Military admits to contact with freelance soldiers

[floda]

BY STEPHEN GRAHAM
ASSOCIATED PRESS

KABUL — The U.S. military acknowledged today it held an Afghan man for a month after taking custody of him from three American men who have since been arrested on charges of torturing prisoners at a private jail they ran in the Afghan capital.

The admission follows claims by the group's leader that they had Pentagon ties, and could be another black eye for U.S. officials already coping with their own prisoner abuse scandal.

The American military has tried to distance itself from the group, led by a former American soldier named Jonathan Idema, insisting they were freelancers.

But spokesman Maj. Jon Siepmann acknowledged that the military had received a detainee from Idema's group at Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, on May 3.


more...

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1090491308788&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724

[gratuitous]

1. Hmmmm

So that incredible waste of humanity, Jonathan Idema, might have actually been telling the truth, and his little private torture chamber was indeed sanctioned by my government?

Who paid Idema -- his kind doesn't work for free. Who authorized him to hold prisoners, and who does he report to? Who knew about the prisoner after the "official" forces took charge of him? And why didn't they arrest Idema? Are there any more like him operating in Afghanistan or Iraq?

[TahitiNut]

5. "his kind doesn't work for free" ... Exactly!

The word "freelance" means this guy was working for the Pentagon/CIA with plausible deniability. "Piecework." Privateer. There's really no question he was sponsored and 'run' by the US.

[Rose Siding]

11. They put out so much information on him,

so quickly- everything that could possibly discredit him -it wasn't hard! He's a real peach. But it came so fast that I couldn't help but think he was telling the truth, to some extent, about his contacts at the Pentagon.

[louis-t]

6. Yo ho ho and a bottle of.......

R-u-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-sferatu.

[SoCalDem]

2. mercenaries.. gunslingers.. ..heat for hire.....rent-a-soldier..

"freelance" sounds so...so...so.."business-y"...:puke:

[Lisa]

7. "Bob's Army"; "Ralph's Paratroopers"

Sounds like something Mark Russell pointed out in the late 1980s -- he made up some fake radio jingles for "private military contractors".

"Call Bob's Army day or night/If you're spoiling for a fight ..."

[maddezmom]

3. wow... admissions on the day the 9/11 report comes out

and it's only Thursday.....thought they'd wait until Friday.

[louis-t]

8. If the military is admitting knowing this guy then it must be time for..

look out, here it comes....TERRA, TERRA ALERT, HIT THE DECK!

[Cronus Protagonist]

4. Bush: I apporved of this torture

...so much for bringing freedom to Iraqis...



Choose Kerry Lose Bush - FUCK BUSH - Drop Bush Not Bombs!
http://brainbuttons.com/home.asp?stashid=13

[dw]

9. Guardian: Rumsfeld knew all about me, says American 'jailer'

...snip

"We were working for the US counter-terrorist group and working with the Pentagon and some other federal agencies," said Mr Idema, whose full name is Jonathon Keith Idema, before the opening of a court hearing in Kabul, according to Reuters.

He told reporters: "We were in contact directly by fax and email and phone with Donald Rumsfeld's office.

"The American authorities absolutely condoned what we did. We have extensive evidence to that ... We're prepared to show emails and correspondence and tape-recorded conversations."

From New York, Mr Idema's lawyer, John Tiffany, told the Guardian: "We have documentary evidence regarding the US government's knowledge of my client's intended activities in Afghanistan."

MORE

Now THIS could get VERRRRY dicey. hehe
dw

[msmcghee]

10. Certainly no sane person would believe that . .

. . any US dude who reads those Soldier of Fortune mags could just buy a plane ride to Afghanistan and set up their own fantasy GI Joe reality game.

I can see it now. A marine patrol comes across a ville outside Kabul with several locals hanging by their heels from the ceiling, blood dripping from their ears.

The patrol leader sees an American with his Army surplus booted feet on a makeshift desk next to his M16. "What the hell you guy's doing here?" he asks.

"Just practicing sarge. I figured nobody'd care if we just had a little fun with these ragheads." Snarf, snarf.

"Well OK, sorry to bother 'ya, pal. Say, would you take 100 bucks for that young one over there."

Right.