Free Jack Idema Blogburst 4/19/2006
This week there has been a timeline provided so that we may all be able keep everything perspective. It has been almost 4 years, and sometimes it gets complicated to see clearly. This way, we can try to piece back together what should have been Jack's life. Unfortunately, he has been living his life in prison in Afghanistan as a POW.
Oh, the State Department will deny this. You see, apparently he is their prisoner! Outrageous! Well, here goes:
As that other blog whithers away into oblivion, we continue to carry the message to bloggers and readers that it is high time Jack Idema and his men were released. And it would be nice if some big bloggers paid some attention to this story...since this is an amazing example of the media lying, distorting and completely refusing to tell the truth--and also--demonizing our fighting forces, undermining the important work they're doing-and are not sitting in hotel rooms making up stories, or acting as mouthpieces for the Taliban and Al Qaeda- but are facing down the enemy and risking their lives for us. I'd like to see Michael Yon take up Jack's story...Michael Yon is in Afghanistan right now.
Ok, to the business at hand. Let's take a look at that timeline.
September, 2001
Jack packs his bags a week after 9/11 and hits the ground in Afghanistan in October.
October 12
We started bombing the Taliban alongside the Mujahideen.
November 12
Kabul fell
Jack returned to the United States a few times but always returned to join the Northern Alliance forces in their fight against the Taliban.
December 2003
Jack was notified by friends within the Northern Alliance that Al Qaeda had deployed 36 people to attack 6 cities in the US.
January, February and March of 2004
Jack had multiple meetings with the FBI in Washington, in Fayetteville North Carolina, in Raleigh North Carolina
June/July of 2004
Jack identified Gulumsaki who gave up the rest of the terrorist bomb cell. Within 5 days after getting Gulumsaki, he had about 95% of the cell. He had the explosives, the plans to blow up Bagram –they were going to drive fuel trucks into the barracks at Bagram airforce base and kill a couple thousand American soldiers. He had their bomb plans to kill Qanooni who was the main opponent to Karzai and the leader now since Massoud died to the Northern Alliance. He had the plans to kill Marshal Fahim the minister of defense, and all the other guys that were the top allies with the United States. The problem was, they also detained Judge Sidiq, who was a Taliban Supreme Court Judge.
Sidiq, who was in possession of:
Two years later, we can see the results of this strategy as entire sections of Afghanistan fall back under the control of Islamofascists, and foreign-funded jihadists pour across the border from Pakistan. If this proves anything, it's that Idema and the Northern Alliance's distrust of 'former' terrorists was entirely appropriate.
Sidiq's detainment by Task Force Saber 7 caused quite a stir, and there was a poster put out by (presumably) the American FBI (since it wasn't put out by the Afghans) that Jack Idema was a "wanted" man and they were looking to pick him up.
On July 6, 2004
Jack Idema, Brent Bennett and Ed Caraballo were told by Babajan that the authorities wanted to "speak" with them. They put down their large firearms, but when they got to the destination, they were surrounded, along with 12 Afghans.
Immediately upon their arrest, they were detained at Saderat extreme interrogation facility and brutally and horribly tortured. The jailers were trying to get the men to discredit or denounce Jack, and trying to get Jack to sign a statement against the Northern Alliance. Even though they withstood horrible beatings, electrocution, boiling water, broken bones, falaqua, etc--they did not submit.
August 2004
The first trial begins.
The reason for the wait was--they were afraid the men's injuries would show up in court. When John Tiffany arrived in mid August, a month and a half after the beatings--he could still see evidence of Jack's injuries, and took note of the blood in the orbits of Jack's eyes.
September 2004
After a joke of a court hearing where Jack and his men were not allowed to present evidence to defend themselves and Caraballo's attorney was threatened with death if he continued reading...the verdict was 'guilty', Jack and Brent were sentenced to 10 years, Ed to 8. During the trial, the Taliban judges didn't allow them to present evidence on their own behalf.
September 2004
The Americans and the Afghans were moved from Saderat to Pulacharke prison.
December of 2004
The appeals process began, and the Afghans were released. In this new trial de novo, the American were declared innocent in spite of protests from both the Afghan and American governments. However, the American government would not allow them to be released.
