Jonathan Idema
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Keith "Jack" Idema is a convicted felon and con artist who was also found gulty in September 2004 for running a private prison in Afghanistan
and torturing Afghan citizens. At the time, Idema had been portraying himself as a U.S. government-sponsored special forces operative
on a mission to apprehend terrorists. However, the U.S. government has repeatedly denied most of such claims.
Idema was released early by Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai
in April 2007, departing Afghanistan in early June, having served three years of a ten-year sentence.
. At other times, Idema told people he was in Afghanistan doing humanitarian work or that he was a "security consultant" for journalists. He also actively sought media attention for himself and his activities – to the point of offering interviews in return for payment – even though he himself said he was operating covertly.
Many believe Idema to be a con artist or impostor
, based on his refusal or inability to demonstrate verifiable proof for his claims, on legal records that contradict his assertions about his background, as well as on a prior conviction for mail fraud and a history of criminal activity. Some have suggested that he may also be delusional in having concocted a fantasy-type personality for himself as a highly-trained covert operative combating international terrorism, despite a brief and mostly non-notable military record (which states that Idema was in the Special Forces strictly in a support capacity). This opinion was echoed by Major Scott Nelson, the U.S. military spokesperson in Kabul at the time of Idema's arrest in 2004. The judge in Idema's 1994 fraud trial also questioned Idema's psychological state and ordered him to undergo evaluation prior to his sentencing. The report said that while he was not "mentally ill", Idema had a "personality disorder which would affect his interaction with persons exhibiting similar traits, such as supervisors, attorneys, doctors, judges and other persons in positions of power or authority."
In the early 1990s, Idema said he had uncovered a plot by the Russian mafia
to smuggle nuclear weapons out of Russia
. Before that he said he participated in covert operations in Latin America
. Furthermore, he said that as a soldier he parachuted out of airplanes accompanied by his dog Sarge, who was also trained as a bomb-sniffer. (Idema reportedly saved Sarge's genetic material with the hopes of later cloning the pet.)
Idema is not without his supporters, usually found among blog
s sympathetic to his situation. The contributors to these blogs believe that he is being unjustly punished for actions condoned, if not officially sanctioned, by the U.S. military. However, there has been little support for Idema's claims in general media outlets. Indeed, many members of the media who encountered Idema while they were on assignment in Afghanistan regard him as a fraud.
Idema is litigious, filing law suits or threatening legal action against his detractors – usually those who have disclosed information about his past, but also those whom he has accused of fraud or libel. For instance, he tried to sue Steven Spielberg
and Dreamworks Studios over the 1997 film The Peacemaker
. Idema charged that the Special Forces
operative played by George Clooney
was modeled on him. A judge dismissed Idema's claim and ordered him to pay US$267,079 in attorney fees.
, graduating from high school there in 1974. In February 1975 he enlisted in the U.S. Army. His father H. John Idema, a former Marine and World War II
veteran
, believed that his son was a "dedicated American". H. John Idema died in November 2008.
Idema's military career was short and contained several reports of poor performance, with no record that he acquired any combat experience. Two years after enlisting in the Army in 1975, he qualified for the Special Forces.
According to his military record obtained in the course of his 1994 fraud trial, after serving one term of service Idema was not allowed to reenlist, likely due to poor performance. He had received numerous negative remarks from superior officers in addition to participating in three non-judicial punishment
proceedings. Idema was cited for "failure to obey orders, being derelict in the performance of his duty, and being disrespectful to a superior commanding officer." One superior officer, Capt. John D. Carlson stated that Idema "is without a doubt the most unmotivated, unprofessional, immature enlisted man I have ever known."
However, he was given an honorable discharge and allowed to join the United States Army Reserve
11th Special Forces Group working to provide logistical support. In a November 1, 1980 letter of reprimand
, Major Paul R. Decker wrote that Idema "consistently displayed an attitude of noncooperation with persons outside his immediate working environment, disregard for authority and gross immaturity characterized by irrationality and a tendency toward violence." In January 1981, Idema was relieved of his Army Reserve duties, his last position was the assistant sergeant of operations and intelligence. After leaving the Army reserves, he became a member of the Individual Ready Reserve
until he left the military completely in 1984.
business, opening a paintball supply and equipment company in Fayetteville, North Carolina
named Idema Combat Systems. He later segued that business into a paramilitary clothier and supply company operating under the same name.
Sometime in the early 1980s Idema founded Counterr Group (also known as US Counter-Terrorist Group), a business entity which, according to its website, specializes in expert training for counter-terrorism, assault tactics and other security-related services.
Counterr Group's legal status and ownership is questionable – according to a Soldier of Fortune article published in 2004, Idema is mentioned as the owner. The company website lists a PO Box address in Fayetteville, but there is no record of the company's registration in that state. However, a company called "Counter Group, Inc." was incorporated in 1997 by William L. London, a lawyer who has represented Idema in several lawsuits. (The status for this company is listed as "suspended" as of 2004.)
The only company in North Carolina registered to Jonathan Idema is Idema Combat Systems, which according to state records was incorporated in January 1991 and dissolved in July 1994. Moreover, the websites for Counterr Group are registered to Thomas R. Bumback, a business associate of Idema's who is believed to be the company's current director. There is a record of Counterr Group being formed in Poughkeepsie, New York in 1983, but the company is listed as "inactive."
