Via RottyPup
See this posting from Cao
All Info below is via Cao’s blog….
After almost three years of illegal-imprisonment, it looks as though US Special Forces soldier Jack Idema is on the verge of being freed:
An American prisoner held in Afghanistan for allegedly running a private prison was scheduled to be released from his Afghan prison as the State Department and the FBI faced a Tuesday deadline to answer allegations that they ordered his torture and manipulated the Afghan judicial system.
Jack Idema is the last of three U.S. citizens imprisoned in Afghanistan in the alleged operation. Idema said they were hunting terrorists as part of a mission sanctioned by U.S. counterterror officials.
Idema’s attorneys filed a lawsuit in Washington in 2005 challenging his detention. Idema accused the State Department and FBI of illegally keeping him imprisoned in a deplorable Afghan prison, directing his torture, destroying evidence and ultimately trying to have him killed. He said he has audio recordings and documents to back up his claims.
U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan had said he was “deeply troubled” by the allegations and had given the U.S. government until Tuesday to respond.
“Petitioners allege that United States officials ordered their arrest, ordered their torture, stole exculpatory evidence during their trial and appeal, exerted undue influence over Afghan judges, and either directly or indirectly ordered judges who found petitioners innocent not to release petitioners from prison,” Sullivan wrote.
The U.S. Justice Department, which represents the government in court, did not respond to the Tuesday deadline. Instead, government attorneys asked that the case be thrown out because they say the Afghan government granted Idema amnesty and commuted his sentence.
Jack Idema vindicated
It wasn’t really important for me to be the one that broke it. What IS important is that he’s been vindicated with a fair article in the press announcing his release. I don’t see a single reference here to his ‘torturing innocent Afghans’, Mariah Blake’s “Tin Soldier” or the other garbage and lies that’s been put in print about him, and it’s about time that someone started telling the TRUTH on this story. It’s been an exhausting couple of years.
I’ve been thinking about the possible ramifications for the government and the Bush administration on this. We have so many examples of people who have been fighting the war on terror only to find themselves in a legal mess because of leftist lawyers who elevate the rights of terrorists over our own soldiers. Ilario Pantano, David Pasarro, the marines of Haditha and numerous others have been brought back only to face what seems to be retaliation from our own system for prosecuting the WoT. Special Forces soldiers have been brought up on charges, all facing the same Judge Terrence Boyle. Sadly, the ‘human rights’ organizations have done little to stand up and object to mistreatment of soldiers and others at the hands of terrorists, even though we’ve seen incidents like Michael Mann’s horrible torture and death at the hands of terrorists, the horrible deaths of Menchaca and Tucker, and the horrible death of the humanitarian aid worker, Margaret Hassan- while they don’t lift a finger.
Northern Alliance
Terrorists don’t have any ‘rules of engagement’ except to lie about the mistreatment of their captors, that war is deception, and al takeyya (lying for the sake of Islam) is acceptable. Above all, they sure seem to know how to leverage their buddies in the media. They don’t abide by the Geneva Conventions, we saw that with Iran last week, taking the British sailors and marines hostage, and forcing them to write written statements, parading them in front of the media in coerced confessions. The Revolutionary Guard of Iran broke the law for a propaganda campaign that the AP absolutely lapped up.
It seems that terrorists are the only ones they care about, which raises a lot of questions. This convoluted sense of ‘justice’ is something we should all be concerned about.
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
Idema is an example of how people are getting screwed over by our own system when only trying to do the next right thing. Bin Laden is offering a large monetary reward to whoever kills Idema. That alone and in itself should be enough to support Idema’s efforts. Idema didn’t belong in that horrible prison alongside Al Qaeda and the Taliban; Idema is not and was not a criminal who deserved torture, starvation and beatings.
Thankfully, the Northern Alliance agreed with that assessment, even though the American government stopped supporting them and turned its back on our former allies. Idema didn’t turn his back on our former allies, and that is just one of the components of this sick and twisted story. Massoud’s United Front stood by his side with honor and courage, and many laid down their lives to keep him alive.
Jack told me to put up some of the pictures he’s been sending, and I’ll be putting some of them up now.
This is Mullah Mujahed, the Taliban General over 200,000 Taliban fighters who was in prison also at Pulacharke. Strange circumstances lead to interesting relationships. Jack, in fact, not only knew him, but when they were at Saderat, the Extreme Interrogation Facility, Mullah Mujahed shared his food with Jack, Brent and Ed while they were being starved and tortured.
This is the only known picture of Mujahed, although I have others. I want to be careful as to which ones I put up, because there are vicious people like Joe Cafasso, Kathryn Cramer and others, who will attempt to spin whatever it is I do, whatever pictures I print, into something negative about Idema.
