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KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghan authorities have arrested three American citizens accused of running a fake prison in Kabul, U.S. State Department and Afghan officials say.

Afghan government officials raided a rented house in the capital late Sunday where the three Americans lived. They found a private prison inside the building that contained eight prisoners, a Ministry of Interior official said Friday.

The raid came after Afghan citizens reported their family members missing over the past several months.

At a news briefing Thursday, State Dept. spokesman Richard Boucher identified all three as American citizens, noting "the U.S. government does not employ or sponsor these men."

He identified two of the men as Jonathan Idema and Brent Bennett, but could not release the name of the third because he had not signed a Privacy Act waiver.

Idema and his colleagues told Afghan authorities they were operating the prison because they wanted "to take part in the war on terror," the Afghan official said.

The Americans did not torture their prisoners, but did administer "some beatings," the official added.

The three men are being interrogated by Afghanistan's intelligence agency. They are not being held in prison but in a residential area.

The eight prisoners are also being debriefed by the agency, and the government is trying to find several Afghans who were allegedly helping the Americans, the official said.

The arrests came as the U.S. military investigated allegations of detainee abuse in Afghanistan at the hands of American jailers.

That investigation was prompted by outrage after photographs of abuse at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison captured international media attention.

Boucher said officials from U.S. consular offices in Kabul visited the Americans on Tuesday and Thursday.

When asked if they were being treated fairly, he responded "we're monitoring their welfare."

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

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

Idema and his two colleagues would then interrogate the prisoners in an attempt to get them to confess they were members of the terrorist network, the official said.

If charged, the official said it was unlikely that Idema would be tried in the Afghan judicial system, but would be handed over to U.S. custody at some point.

The official said the story would "definitely have a negative impact on the image of Americans" among Afghans.

"The power to Destroy the planet, is insignifigant to the power of the Air Force----Mudd Vader

There is some crazy shit going on in the world, eh fellas?

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction"

Ronald Reagan

I think the third man would be Chuck Norris, and he ain't gonna leave nobody behind! Sounds like a bad saturday afternoon movie to me.

Smitty

I can hear the conversation right now...

"geez, the army needs some help let's do something. but what?"

"I got it we'll start a jail hold some random people in it! That should end the war within a month!"

"great Idea billy-bob, let me get my shotgun!"

"VMI is a flip-flop obstacle course"

Idema

Support "rigger" SF guy turned crook and fake.


Edited by - viperttb on Jul 12 2004 10:05 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>I think the third man would be Chuck Norris, and he ain't gonna leave nobody behind! Sounds like a bad saturday afternoon movie to me.<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

The theme was successfull in the "Death Wish" and "Star Chamber" movies. This is a new wrinkle, "International Vigilantes". Who can we get to play the Charles Bronson role? Michael Moore could write/produce/direct it. That way no actual facts need to be true, just believable. When a justice system is broken, it gives rise to vigilantes. This private jail is just another manifestation. Too bad they got caught.



THE CRAPTOR ENGINEERING TEAM <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
"The F-22...It's the poo"

_________________
????

Probably a new reality show in the making. <img src=newicons/idea.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=newicons/Whatever_anim.gif border=0 align=middle>

Marge: There's someone here who I think can help you. Homer: Who, Batman? Marge: No he's a scientist. Homer: Batman's a scientist? Marge: It's not Batman!

was ross perot funding them

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
Idema

Support "rigger" SF guy turned crook and fake.


Edited by - viperttb on Jul 12 2004 10:05 AM
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

Yes it's him. Heard good things (one liners) about him From Robert Young Pelton and the Black Flag Cafe.

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>The man who thinks he's George Clooney. A story of today's Kabul

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

When Afghan police burst into the large suburban house in Kabul, they were not expecting to see three men strapped to the ceiling and hanging by their feet.

This was supposedly an import business, after all.


But as they released the men, and five other captives who were also in the house, officers realised they had stumbled upon a private jail where Afghan prisoners were being locked up and tortured.


Yesterday, Afghan security forces and the US military admitted they appeared to have uncovered a freelance counterterrorism mission by bounty hunters, who may have been lured to the country by the prospect of earning multimillion-dollar rewards.


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


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


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


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


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


The biggest reward of all - $25m - remains on offer for information leading to the capture of Osama bin Laden.


Mr Idema knows all about him, having collaborated with Robin Moore, the author of the book The Hunt for Bin Laden, a gung-ho account, published last year, of the so-far unsuccessful pursuit of the al-Qaida leader.


Officials revealed that when Mr Idema and two other Americans were arrested, they were all armed and dressed in US military-style uniforms.


An Afghan official told the Associated Press that the prisoners were "hanging upside down" in the house in the quiet suburb of Kart-i-Parwen, and had been beaten.


The American military appear to have suspected that Mr Idema was involved in something nefarious. Since last week, they have been quietly briefing journalists about him, stressing that he has no connection with the US forces.


And following the arrest, a public statement was issued by the US military saying that he had "allegedly represented himself as an American government and/or military official _ The public should be aware that Idema does not represent the American government and we do not employ him."


Mr Idema has a chequered history not untypical of some of the ex-military personnel who have been drawn to Kabul. Although the US military authorities would not confirm his record yesterday, he is said to have been a member of the special forces between 1975 and 1992.