Idema also owned a company called Special Operations Exposition and Trade Show Inc which hosted organized conventions for military equipment suppliers.
There are two other known companies – Isabeau Dakota, Inc. and Star America Aviation Company, Ltd. – that have connections to Idema. The latter claims to be an aviation support company founded in July 2008 with operations based out of Dubai
. Both companies are registered to William "Skip" London in North Carolina, but Isabeau Dakota is listed a shell company; its last annual report, filed in 2002, identifies "H. John Idema" (Idema's father) of Poughkeepsie, New York as president and sole officer, and it lists no significant assets or business activity. The website for Star America Aviation is also registered to Bumback and the websites for Counterr Group and Star America Aviation are very similar, including the use of imagery depicting Idema, while he was in Afghanistan and prior to his arrest.
According to his father's obituary notice, Idema is said to be a "Green Beret with an organization involved in the War on Terror." Idema's former Afghan charity "Northern Alliance Assistance" at 450 Robeson Street, Fayetteville, NC 28302 is now listed as a dog kennel.
Idema became a proprietor of Blue Lagoon Boat Tours out of Bacalar, Mexico. using the false name of "Jack Black". He was charged by his wife Penny Alessi of attempted murder and infecting her with the AIDS virus. His arrest warrant and publicity surrounding the wife beating charges were picked up in a number of local Mexican newspapers and the US media. Specifically Wired Danger Room, Virginian Pilot and Rachel Maddow on MSNBC as well as other blogs.
On August 15, 2001 a jury awarded Idema $781,818 for property damage and $1 million for punitive damages. The award came after a jury decided that a property manager improperly sold some of his belongings while Idema was serving his fraud sentence. Two property managers were hired by Idema to take care of a building that housed equipment for two of his businesses, Special Operations Exposition and Trade Show Inc., and Idema Combat Systems. According to the lawsuit, equipment was missing, damaged or destroyed, and holes were punched in the walls of the building. Idema sued both property managers and their wives on April 10, 2000, but everyone except for one property manager was later dropped from the suit.
In June 2005, an investigator sued Idema alleging that he wasn't paid when Idema won the 1.8 million dollar lawsuit. The investigator claimed that Idema orally agreed to pay 15% of any amount collected, he also claimed that Idema failed to pay court reporters, expert witnesses, and others who helped him with his case. Idema never collected the 1.8 million because the property manager that was found guilty declared bankruptcy and Idema settled for 650,000 dollars that he obtained through law suits filed against insurance carriers. Idema's father was the insured.
. After his return, he contacted officials from both the Pentagon
and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), claiming to have uncovered a conspiracy by the Russian Mafia
to smuggle nuclear material out of Lithuania. According to Idema, FBI agents demanded he provide the names of his contacts. He refused, claiming that the FBI was infiltrated by KGB agents and that his sources would have been killed.
It was around this time that Idema was being investigated for wire fraud and eventually convicted in 1994. Idema asserted that the fraud charges were fabricated by FBI agent Earl Edwin Pitts
, who he claims supervised the case against him, in retaliation for Idema's earlier refusal to provide sources in the smuggling plot. However, the FBI began their investigation into Idema's activities as early as May 1991, before he even approached the Bureau about Lithuania. Furthermore, there is no evidence that Pitts was involved in any capacity in the fraud case against Idema.
into Afghanistan was one of the charges leveled against Idema and two other Americans accompanying him – former soldier Brent Bennett
and television
journalist
Edward Caraballo
. That charge was eventually dropped.
Idema first traveled to Afghanistan in November 2001 to conduct what he said was "humanitarian relief" work. It was at this time that he involved himself in the research Robin Moore
was conducting for his book The Hunt for Bin Laden. He was actually working for National Geographic with Gary Scurka.
According to Gary Scurka, a reporter for CBS
, Idema contacted him a few weeks after the September 11 terror attacks and announced he was going to Afghanistan to do humanitarian-aid work, saying he was to work with Knightsbridge International
and the Partners International Foundation, two aid groups run by former military personnel. This led to Scurka and Idema presenting a film documentary project for National Geographic.
Idema, Gary Scurka, and Greg Long traveled to Tashkent, Uzbekistan where they were arrested for visa problems and held in a cell overnight. The three were freed after their captors received a letter from the US embassy in Uzbekistan, written by an officer in the US Defense Attache's Office, describing Idema and Scurka as "contracting officers from the Defense Department who arrived to the Republic of Uzbekistan for an official trip." The letter, which was verified as authentic by the director of the Department of State's press office, was dated November 2, 2001 and asks Uzbekistan's ministry of foreign affairs for help in issuing visas to Idema, Gary Scurka, and Greg Long.
Greg Long was a member of Partners International Foundation. According to sources familiar with Idema's activities in Afghanistan, Idema joined Partners International Foundation at the same time Scurka received a National Geographic assignment to produce a documentary on humanitarian aid work in Afghanistan. A memo signed by the president of National Geographic TV says Scurka would be going to Afghanistan with KnightsBridge International, and the leader of KnightsBridge, Ed Artis, would be working with Idema. Artis was sued by Idema.
