, he paid the Afghans $5 each out of his own pocket so they could purchase rice instead. The Afghans had claims the HDRs were making them ill. Once Idema had a selection of HDR samples from across northeastern Afghanistan, the investigation quickly took an unexpected turn.

The packs had desiccant in them, a drying agent and moisture retardant that was packaged in small paper pouches and looked just like Afghan medicine or the spice packets in Russian noodles. Afghans started eating the desiccant. Sick Afghans started eating even more, thinking the U.S. was kindly dropping medicine. Idema's civilian team fired off a report that Afghans were getting sick from desiccant. One village even claimed a man had died. (HDRs were printed in English, French, German and Spanish, nonexistent languages in remote Afghan villages. Eventually the Air Force started dropping cartoon leaflets that explained how to eat the food.)

Colin Powell received a copy of the team's email and wanted answers. Natick Labs in Massachusetts initiatially denied the report and told the Pentagon and Powell that there was no desiccant in the HDRs. Washington believed them. The message returned to Idema's team from "higher up" said the team was wrong, their intel was bad, and they were basically out in left field and unreliable.

Pissed off, Idema went back to the drawing board. Twenty-four hours later he was emailing digital pictures of desiccant packs via INMARSAT. In the process he discovered something far worse.

The HDRs had been packed in Texas, Indiana, and South Carolina at low altitudes. They had been dropped at altitudes far exceeding ten thousand feet. The sealed packs expanded in the air, and then hit the ground at terminal velocity, exploding the sealed food inside and causing slight tears in the other protective plastic wrapper. Exposed to the rugge Aghan terrain and harsh elements, the food inside rapidly spoiled and became contaminated. Digital pictures were transmitted through INMARSAT to Fort Benning's Battle Lab.

Idema got word that Donald Rumsfeld had demanded answers from Natick. The following day the team was excstatic, a Natick official admitted the presence of desiccant and the more important contamination problem, stating that government contrators had violated DoD (Department of Defense) product specifications.

I would like to add that ANYONE that doubts your facts can contact ANY member of TIGER 03 (JSOTF Codename for ODA 595- 5th Special Forces Group (ABN), Fort Campbell, KY).

If you check the early October 2001 Reports from the DOD, I think you will find that it was the DOD PAO and an ASD who stated at a PRESS CONFERENCE that THEY believed the Taliban was poisoning the airdrops in Northern Afghanistan (I was already in the ISOFAC preparing to deploy when we were briefed on it).

During the press conference the DOD was defending dropping food and not bombs on Northern Afghanistan, which was of course the RIGHT thing to do because these people were, and are still, our allies, even if the American State Department has now deserted them and has us working with the new ANA (a joke of a Keystone Cop army).

Jack Idema went into Northern Afghanistan with a primary mission to find out who WAS poisoning the food drops and to get more food drops to the Northern Alliance and get the right kind of food landing on actual drop zones instead of USAF "blind drops." This was secretly coordinated by the DAT at both the American and Afghan Embassies in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

Jack Idema found out the real cause of the poisoning and HDR problems. Idema FIXED the problem single handily, through initiative, ingenuity, and pure guts.

Make no mistake about it, four of the men on my team currently here in Afghanistan know for absolute fact that Jack Idema’s version of the HDR story is true.

Idema's career as a media personality reached its peak during the final breathless weeks of the run-up to the war in Iraq. Much of the information he provided during that period echoed the Bush administration's hotly contested rationale for the war. He told MSNBC that the link between Iraq and Al Qaeda was "common knowledge" on the ground in Afghanistan, and claimed in an interview with WNYC radio's Leonard Lopate that "Iraq has been involved in supporting Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations with money, with equipment, with technology, with weapons of mass destruction." He told other wide-eyed journalists that there was ample evidence linking "Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia to Al Qaeda and to the attacks on September 11," and professed to have firsthand knowledge of nuclear weapons being smuggled from Russia to all three members of the "axis of evil"--Iraq, Iran and North Korea. Few in the media questioned Idema's claims, much to the alarm of some who knew him.