After leaving the forces, he ran a military equipment firm in the US.


He was convicted of wire fraud and other offences in connection with that business in the 90s.


One rightwing news website in the US suggests that he was only charged after he refused to cooperate with the FBI and the CIA over information which he claimed he had about weapons-grade nuclear material being sold in Russia to foreign terrorist groups.


This information, gathered when he was in Lithuania, is the source of a legal action that Mr Idema launched against Steven Spielberg's film company DreamWorks SKG.


In 2000, he issued a writ against DreamWorks, claiming its 1997 film The Peacemaker, which starred George Clooney and Nicole Kidman, was based on his story.


The film is about a maverick American colonel, played by Clooney, who tracks down a Russian nuclear smuggling team.


He claimed damages of $130m. The case is ongoing.


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


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


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


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


Mr Idema, who has a reputation in Kabul for volatility, is also the source of much internet gossip on sites used by ex-members of the US special forces, not all of whom would describe themselves as admirers.


Now Mr Idema remains in the custody of Afghanistan's intelligence officials. In a country where the legal framework barely exists, his stay could be even longer than that of his detainees.


guardian.co.uk/afghanistan<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>





"Thier broken, beaten, and now leaderless. Let them bitterly stew in thier defeat."

_________________

You know, I never fail to see the stupidity of some people. Everyone is quick to slam guys like Jack Idema. When this real story comes out, a lot of people are going to be sucking wind. Bush should be giving this guy a medal- and I do know the facts of the case.

Blogs are great, but filled with bullshit. Pictures, documents, and video are real and prove reality, so if you want to know the real story of American heroes that gave it all up for your safety so you could sit home and blog in safety, log onto the real story of these guys: www.superpatriots.us

President Bush said that the war on terror will be a different war, waged on many fronts, some battles will be well known, some battles will be done in secret. (see: caosblog.com). This is what my President said:

"It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.

We will direct every resource at our command — every means of diplomacy, every tool of intelligence, every instrument of law enforcement, every financial influence, and every necessary weapon of war — to the destruction and to the defeat of the global terror network.

Now, this war will not be like the war against Iraq a decade ago, with a decisive liberation of territory and a swift conclusion. It will not look like the air war above Kosovo two years ago, where no ground troops were used and not a single American was lost in combat.

Our response involves far more than instant retaliation and isolated strikes. Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign unlike any other we have ever seen. It may include dramatic strikes visible on TV and covert operations secret even in success.

We will starve terrorists of funding, turn them one against another, drive them from place to place until there is no refuge or no rest.

And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation in every region now has a decision to make: Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists.

“…and covert operations, secret even in success.”

The kind of work that Special Ops, Black Ops, Psyops, Special Forces, Navy SEALs, etc.–do–is the kind of work that under normal circumstances, you never hear about. And when you do, like in the Idema case, the press distorts everything.

As to Idema being a "fake." He is the real deal, and you only have to visit www.superpatriots.us/bergenresponse.htm to see the proof.

Wake up folks. Jack Bauer might be fiction, but Jack Idema is not.




<font size=4></font id=size4><i></i><b></b>

No one ever said this war would be easy.

Dude, are you aware that you are ranting about a post that is a year and a half old? Good attempt to promote the superpats site. I may go there...in about a year and a half.

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>Blogs are great, but filled with bullshit. Pictures, documents, and video are real and prove reality, so if you want to know the real story of American heroes that gave it all up for your safety so you could sit home and blog in safety, log onto the real story of these guys.<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

No thanks, blogs are filled with BS.

It ain't the heat it's the humility.

_________________
????

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>Blogs are great, but filled with bullshit. Pictures, documents, and video are real and prove reality, so if you want to know the real story of American heroes that gave it all up for your safety so you could sit home and blog in safety, log onto the real story of these guys: www.superpatriots.us

<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

if i want to see a commercial i'll turn on the tv

"One of you is gonna fall and die, and I'm not cleaning it up"
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v60/jollyrogerspaintball/cup.gif" border=0>

_________________
\"One of you is gonna fall and die, and I'm not cleaning it up\"

Its time to "Change" his channel.

"Oh Great PALE RIDER,Thou hast been Called!"


Goose

LIVE FREE OR DIE

_________________
\"Live Free Or Die\"

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote> As to Idema being a "fake." He is the real deal, and you only have to visit.... <hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

The only real deal is the number of tracking cookies you're going to get if you visit that site.

OC

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
You know, I never fail to see the stupidity of some people. Everyone is quick to slam guys like Jack Idema. When this real story comes out, a lot of people are going to be sucking wind. Bush should be giving this guy a medal- and I do know the facts of the case.<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

"Mr. X" as Idema wanted to be identified as for an on screen interview, would probably demand a medal for his heroism from President Bush

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>Blogs are great, but filled with bullshit.<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

Robert Young Pelton and a handfull of Green Berets who were at the Qala-E-Jangi prison uprising (covered in Robin Moore's "the hunt for bin laden") said pretty much the same thing about that book Idema was featured in.

I stopped short of getting the opinion of Idema from Rashid Dostum and his men in the Northern Alliance.

<img src="http://www.jefline.com/1810S.jpg" border=0>

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