Author Robert Young Pelton
believes that Idema then used those letters and what appears to be a falsified or modified military ID. Idema claimed he had a visa similar to those carried by US special forces to convince the Afghan commanders and other people of his official status.
After Idema entered Afghanistan, both humanitarian organizations quickly became wary of Idema's intentions. In December 2001, Edward Artis, director of Knightsbridge, wrote to U.S. Army Special Operations Command warning them of Idema's activities, stating:
Idema later filed suit against Artis and Knightsbridge but the case was dismissed and a monetary judgement was in turn placed against him.
under operation Alec Station
. Relationship to the Northern Alliance
was denied by their official representative in the United States.
Some critics of Idema claim that his attempts to create a high profile with the media make it unlikely that Idema was officially connected with any branch of the military; covert operatives go to great lengths to avoid public appearances and media, and are barred from unauthorized contact. The fact that Caraballo, who was not a soldier, was with Idema in Afghanistan to document his activities strained credibility that Idema was operating covertly.
Idema was known to have a volatile temper that seemed to be particularly directed against news correspondents assigned to Kabul. On several occasions, Idema threatened journalists with bodily harm or death, and in one particular instance, at a dinner in December 2001 he threatened to kill a reporter from Stars and Stripes
because the reporter had disclosed Idema's fraud conviction.
It has been recorded that Idema did frequently contact the Defense Department
through General William G. Boykin
, and that the intelligence was duly acknowledged. However, all of those contacts were outside the US Military operating channels and were all one-sided calls. While the US government was aware of Idema's activities in Afghanistan, they stated there was no relationship between them.
The United States Central Command stated that Coalition forces received one detainee from Idema on May 3, 2004. Idema claimed that the individual was associated with the Taliban. Once in US custody, however, the detainee was determined not to be who Idema claimed, and was released in the first week of July.
The United States was not the only government that had contact with Idema in Afghanistan; On three occasions, Idema tricked the Canadian led NATO mission into providing explosives experts and bomb sniffing dogs. According to a spokesman for the ISAF
, Idema called for and received technical support after his vigilante team raided compounds on June 20, 22, and 24 of 2004. ISAF personnel believed they were "providing legitimate support to a legitimate security agency."
Idema also received assistance from Yunus Qanooni; former minister, senior Afghan government security advisor, and influential member of the Northern Alliance
. In one video tape presented at Idema's trial, Yunus Qanooni thanked Idema for uncovering an assassination plot against him. In the same tape Qanooni volunteered his personal security troops to help Idema with arrests. Another tape appeared to show Qanooni's forces assisting Idema in a house raid.
On July 4, 2004 the United States Central Command
released a media advisory that read:
In perhaps the most terse assessment of Idema's alleged involvement in Operation Enduring Freedom, Billy Waugh
, senior CIA covert operative and decorated former Green Beret who was a member of the Agency-run "Jawbreaker" team, said:
and Edward Caraballo were arrested on July 5, 2004 by Afghan police during a raid in which they found eight Afghan men (some hanging from their feet) bound and hooded in detention. The arrest of Idema occurred only about three months after 60 Minutes II
broke the story about the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse
scandal.
Idema claimed to have had private contact with Lieutenant General Boykin and several other senior Pentagon officials. He tried further to prove his official status when he claimed to be working for the US Counter Terrorism group, the same group that some sources say he founded. He claimed his group had prevented assassination attempts on Education Minister Yunus Qanooni and Defense Minister Marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim. He also claimed the FBI interrogated several militants captured by his group and that after his arrest, the FBI removed from his premises hundreds of videos, photos and documents. Some of the pieces were later returned to Idema and his defense team. One of the videotapes shows Afghanistan's former education minister Yunus Qanooni thanking Idema for the arrest of two people, and offering his full cooperation in future raids.
The Defense Department admitted having contact with Idema and accepting one prisoner from Idema who was held for a month by the US military but added that officials declined his offer to work with the government in capturing terror suspects in Afghanistan. In early 2004, Idema was in contact with Heather Anderson, the Pentagon's Acting Director of Security. Anderson was under the supervision of the chief official responsible for intelligence matters in Donald Rumsfeld's office. Idema told the Afghan court that Anderson commended his work and suggested making a contract. Anderson said she later turned down Idema's request to work in Afghanistan for the Pentagon. Idema continued to contact Anderson's office in hopes of establishing a relationship.
Idema, Caraballo and Bennett were charged with entering the country illegally, running a private prison, and torture. Idema's American attorney was John Tiffany. During the trial, Idema charged that he, Caraballo, and Bennett were being beaten while in Afghan custody; however, US authorities stated the men were being treated humanely.
On 15 September 2004, a three-judge Afghan panel headed by Judge Abdul Baset Bakhtyari sentenced both Idema and Bennett to a ten year prison term, while Caraballo received eight years. Idema and Bennett's sentences were later cut to five and three respectively. Caraballo claimed he was filming Idema and Bennett for a documentary
on counterterrorism. Four Afghans working with Idema were sentenced to between one and five years imprisonment.