Although now, I would bet those people who said nasty things about Idema have now gone into hiding. It is plain, and will become clearer over time, that he is exactly who and what he’s always said he is. More on this later.
Idema to leave Afghan prison
FayObserver.com, Fayetteville NC – 5 hours ago
Jack Idema, of Fayetteville, is the last of three US citizens imprisoned in Afghanistan for running a private prison. Idema said the three were hunting :
Afghan prison to release NC man
News & Observer, NC – 2 hours ago
Jack Idema, of Fayetteville, NC, is the last of three US citizens imprisoned in Afghanistan for running a private prison. Idema said they were hunting :
Afghanistan set to release American convicted of torturing detainees
JURIST – 6 hours ago
[JURIST] Former US Green Beret Jonathan ‘Jack’ Idema [BBC profile], the last of three US citizens jailed in 2004 on charges [JURIST reports] of running a :
Freelance terrorist hunter to be released
MSNBC – 10 hours ago
Jack Idema is the last of three US citizens imprisoned in Afghanistan for running a private prison. Idema said they were hunting terrorists as part of a :
Freelance terrorist hunter to be released from Afghanistan prison
International Herald Tribune, France – 13 hours ago
Jack Idema is the last of three US citizens imprisoned in Afghanistan in the alleged operation. Idema said they were hunting terrorists as part of a mission :
Imprisoned terrorist hunter to be freed
Jordan Falls News, IA – 12 hours ago
Jack Idema is the last of three US citizens imprisoned in Afghanistan for running a private prison. Idema said they were hunting terrorists as part of a :
Imprisoned Terrorist Hunter To Be Freed
Guardian Unlimited, UK – 11 hours ago
Jack Idema is the last of three US citizens imprisoned in Afghanistan for running a private prison. Idema said they were hunting terrorists as part of a :
Imprisoned terrorist hunter to be freed
Howell Times and Transcript, UT – 11 hours ago
Jack Idema is the last of three US citizens imprisoned in Afghanistan for running a private prison. Idema said they were hunting terrorists as part of a :
Imprisoned Terrorist Hunter to Be Freed
Newsday, NY – 12 hours ago
Jack Idema is the last of three US citizens imprisoned in Afghanistan for running a private prison. Idema said they were hunting terrorists as part of a :
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Here is the article from the AP.
WASHINGTON: An American prisoner held in Afghanistan for allegedly running a private prison was scheduled to be released from his Afghan prison as the State Department and the FBI faced a Tuesday deadline to answer allegations that they ordered his torture and manipulated the Afghan judicial system.
Jack Idema is the last of three U.S. citizens imprisoned in Afghanistan in the alleged operation. Idema said they were hunting terrorists as part of a mission sanctioned by U.S. counterterror officials.
Idema’s attorneys filed a lawsuit in Washington in 2005 challenging his detention. Idema accused the State Department and FBI of illegally keeping him imprisoned in a deplorable Afghan prison, directing his torture, destroying evidence and ultimately trying to have him killed. He said he has audio recordings and documents to back up his claims.
U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan had said he was “deeply troubled” by the allegations and had given the U.S. government until Tuesday to respond.
“Petitioners allege that United States officials ordered their arrest, ordered their torture, stole exculpatory evidence during their trial and appeal, exerted undue influence over Afghan judges, and either directly or indirectly ordered judges who found petitioners innocent not to release petitioners from prison,” Sullivan wrote.
Still getting more details, stand by.
The U.S. Justice Department, which represents the government in court, did not respond to the Tuesday deadline. Instead, government attorneys asked that the case be thrown out because they say the Afghan government granted Idema amnesty and commuted his sentence.
“As soon as the travel arrangements for Mr. Idemas’ departure from the country are made, his release and deportation should follow imminently,” government attorneys wrote April 5. “Indeed, as of the time of this filing, it is our understanding that Mr. Idema’s release is imminent.”
Idema’s lawyer, John E. Tiffany, said the U.S. government coordinated Idema’s amnesty to avoid having to respond to the allegations of torture and government misconduct.
“The Afghan government doesn’t do anything unless the United States government tells them to do it,” Tiffany said. “They got caught with their pants down. Finally, a federal judge with courage and intellect said, ‘Hey, wait a minute. Let’s look at this.’”
Tiffany compared the case to that of Jose Padilla, who was arrested in 2002 on suspicion of plotting to detonate a radioactive “dirty bomb.” Papilla was declared an enemy combatant and was held in a brig without criminal charges. Before the Supreme Court could decide whether that was legal, the government reversed course and charged him in civilian court on lesser charges.
“They would like nothing more than never having to respond,” Tiffany said. “If they have to respond to a laundry list of areas that the judge very clearly laid out, you put yourself of great risk of taking positions that will be exposed as lies.”