December, 2004 Al Qaeda riot at Pulacharke prison, the goal is to kill Jack Idema and his team. This is the 6th assassination attempt.
February 2005, the 7th assassination attempt
March 2005
The Habeas Corpus was filed in New York. In June, it was lost. Washington doesn't have it, New York doesn't have it--it just disappeared down a bureaucratic black hole. Terrorists are given a hearing within 30 days of filing, Jack and his men had to wait virtually an entire year before their Habeas was even heard.
April 2005
The entire TASK FORCE SABER 7 Team was declared innocent of all charges by the Afghan Second Court, which had granted a trial de novo (a new trial) in November 2004. Closed hearings took place between December 2004 and March 2005. All men were originally ordered released by the Appeals Court based on new evidence and the decision was endorsed by the Supreme Court of Afghanistan.
So...it is reasonable to deduce that Jack and his men are being held as 'political prisoners', and not because, as some people are saying, 'he was found guilty by an Afghan court'. That's what the media has been saying, but that's only part of the story, and actually, it's really old, outdated and isn't the truth.
Here is the Red Cross – Emergency Hospital Identification Card issued to each member of TASK FORCE SABER/7, which states they are “political prisoners,” with POW status. Criminal prisoners are listed starting with four digit numbers Prisoners of War and “political prisoners” are listed with two or three digit numbers. Idema is registered as Prisoner of War ID #92.
Isn't it our government and our military's responsibility to return American POW's? Why are Jack and his men considered "POW's" when they have not joined the Taliban or Al Qaeda and plainly love America and were doing what they were trained to do?
They are now being held presumably at the behest of the American government, because the Afghan Court of Appeals ordered their release, and in spite of the fact that we are still clearly at war with the Taliban and Al Qaeda, the question is...why?
That's why we need a congressional investigation to find out what happened, and to find out who is responsible for not only their arrest on false allegations, but who were the FBI agents laughing in the hallway when they were being tortured? Who put out that wanted poster? And the most serious question is who is driving their continued incarceration after the Afghan Appeals court ordered their release?
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.
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
More blogs about task force sabre 7.
Oh, the State Department will deny this. You see, apparently he is their prisoner! Outrageous! Well, here goes:
As that other blog whithers away into oblivion, we continue to carry the message to bloggers and readers that it is high time Jack Idema and his men were released. And it would be nice if some big bloggers paid some attention to this story...since this is an amazing example of the media lying, distorting and completely refusing to tell the truth--and also--demonizing our fighting forces, undermining the important work they're doing-and are not sitting in hotel rooms making up stories, or acting as mouthpieces for the Taliban and Al Qaeda- but are facing down the enemy and risking their lives for us. I'd like to see Michael Yon take up Jack's story...Michael Yon is in Afghanistan right now.
Ok, to the business at hand. Let's take a look at that timeline.
September, 2001
Jack packs his bags a week after 9/11 and hits the ground in Afghanistan in October.
October 12
We started bombing the Taliban alongside the Mujahideen.
November 12
Kabul fell
Jack returned to the United States a few times but always returned to join the Northern Alliance forces in their fight against the Taliban.
December 2003
Jack was notified by friends within the Northern Alliance that Al Qaeda had deployed 36 people to attack 6 cities in the US.
January, February and March of 2004
Jack had multiple meetings with the FBI in Washington, in Fayetteville North Carolina, in Raleigh North Carolina
June/July of 2004
Jack identified Gulumsaki who gave up the rest of the terrorist bomb cell. Within 5 days after getting Gulumsaki, he had about 95% of the cell. He had the explosives, the plans to blow up Bagram –they were going to drive fuel trucks into the barracks at Bagram airforce base and kill a couple thousand American soldiers. He had their bomb plans to kill Qanooni who was the main opponent to Karzai and the leader now since Massoud died to the Northern Alliance. He had the plans to kill Marshal Fahim the minister of defense, and all the other guys that were the top allies with the United States. The problem was, they also detained Judge Sidiq, who was a Taliban Supreme Court Judge.