Caraballo was later pardoned by President Hamid Karzai
and later returned to the United States. Bennett was freed early for good behavior on September 30, 2006.
Caraballo's lawyer said that the day before Caraballo left Afghanastan, Caraballo and Bennett lived in a filthy 6 by 8-foot cell with four suspected Al Qaida terrorists; the American prisoners were moved to a different prison for better protection. In a more recent assessment, the cell in which the prisoners lived was described as "posh".
reported that Idema would soon be released from prison and then sent back to the United States, and that the Afghan government had granted him amnesty. However, under the amnesty that commuted his sentence he was effectively released on April 4.
Idema refused to leave the prison, first demanding that his passport, personal effects, and documents that he says proves his official connection with the US government be returned to him. According to him, he was owed compensation for $500,000 worth of equipment, mostly computers, weapons and cameras, that was confiscated by the Afghan government when he was arrested. Having obtained through the offices of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul a new passport as well as money to apply for a visa to India
, Idema insisted that his belongings be returned and that a pet dog previously owned by Bennett be allowed to travel with him.
He also filed another lawsuit against the US government, reaffirming allegations initially made in 2005 that he and his associates had been illegally imprisoned, except that this time, Idema was claiming that he was tortured. According to US District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, "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." This was a shift from the earlier strategy on the part of Idema to exonerate himself on the basis that he was acting on a Pentagon-approved mission. Instead the focus was on the trial itself, specifically whether or not due process was observed, with the added claim of being a torture victim. In both instances Idema accused the U.S. government of deliberately withholding information.
Judge Sullivan subsequently ordered the FBI and the US Department of State to answer the allegations. Attorneys from the US Justice Department have requested the case be dismissed on the grounds that Idema's sentence had been commuted. Idema's lawyer said the government coordinated Idema's amnesty to avoid having to respond to allegations of misconduct.
Idema's allegations of withheld evidence were originally made during his Afghan trial in 2004. When the men were arrested in early July, the tapes were confiscated by the FBI. Caraballo's lawyer, Michael Skibbie, claims that he was only allowed to access a portion of the tapes weeks after he requested access. Several of the tapes were used; however, Skibbie said several important tapes were damaged, missing or partly erased after the FBI took custody of them. Some of the footage Skibbie obtained was shown in court. The court tapes showed Idema being greeted at an airport by high level Afghan officials, Idema being thanked by Yunus Qanuni
, Qanooni's troops working with Idema, captured suspects confessing during interrogation, and ISAF forces helping Idema.
As he was playing out his legal options, Idema said that another reason he hadn't left was because he feared for his life, ostensibly at the hands of the Afghan government. "I could drive through the Policharki [sic] gates right now. Then what happens? I get arrested. [The intelligence service] will arrest me for not having an Afghan visa and they'll torture me and kill me. If I'm lucky, I'm only going to be tortured," he said.
On June 2, 2007, Idema left the prison and was immediately flown out of the country.
The lack of credit given to Idema prompted Scurka and Caraballo to begin making a documentary film with the working title, Any Lesser Man: The Keith Idema Story. According to promotional materials, the documentary was to be "the real story of one lone Green Beret's private war against KGB Nuclear Smuggling, Soviet spies, Arab terrorists, and the FBI." It was never completed.
Idema also took a leading part in the formation of Point Blank News (PBN) to support Marecek.
Idema made more money from the same tapes when he sold them to The Boston Globe, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, the BBC, and others rights to rebroadcast the Al Qaeda training camp footage with still pictures.
The authenticity of the several hours of tape is disputed because the supposed tactics shown are not ones Al Qaeda operatives utilize. Moreover, men who were shown in the footage occasionally communicated in English and laughed, providing credence to the notion that the tapes were fake and entirely staged. Some major outlets, including NBC Nightly News
and CNN declined to broadcast the tapes because of the credibility issue.
was a supporter of Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations "with money, with equipment, with technology, with weapons of mass destruction
." He also claimed to have firsthand knowledge of nuclear weapons being smuggled from Russia to Iraq, Iran, and North Korea.
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Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and torturing Afghan citizens. At the time, Idema had been portraying himself as a U.S. government-sponsored special forces operative
United States Special Operations Forces
United States Special Operations Forces under United States Special Operations Command are active and reserve component forces of U.S. Military...
on a mission to apprehend terrorists. However, the U.S. government has repeatedly denied most of such claims.
Idema was released early by Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai, GCMG is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001...
in April 2007, departing Afghanistan in early June, having served three years of a ten-year sentence.
Questionable behavior
At the center of the controversy is Idema's claim that while in Afghanistan he was acting on behalf of the U.S. government and that he was an advisor to the Northern AllianceUnited Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan
The United Islamic Front , known in the West and Pakistan as the Northern Alliance, was a military-political umbrella organization created by the Islamic State of Afghanistan in 1996 under the leadership of Defense Minister Ahmad Shah Massoud...
. At other times, Idema told people he was in Afghanistan doing humanitarian work or that he was a "security consultant" for journalists. He also actively sought media attention for himself and his activities – to the point of offering interviews in return for payment – even though he himself said he was operating covertly.
