The Free Jack Idema Blogburst One aspect of the case of illegally-imprisoned U.S. Special Forces soldier Jack Idema that is always worth re-visiting is the horrendous treatment he and his men were subjected to after their arrest.
While Jack and his team (operating one of fifty-or-so similar SF safe-houses in Afghanistan) have been proven to have tortured no one, during the month of July 2004, Jack was beaten so badly by his pro-Taliban interrogators that he suffered the following injuries:- Detached retinas in both eyes
- A broken sternum
- Torn rotator cuffs
Jack's second-in-command, Captain Brent Bennett, was:- Beaten so badly he lost eight teeth
- Shown a knife and threatened with death on numerous occasions
- Told his nose and ears would be cut-off if he failed to co-operate
Major Ezmerai, 'Zorro', Syhail and Sherzai (the Northern Alliance officers and men on Jack's team), were subjected to:- Beatings
- Electrocution
- Scalding with boiling water
- Death threats
- Phalanga (where the bare feet are tied to a pole and hit with rods)
- Torture with live scorpions
- Starvation
- Attempted rape
While these tortures were conducted by pro-Taliban officials at the NDS Headquarters in Kabal, they happened with the full knowledge of the U.S. State Department.
On July 11th 2004, Jack Idema contacted his embassy and claimed Prisoner of War status. His request was turned down by Sandra Ingram, Acting US Consul, who also refused to give Idema a copy of the Geneva Convention.
Visiting a second time (and after Jack managed to put his request for PoW status in writing), Ingram refused to either accept the document or pass it on to the Red Cross, claiming her State Department superiors 'ordered her not to do this'. Most disturbing of all, perhaps, Ingram (assisted by the FBI) also removed Jack and Brent's dog tags, Geneva Convention I.D. cards, and their U.S. passports.
During both of Ingram's visits to Jack and Brent during July 2004, it would have been quite obvious that both men had been badly beaten. Far from offering assistance to them, the U.S. State Department (along with the FBI, who also removed documents and videotapes seized by the NDS after Jack's arrest) moved to confiscate any and all means Jack and Brent had to prove either their innocence or the legitimacy of their mission in Afghanistan.
In the light of these facts, it's easy to see why the State Department continue to obstruct Jack's release -- These people have one hell of a lot of questions to answer.
So what can we do? Well, anyone reading this with their own blog can sign up for the weekly Free Jack Idema Blogburst by emailing Cao or Rottweiler Puppy for details. I'd urge everyone to do this, as we're still terribly short on takers. If you want to know more about the story, Cao's Blog has a large section devoted to Jack Idema. There's also a timeline here, and, of course, a huge amount of information is available over at SuperPatriots, without whose work none of us would have learned about Jack's story. You should also contact the following people and make your feelings known, especially to write letters of complaint about this despicable situation: Secret US EMBASSY Fax: - 301-560-5729 (Local US Fax: Goes RIGHT TO Ambassador) c/o US Ambassador Ronald Neuman US Embassy- Afghanistan 6180 Kabul Place Dulles, VA 20189-6180 US Consul Russell Brown - 011-93-70201908 (Fired) US Consul Addie Harchik- 011-93-70201908 (denied them water and mail at Thanksgiving- Gone) US Consul Edward Birsner- number yet unknown US Embassy Translator Wahid - 011-93-70201902 US Embassy Asst Consul Bashir Momman- 011-93-70201923 US Consul (friend) Dawn Schrepel- 011-93-70201908 (Fired) Ambassador Massoud Khalili (wounded with Massoud) (Great and Kind man) Islamic State of Afghanistan Embassy of Afghanistan Ankara, Turkey H.E. Said Tayeb JAWAD (Afghan Ambassador- powerful in US) (Northern Alliance Good Guy Fired- New Pro Taliban Ambassador) Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington 2341 Wyoming Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20008 Tel: (202) 483-6414 Fax: (202) 483-9523 Mr. Jahed Hamrah, Consul General (pro-Taliban) CONSULATE GENERAL OF AFGHANISTAN IN NEW YORK 360 Lexington Avenue, 11th Floor New York, New, York, NY 10017 Tel.: (212) 972-2276 or 972-2277 Fax: (212) 972-9046 Chairman Peter Hoekstra Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence H-405, U.S. Capitol Washington, DC 20515-6415; Office: 202-225-4121 / Fax: 202-225-1991 Toll Free: (877) 858-9040 M. Cherif BASSIOUNI Independent Expert of the Commission on Human Rights On the Situation of Human Rights in Afghanistan Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights UNOG-OHCHR CH-1211 Geneva 10 Ph: +41(0)22 917 97 27 Fax: +41(0)22 917 90 18 Senator Steven Saland (Jack's Rep and Neighbor) 9 Jonathan Lane Poughkeepsie, NY 12603 Senator Elizabeth Dole (Jack's Rep) United States Senate 555 Dirksen Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Ph: 202-224.6342 Fax: 202-224.1100 Senator Richard Burr (Interested) United States Senate 217 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Phone: 202-224-3154 / Fax: 202-228-2981 Senator Bill Nelson (in the fight on Jack's Side) United States Senate Hart Senate Office Building Room 716 Washington, DC 20510 Phone: 202-224-5274 / Fax: 202-228-2183 FL Fax 407-872-7165 Senator Dianne Feinstein (Bennett's Representative) United States Senate Hart Office Building, Room 331 Washington, D.C. 20510 202-224-3841 Representative Mike McIntyre (Jack's Representative) United States Congress 2437 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Phone: 202-225-2731 / Fax 202-225-5773 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (Reference Captain Bennett- CA citizen) State Capitol Building Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone: 916-445-2841 / Fax: 916-445-4633 Finally, PLEASE NOTE: The SuperPatriots and Jack images on this site are used with WRITTEN COPYRIGHT PERMISSION and any use by any third party is subject to legal action by SuperPatriots.US jack idema afghanistan Technorati Search for Jack Idema The Free Jack Idema Blogroll: The Pink Flamingo Bar & Grill The Lone Voice Kender's Musings Irate Nate The Devil's Kitchen Cao's Blog Big Dog's Weblog Theodore's World NIF Rottweiler Puppy Right For Scotland Freedom Folks The City Troll Sacramento Boxing Causes of Interest Concatenation of Events Hyscience Stuck On Stupid The Daily Blogster You Don't Know Jack Right Wing Nation Ron's Musings
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A muslim buys land next to a pig farm in Katy,Texas. The pig farm wasn't a secret, he knew it was there. Muslim has plans to build a mosque there even though there are over 60 mosques in the area. Once he got ownership of the land, the muslim demands that the pig farm owner either move his farm, or get rid of his pigs. The pig farmer has offered to buy the land from the muslim, but the muslim refuses.
So the pig farmer scheduled pig races during Friday prayers.
See the video