Sidiq, who was in possession of:
- Photographs of himself with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
- Bomb plans
- Explosive detonators
- al-Qaeda and Hezb-i-Islami documents and recruiting cards
- A letter from Taliban leader Mullah Omar
Two years later, we can see the results of this strategy as entire sections of Afghanistan fall back under the control of Islamofascists, and foreign-funded jihadists pour across the border from Pakistan. If this proves anything, it's that Idema and the Northern Alliance's distrust of 'former' terrorists was entirely appropriate.
Sidiq's detainment by Task Force Saber 7 caused quite a stir, and there was a poster put out by (presumably) the American FBI (since it wasn't put out by the Afghans) that Jack Idema was a "wanted" man and they were looking to pick him up.
On July 6, 2004
Jack Idema, Brent Bennett and Ed Caraballo were told by Babajan that the authorities wanted to "speak" with them. They put down their large firearms, but when they got to the destination, they were surrounded, along with 12 Afghans.
Immediately upon their arrest, they were detained at Saderat extreme interrogation facility and brutally and horribly tortured. The jailers were trying to get the men to discredit or denounce Jack, and trying to get Jack to sign a statement against the Northern Alliance. Even though they withstood horrible beatings, electrocution, boiling water, broken bones, falaqua, etc--they did not submit.
August 2004
The first trial begins.
The reason for the wait was--they were afraid the men's injuries would show up in court. When John Tiffany arrived in mid August, a month and a half after the beatings--he could still see evidence of Jack's injuries, and took note of the blood in the orbits of Jack's eyes.
September 2004
After a joke of a court hearing where Jack and his men were not allowed to present evidence to defend themselves and Caraballo's attorney was threatened with death if he continued reading...the verdict was 'guilty', Jack and Brent were sentenced to 10 years, Ed to 8. During the trial, the Taliban judges didn't allow them to present evidence on their own behalf.
September 2004
The Americans and the Afghans were moved from Saderat to Pulacharke prison.
December of 2004
The appeals process began, and the Afghans were released. In this new trial de novo, the American were declared innocent in spite of protests from both the Afghan and American governments. However, the American government would not allow them to be released.
December, 2004 Al Qaeda riot at Pulacharke prison, the goal is to kill Jack Idema and his team. This is the 6th assassination attempt.
February 2005, the 7th assassination attempt
March 2005
The Habeas Corpus was filed in New York. In June, it was lost. Washington doesn't have it, New York doesn't have it--it just disappeared down a bureaucratic black hole. Terrorists are given a hearing within 30 days of filing, Jack and his men had to wait virtually an entire year before their Habeas was even heard.
April 2005
The entire TASK FORCE SABER 7 Team was declared innocent of all charges by the Afghan Second Court, which had granted a trial de novo (a new trial) in November 2004. Closed hearings took place between December 2004 and March 2005. All men were originally ordered released by the Appeals Court based on new evidence and the decision was endorsed by the Supreme Court of Afghanistan.
So...it is reasonable to deduce that Jack and his men are being held as 'political prisoners', and not because, as some people are saying, 'he was found guilty by an Afghan court'. That's what the media has been saying, but that's only part of the story, and actually, it's really old, outdated and isn't the truth.
Here is the Red Cross – Emergency Hospital Identification Card issued to each member of TASK FORCE SABER/7, which states they are “political prisoners,” with POW status. Criminal prisoners are listed starting with four digit numbers Prisoners of War and “political prisoners” are listed with two or three digit numbers. Idema is registered as Prisoner of War ID #92.
Isn't it our government and our military's responsibility to return American POW's? Why are Jack and his men considered "POW's" when they have not joined the Taliban or Al Qaeda and plainly love America and were doing what they were trained to do?
They are now being held presumably at the behest of the American government, because the Afghan Court of Appeals ordered their release, and in spite of the fact that we are still clearly at war with the Taliban and Al Qaeda, the question is...why?
That's why we need a congressional investigation to find out what happened, and to find out who is responsible for not only their arrest on false allegations, but who were the FBI agents laughing in the hallway when they were being tortured? Who put out that wanted poster? And the most serious question is who is driving their continued incarceration after the Afghan Appeals court ordered their release?
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.
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
More blogs about task force sabre 7.
posted by Rosemary Welch at 4/19/2006 06:50:00 AM
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