Many believe Idema to be a con artist or impostor
Impostor
An impostor or imposter is a person who pretends to be somebody else, often to try to gain financial or social advantages through social engineering, but just as often for purposes of espionage or law enforcement....
, based on his refusal or inability to demonstrate verifiable proof for his claims, on legal records that contradict his assertions about his background, as well as on a prior conviction for mail fraud and a history of criminal activity. Some have suggested that he may also be delusional in having concocted a fantasy-type personality for himself as a highly-trained covert operative combating international terrorism, despite a brief and mostly non-notable military record (which states that Idema was in the Special Forces strictly in a support capacity). This opinion was echoed by Major Scott Nelson, the U.S. military spokesperson in Kabul at the time of Idema's arrest in 2004. The judge in Idema's 1994 fraud trial also questioned Idema's psychological state and ordered him to undergo evaluation prior to his sentencing. The report said that while he was not "mentally ill", Idema had a "personality disorder which would affect his interaction with persons exhibiting similar traits, such as supervisors, attorneys, doctors, judges and other persons in positions of power or authority."
In the early 1990s, Idema said he had uncovered a plot by the Russian mafia
Russian Mafia
The Russian Mafia is a name applied to organized crime syndicates in Russia and Ukraine. The mafia in various countries take the name of the country, as for example the Ukrainian mafia....
to smuggle nuclear weapons out of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. Before that he said he participated in covert operations in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
. Furthermore, he said that as a soldier he parachuted out of airplanes accompanied by his dog Sarge, who was also trained as a bomb-sniffer. (Idema reportedly saved Sarge's genetic material with the hopes of later cloning the pet.)
Idema is not without his supporters, usually found among blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
s sympathetic to his situation. The contributors to these blogs believe that he is being unjustly punished for actions condoned, if not officially sanctioned, by the U.S. military. However, there has been little support for Idema's claims in general media outlets. Indeed, many members of the media who encountered Idema while they were on assignment in Afghanistan regard him as a fraud.
Idema is litigious, filing law suits or threatening legal action against his detractors – usually those who have disclosed information about his past, but also those whom he has accused of fraud or libel. For instance, he tried to sue Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
and Dreamworks Studios over the 1997 film The Peacemaker
The Peacemaker (1997 film)
The Peacemaker is a 1997 American action/thriller film starring George Clooney and Nicole Kidman and directed by Mimi Leder. It is also notable as being the first film released by DreamWorks...
. Idema charged that the Special Forces
United States Army Special Forces
The United States Army Special Forces, also known as the Green Berets because of their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force tasked with six primary missions: unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, special reconnaissance, direct action, hostage rescue, and...
operative played by George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
was modeled on him. A judge dismissed Idema's claim and ordered him to pay US$267,079 in attorney fees.
Early life
Idema was raised in Poughkeepsie, New YorkPoughkeepsie (city), New York
Poughkeepsie is a city in the state of New York, United States, which serves as the county seat of Dutchess County. Poughkeepsie is located in the Hudson River Valley midway between New York City and Albany...
, graduating from high school there in 1974. In February 1975 he enlisted in the U.S. Army. His father H. John Idema, a former Marine and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
veteran
Veteran
A veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...
, believed that his son was a "dedicated American". H. John Idema died in November 2008.
Military service
There is a discrepancy between what Idema says his military experience was as a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces and what is stated in his official military record. Idema has repeatedly stated on television, radio, and in writing that he acquired 12 years of Special forces service, 22 years of combat training, and 18 years of covert operations experience.Idema's military career was short and contained several reports of poor performance, with no record that he acquired any combat experience. Two years after enlisting in the Army in 1975, he qualified for the Special Forces.
According to his military record obtained in the course of his 1994 fraud trial, after serving one term of service Idema was not allowed to reenlist, likely due to poor performance. He had received numerous negative remarks from superior officers in addition to participating in three non-judicial punishment
Nonjudicial punishment
Non-judicial punishment in the United States military, is a form of military justice authorized by Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Non-judicial punishment or "NJP" permits commanders to administratively discipline troops without a court-martial...
proceedings. Idema was cited for "failure to obey orders, being derelict in the performance of his duty, and being disrespectful to a superior commanding officer." One superior officer, Capt. John D. Carlson stated that Idema "is without a doubt the most unmotivated, unprofessional, immature enlisted man I have ever known."
However, he was given an honorable discharge and allowed to join the United States Army Reserve
United States Army Reserve
The United States Army Reserve is the federal reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the reserve components of the United States Army....
11th Special Forces Group working to provide logistical support. In a November 1, 1980 letter of reprimand
Letter of reprimand
A letter of reprimand is a United States Department of Defense procedure involving a letter to an employee or soldier from his or her superior that details the wrongful actions of the person and the punishment that can be expected...
, Major Paul R. Decker wrote that Idema "consistently displayed an attitude of noncooperation with persons outside his immediate working environment, disregard for authority and gross immaturity characterized by irrationality and a tendency toward violence." In January 1981, Idema was relieved of his Army Reserve duties, his last position was the assistant sergeant of operations and intelligence. After leaving the Army reserves, he became a member of the Individual Ready Reserve
Individual Ready Reserve
The Individual Ready Reserve is a category of the Ready Reserve of the Reserve Component of the Armed Forces of the United States composed of former active duty or reserve military personnel, and is authorized under...
until he left the military completely in 1984.