Government attorneys said that’s not the case. The State Department learned that Idema’s amnesty was final on March 15, nearly a week before Sullivan’s order, according to court documents.
Idema was captured in 2004 with fellow Americans Brent Bennett and Edward Caraballo. Idema and Bennett are former U.S. soldiers. Caraballo was an investigative journalist. Bennett and Caraballo have since been released.
Tiffany said Monday he did not know whether Idema has been freed. An Afghan official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information, said Idema remains in Policharki, the main prison in Kabul.
The Justice Department said in court documents that Idema was holding up his own release by refusing to leave Afghanistan without Bennett’s dog.
“Mr. Idema replied with words to the effect that he had made a promise to Mr. Bennett on his life that he would take the dog with him when he went, and that the only way he would leave Afghanistan without the dog was if they carried out his dead body,” government attorneys wrote.
The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan had no comment on Idema’s case.
Sullivan has not ruled whether to dismiss the case.
Nina’s Sky Kennel arrived:.TWO WEEKS AGO. I knew it was being sent, FOUR WEEKS AGO. I’m the one that talks to Jack at least once a week, and I knew everything for four months.
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Peejz, who is the asshole behind Jack’s imprisonment? One of Valerie Plame’s cronies?
It’s a collection of idiots who are responsible…kind of like the Murder on the Orient Express story. One of the ones who proudly takes credit for it is Joe Cafasso, “At Fox News, the Colonel Who Wasn’t”. Cafasso put up an entire blog called Stuporpatriots he is so consumed with destroying him. Joe and his buddies are the same type of people as Plame’s cronies, methinks. And on the same side of the ideological aisle.
Thanks for putting this up, Peejz.
Bad news for Jack’s enemies. I wouldn’t make book on any of them living very long if he gets out of Afghanistan with the evidence to show who was involved in his illegal imprisonment and torture. Especially if the low level flunkies have evidence that indicates that they were acting on orders from higher ups. They’ll be caught between a really pissed off special operations community and upper level CIA officers with no compunction about Vince Fostering a subordinate to save their own asses. Keep in mind that many of the current batch of upper level officers in the CIA got their jobs during the Clinton administration wherein killing your own (Ruby Ridge, Waco) was far more desirable than killing the enemy (Osama Bin Laden).
One other thing that I would add is that were I Jack, I’d make DAMN SURE I had people I could trust around me for the next 6 months, or however long it takes for this to come out in court. He’s a HUGE moving target at the moment and some in the CIA are more likely to want him dead than Bin Laden. He threatens their high paying jobs and pensions, Osama Bin Laden insures them.
His story could make a GREAT movie.
Can someone clue me in using a short paragraph as to why I should care about this man’s circumstance? Did he go over the Afghanistan with the blessing of the our military or government? Was he arrested under orders of our government/military?
Sorry if I didn’t dig into the links and try to figure it all out, but it sounds like a private US citizen was trying to play Jack Bauer without an endorsement from the US government.
What ever became of FREEDOM OF SPEECH cant anyone say anything with out risking their neck or having JESSIE JACKASSON and AL(RACE BAITER)SHARPTON and the NAACP be demanding their head? Kind of reminds me of back when that student was expelled from PENN STATE for calling some black women WATER BUFFALO becuase they were making loud annoying noises and he got back in after brining suit, maybe he should bring suit agsinst not only those who fired him but bring a suit agsinst AL SHARPTON as well:roll::idea:
That wasn’t Penn State. That was the University of Pennsylvania. You know the $50+k a year Ivy League college that sits in the middle of one of the roughest neighborhoods in Philadelphia. I was working at Foot Locker in downtown Philly when that happened. For those who are interested, Drexel University is just up the street and both are in a VERY bad neighborhood.
On the Jack Idema front, supposedly he was there as part of a military counterterrorism operation that was operating under the radar (watch CBS’ “The Unit” for an idea of how these kinds of units operate) and picked up a Taliban supporter with Al Quaeda connections and very strong polical ties to the Karzai government. This was an embarrassment to the State Department so they had his team arrested, took their credentials, and had a kangaroo court of Taliban supporters convict and then imprison them. The conviction was thrown out on appeal, but the State Department and CIA have been doing everything in their power to prevent Jack and his team from returning to the US for fear they may have the documentation necessary to prove State and CIA involvement in their arrest and imprisonment.
Does that clear things up Tofu? Basically the story is that Jack Idema and his team were making people in State and the CIA look bad, so State and CIA had him arrested, imprisoned and tortured by the locals. If, like a lot of liberals, you are complaining about the US snatching terror suspects for interrogation in secret prisons, this should frighten you. This isn’t a terror suspect being turned over to the Egyption government for interrogation, this was an innocent US citizen held illegally and tortured at the behest of the State Dept and CIA.