*Photographs taken by Malaysian intelligence in January 2000 place Ahmed Himat Shakir, an Iraqi intelligence operative, at key planning meetings with Al Qaeda members for the bombing of the USS Cole and the September 11 attacks.
* In 1992, according to Iraqi intelligence documents obtained after the war, bin Laden met with Iraqi intelligence officials in Syria.
* Sudanese intelligence officials told me that their agents had observed meetings between Iraqi intelligence agents and bin Lade3n starting in 1994, when bin Laden lived in Khartoum.
* Michael Scheuer, the former head of the bin Laden unit at the CIA and a sharp critic of the Bush administration, writes in his 2002 "Through our Enemies' Eyes" that bin Laden "made a connection with Iraqi's intelligenc service through its Khatroum station.
* Examining the bin Laden-Iraq-Sudan nexus in the early 1990s, Weekly Standard writer Stephen Hayes reports: "In Sudan, bin Laden decided to acquire and, when possible, use chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) weapons against Islam's enemies. Bin Laden's first moves in this direction were made in cooperation with NIF (Sudan's National Islamic Front), Iraq's intelligence service, and Iraqi CBRN scientists and technicians. He made contact with Baghdad with its intelligence officers in Sudan and by a [Hass al-] Turabi-brokered June 1994 visit by Iraq's then intelligence chief Faruq al-Hijazi; according to Milan's Corriere della Sera, Saddam, in 1994, made al-Hijazi responbielf ro "nurting Iraq's ties to [Islamic] fundamentalist warriors. Turabi had plans to formulate a "common strategy" with bin Laden and Iraq for subverting pro-U.S. Arab regimes, but the meeting was a get-acquainted session where al-Hijazi and bin Laden developed a good rapport that would flourish in the late 1990's.
* Bin Laden met at least eight times with officers of Iraq's Special Security Organization, a secret police agency run by Saddam's son Qusay, according to intelligence made public by Secretary of State Colin Powell, speaking before the UN Security Council on February 6, 2003.
*Bin Laden met the director of the Iraqi Mukhabarat, Iraqi's external intelligence service, in Khartoum in 1996, according to Powell.
* An al Qaeda oeprative now held by the US confessed that in the mid-1990's, bin Laden had forged an agreement with Saddam's men to cease all terrorist activities against the Iraqi dictator, Powell said.
* Saddam's relationship to bin Laden was documented while the arch terrorist was based in Sudan from 1991 to 1996, Patrick Fitzgerald, an US attorney in the Clinton US Justice Department, prepared an indictment of bin Laden. "Al Qaeda reached an understanding with the government of Iraq that Al Qaeda would not work against that government and that on particular projects, specifically including weapons development, al Qaeda would work cooperatively with the government of Iraq." This is substantially what Powell would tell the UN years later, on the eve of the war.

"The media saw this outfitted, gregarious, apparently knowing guy, and they didn't check him out," says Ed Artis, chairman and founder of the humanitarian organization Knightsbridge International, who met Idema in Afghanistan in late 2001 and later tried to warn the government and media organizations that Idema was misrepresenting himself. "They ran story after story that furthered the cachet of a self-serving, self-aggrandizing criminal."

Idema's U.S. office is tucked inside a hulking brick warehouse in Fayetteville, North Carolina--home to Fort Bragg, America's largest military base and command center for the U.S. Army Special Operations. There's little to distinguish the building from its industrial surroundings except the dark-tinted windows, and the red "Restricted Access" plaque that clings to the front door. Inside, the cavernous space is cluttered with evidence of Idema's Afghan mission: crumpled boxes of medical supplies, a lime-green presentation board bearing an organizational chart for Al Qaeda, a massive topographical map of Afghanistan. Movie posters of scowling, leather-clad action heroes plaster the surrounding walls, including a particular large one from Men in Black over Idema's desk. It shows two movie stars clutching super-sized guns and reads, "Protecting the Earth from the Scum of the Universe".

The decore reflects Idema's decades-long quest to fashion himself an action hero. He joined the army in 1975 and qualified for the Special Forces, but his performance was often lacking. In an evaluation report dated July 7, 1977, Captain John D. Carlson described him as "without a doubt the most unmotivated, unprofessional, immature enlisted man that I have ever known."

In 1978 he transferred to a reserve unit where he served until 1981, when he was relieved of his duties, in part for his irrationality and tendency toward violence. His military records indicate that he never saw combat.

KABUL (Reuters) - Self-styled Afghan opposition leader Yunus Qanuni was elected president of the lower house of parliament on Wednesday, narrowly beating a former factional leader allied to President Hamid Karzai.

Meanwhile, ex-president, Burhanudin Rabbani, announced his backing to Mohammad Yunus Qanooni, leader of the opposition alliance, the National Understanding Front (NUF).

Qanuni, an ethnic Tajik who came a distant second to Karzai in presidential elections last year, was chosen to lead the 249-seat lower house of parliament with 122 votes against 117 for his closest challenger, Abdul Rabb Rasoul Sayyaf.

Qanuni's election and the fact Sayyaf came a close second, will be a disappointment to human rights groups, who have accused both of links to rights abuses.

Woman MP Malalai Joya, an outspoken critic of former warlords who secured assembly seats and has vowed to take them on, was shouted down when she tried to read a statement in that session.

On Monday, Qanuni dismissed concerns about warlords, saying the term was outmoded and the popular vote should be respected, a comment that appeared to underline fears that some MPs would try to block bids to bring war criminals to justice.