Business interests
Several years after he left the Army, Idema became involved in the paintballPaintball
Paintball is a sport in which players compete, in teams or individually, to eliminate opponents by tagging them with capsules containing water soluble dye and gelatin shell outside propelled from a device called a paintball marker . Paintballs have a non-toxic, biodegradable, water soluble...
business, opening a paintball supply and equipment company in Fayetteville, North Carolina
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Fayetteville is a city located in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Cumberland County, and is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a U.S. Army post located northwest of the city....
named Idema Combat Systems. He later segued that business into a paramilitary clothier and supply company operating under the same name.
Sometime in the early 1980s Idema founded Counterr Group (also known as US Counter-Terrorist Group), a business entity which, according to its website, specializes in expert training for counter-terrorism, assault tactics and other security-related services.
Counterr Group's legal status and ownership is questionable – according to a Soldier of Fortune article published in 2004, Idema is mentioned as the owner. The company website lists a PO Box address in Fayetteville, but there is no record of the company's registration in that state. However, a company called "Counter Group, Inc." was incorporated in 1997 by William L. London, a lawyer who has represented Idema in several lawsuits. (The status for this company is listed as "suspended" as of 2004.)
The only company in North Carolina registered to Jonathan Idema is Idema Combat Systems, which according to state records was incorporated in January 1991 and dissolved in July 1994. Moreover, the websites for Counterr Group are registered to Thomas R. Bumback, a business associate of Idema's who is believed to be the company's current director. There is a record of Counterr Group being formed in Poughkeepsie, New York in 1983, but the company is listed as "inactive."
Idema also owned a company called Special Operations Exposition and Trade Show Inc which hosted organized conventions for military equipment suppliers.
There are two other known companies – Isabeau Dakota, Inc. and Star America Aviation Company, Ltd. – that have connections to Idema. The latter claims to be an aviation support company founded in July 2008 with operations based out of Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
. Both companies are registered to William "Skip" London in North Carolina, but Isabeau Dakota is listed a shell company; its last annual report, filed in 2002, identifies "H. John Idema" (Idema's father) of Poughkeepsie, New York as president and sole officer, and it lists no significant assets or business activity. The website for Star America Aviation is also registered to Bumback and the websites for Counterr Group and Star America Aviation are very similar, including the use of imagery depicting Idema, while he was in Afghanistan and prior to his arrest.
According to his father's obituary notice, Idema is said to be a "Green Beret with an organization involved in the War on Terror." Idema's former Afghan charity "Northern Alliance Assistance" at 450 Robeson Street, Fayetteville, NC 28302 is now listed as a dog kennel.
Idema became a proprietor of Blue Lagoon Boat Tours out of Bacalar, Mexico. using the false name of "Jack Black". He was charged by his wife Penny Alessi of attempted murder and infecting her with the AIDS virus. His arrest warrant and publicity surrounding the wife beating charges were picked up in a number of local Mexican newspapers and the US media. Specifically Wired Danger Room, Virginian Pilot and Rachel Maddow on MSNBC as well as other blogs.
Fraud conviction
In addition to his occasional entrepreneurial pursuits, Idema has a substantial criminal record. Over the years Idema has been charged with impersonating an officer, conspiracy, passing bad checks, assault, possession of stolen property, and discharging a firearm into a dwelling. In January 1994, Idema was arrested and charged with 58 counts of wire fraud defrauding 59 companies of about $260,000. He was convicted of the charges, sentenced to six years in prison (paroled after having served three years) and was subsequently ordered to pay restitution.On August 15, 2001 a jury awarded Idema $781,818 for property damage and $1 million for punitive damages. The award came after a jury decided that a property manager improperly sold some of his belongings while Idema was serving his fraud sentence. Two property managers were hired by Idema to take care of a building that housed equipment for two of his businesses, Special Operations Exposition and Trade Show Inc., and Idema Combat Systems. According to the lawsuit, equipment was missing, damaged or destroyed, and holes were punched in the walls of the building. Idema sued both property managers and their wives on April 10, 2000, but everyone except for one property manager was later dropped from the suit.
In June 2005, an investigator sued Idema alleging that he wasn't paid when Idema won the 1.8 million dollar lawsuit. The investigator claimed that Idema orally agreed to pay 15% of any amount collected, he also claimed that Idema failed to pay court reporters, expert witnesses, and others who helped him with his case. Idema never collected the 1.8 million because the property manager that was found guilty declared bankruptcy and Idema settled for 650,000 dollars that he obtained through law suits filed against insurance carriers. Idema's father was the insured.
Lithuania and nuclear weapons smuggling
In 1993 Idema was contracted to train police forces in the former Soviet republic of LithuaniaLithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
. After his return, he contacted officials from both the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), claiming to have uncovered a conspiracy by the Russian Mafia
Russian Mafia
The Russian Mafia is a name applied to organized crime syndicates in Russia and Ukraine. The mafia in various countries take the name of the country, as for example the Ukrainian mafia....
to smuggle nuclear material out of Lithuania. According to Idema, FBI agents demanded he provide the names of his contacts. He refused, claiming that the FBI was infiltrated by KGB agents and that his sources would have been killed.
It was around this time that Idema was being investigated for wire fraud and eventually convicted in 1994. Idema asserted that the fraud charges were fabricated by FBI agent Earl Edwin Pitts
Earl Edwin Pitts
Earl Edwin Pitts is a former FBI special agent who, in 1996, was arrested at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Pitts was charged with several offenses, including spying for the Soviet Union and Russia...
, who he claims supervised the case against him, in retaliation for Idema's earlier refusal to provide sources in the smuggling plot. However, the FBI began their investigation into Idema's activities as early as May 1991, before he even approached the Bureau about Lithuania. Furthermore, there is no evidence that Pitts was involved in any capacity in the fraud case against Idema.
Entry and credentials
Illegal entryIllegal entry
Illegal entry is the act of foreign nationals arriving in or crossing the borders into a country in violation of its immigration law.Migrants from nations that do not have automatic visa agreements, or who would not otherwise qualify for a visa, often cross the borders illegally in some areas like...
into Afghanistan was one of the charges leveled against Idema and two other Americans accompanying him – former soldier Brent Bennett
Brent Bennett
Brent Bennett is a former US Army paratrooper who was convicted by an Afghan court on 15 September 2004 for participating in torture and kidnapping, and for running a private jail in Kabul...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
Edward Caraballo
Edward Caraballo
Edward Caraballo is an American videographer and investigative photojournalist, specializing in covert photography. He was arrested in Afghanistan in 2004 while documenting the exploits of a vigilante group led by U.S. mercenary Jonathan "Jack" Idema...
. That charge was eventually dropped.
Idema first traveled to Afghanistan in November 2001 to conduct what he said was "humanitarian relief" work. It was at this time that he involved himself in the research Robin Moore
Robin Moore
Robert Lowell "Robin" Moore, Jr. was an American writer who is most known for his books The Green Berets, The French Connection: A True Account of Cops, Narcotics, and International Conspiracy and, with Xaviera Hollander and Yvonne Dunleavy, The Happy Hooker: My Own Story.Moore also co-authored...
was conducting for his book The Hunt for Bin Laden. He was actually working for National Geographic with Gary Scurka.
According to Gary Scurka, a reporter for CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, Idema contacted him a few weeks after the September 11 terror attacks and announced he was going to Afghanistan to do humanitarian-aid work, saying he was to work with Knightsbridge International
Knightsbridge International
Knightsbridge International is a US-based non-governmental organization based in West Hills, California that provides humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to regions around the world. KBI was founded in 1995 by members of an American priory of the Knights of Malta...
and the Partners International Foundation, two aid groups run by former military personnel. This led to Scurka and Idema presenting a film documentary project for National Geographic.
Idema, Gary Scurka, and Greg Long traveled to Tashkent, Uzbekistan where they were arrested for visa problems and held in a cell overnight. The three were freed after their captors received a letter from the US embassy in Uzbekistan, written by an officer in the US Defense Attache's Office, describing Idema and Scurka as "contracting officers from the Defense Department who arrived to the Republic of Uzbekistan for an official trip." The letter, which was verified as authentic by the director of the Department of State's press office, was dated November 2, 2001 and asks Uzbekistan's ministry of foreign affairs for help in issuing visas to Idema, Gary Scurka, and Greg Long.
Greg Long was a member of Partners International Foundation. According to sources familiar with Idema's activities in Afghanistan, Idema joined Partners International Foundation at the same time Scurka received a National Geographic assignment to produce a documentary on humanitarian aid work in Afghanistan. A memo signed by the president of National Geographic TV says Scurka would be going to Afghanistan with KnightsBridge International, and the leader of KnightsBridge, Ed Artis, would be working with Idema. Artis was sued by Idema.
Author Robert Young Pelton
Robert Young Pelton
Robert Young Pelton , is an author, journalist and documentary filmmaker. Pelton is considered an adventurer and a "witness" to conflict. Pelton is known for overcoming extraordinary obstacles in his search for the truth...
believes that Idema then used those letters and what appears to be a falsified or modified military ID. Idema claimed he had a visa similar to those carried by US special forces to convince the Afghan commanders and other people of his official status.
After Idema entered Afghanistan, both humanitarian organizations quickly became wary of Idema's intentions. In December 2001, Edward Artis, director of Knightsbridge, wrote to U.S. Army Special Operations Command warning them of Idema's activities, stating:
Idema later filed suit against Artis and Knightsbridge but the case was dismissed and a monetary judgement was in turn placed against him.
Activities on the ground
Idema led a group he called "Task Force Saber 7" consisting of two other Americans and several Afghanis. The group may have been operating in Afghanistan with independent financial backing or with funds from two lawsuit settlements Idema had won a few years earlier, one of which was for $1.8 million. He frequently interacted with reporters, often going to great lengths in his interviews to stress connections with the CIA and Special Forces. Some supporters suggest that he was a former member of an unspecified covert operations unit, reactivated and positioned in Afghanistan to hunt for Osama Bin LadenOsama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
under operation Alec Station
Bin Laden Issue Station
The Bin Laden Issue Station was a unit of the Central Intelligence Agency dedicated to tracking Osama bin Laden.Soon after its creation the Station developed a new, deadlier vision of bin Laden's activities. In 1999 the CIA inaugurated a grand "Plan" against al-Qaeda, but struggled to find the...
. Relationship to the Northern Alliance
United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan
The United Islamic Front , known in the West and Pakistan as the Northern Alliance, was a military-political umbrella organization created by the Islamic State of Afghanistan in 1996 under the leadership of Defense Minister Ahmad Shah Massoud...
was denied by their official representative in the United States.
Some critics of Idema claim that his attempts to create a high profile with the media make it unlikely that Idema was officially connected with any branch of the military; covert operatives go to great lengths to avoid public appearances and media, and are barred from unauthorized contact. The fact that Caraballo, who was not a soldier, was with Idema in Afghanistan to document his activities strained credibility that Idema was operating covertly.
Idema was known to have a volatile temper that seemed to be particularly directed against news correspondents assigned to Kabul. On several occasions, Idema threatened journalists with bodily harm or death, and in one particular instance, at a dinner in December 2001 he threatened to kill a reporter from Stars and Stripes
Stars and Stripes (newspaper)
Stars and Stripes is a news source that operates from inside the United States Department of Defense but is editorially separate from it. The First Amendment protection which Stars and Stripes enjoys is safeguarded by Congress to whom an independent ombudsman, who serves the readers' interests,...
because the reporter had disclosed Idema's fraud conviction.
It has been recorded that Idema did frequently contact the Defense Department
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
through General William G. Boykin
William G. Boykin
Lieutenant General William G. Boykin was the United States Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. He has played a role in almost every recent major American military operation, serving in Grenada, Somalia, and Iraq. He is currently an author and teaches at Hampden-Sydney College,...
, and that the intelligence was duly acknowledged. However, all of those contacts were outside the US Military operating channels and were all one-sided calls. While the US government was aware of Idema's activities in Afghanistan, they stated there was no relationship between them.
The United States Central Command stated that Coalition forces received one detainee from Idema on May 3, 2004. Idema claimed that the individual was associated with the Taliban. Once in US custody, however, the detainee was determined not to be who Idema claimed, and was released in the first week of July.
The United States was not the only government that had contact with Idema in Afghanistan; On three occasions, Idema tricked the Canadian led NATO mission into providing explosives experts and bomb sniffing dogs. According to a spokesman for the ISAF
International Security Assistance Force
The International Security Assistance Force is a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations Security Council on 20 December 2001 by Resolution 1386 as envisaged by the Bonn Agreement...
, Idema called for and received technical support after his vigilante team raided compounds on June 20, 22, and 24 of 2004. ISAF personnel believed they were "providing legitimate support to a legitimate security agency."
Idema also received assistance from Yunus Qanooni; former minister, senior Afghan government security advisor, and influential member of the Northern Alliance
United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan
The United Islamic Front , known in the West and Pakistan as the Northern Alliance, was a military-political umbrella organization created by the Islamic State of Afghanistan in 1996 under the leadership of Defense Minister Ahmad Shah Massoud...
. In one video tape presented at Idema's trial, Yunus Qanooni thanked Idema for uncovering an assassination plot against him. In the same tape Qanooni volunteered his personal security troops to help Idema with arrests. Another tape appeared to show Qanooni's forces assisting Idema in a house raid.
On July 4, 2004 the United States Central Command
United States Central Command
The United States Central Command is a theater-level Unified Combatant Command unit of the U.S. armed forces, established in 1983 under the operational control of the U.S. Secretary of Defense...
released a media advisory that read:
In perhaps the most terse assessment of Idema's alleged involvement in Operation Enduring Freedom, Billy Waugh
Billy Waugh
Sergeant Major William "Billy" Waugh , is a highly decorated American Special Forces soldier and a Central Intelligence Agency Paramilitary Operations Officer who served in the United States military and CIA special operations for more than fifty years. SGM Waugh served in the U.S...
, senior CIA covert operative and decorated former Green Beret who was a member of the Agency-run "Jawbreaker" team, said:
Arrest, trial and sentencing
Idema and his associates Brent BennettBrent Bennett
Brent Bennett is a former US Army paratrooper who was convicted by an Afghan court on 15 September 2004 for participating in torture and kidnapping, and for running a private jail in Kabul...
and Edward Caraballo were arrested on July 5, 2004 by Afghan police during a raid in which they found eight Afghan men (some hanging from their feet) bound and hooded in detention. The arrest of Idema occurred only about three months after 60 Minutes II
60 Minutes II
60 Minutes II was a weekly primetime news magazine television program that was intended to replicate the "signature style, journalistic quality and integrity" of the original 60 Minutes series.It aired on CBS on Wednesdays, then later moved to Fridays at 8 p.m...
broke the story about the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse
Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse
Beginning in 2004, human rights violations in the form of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, including torture, rape, sodomy, and homicide of prisoners held in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq came to public attention...
scandal.
Idema claimed to have had private contact with Lieutenant General Boykin and several other senior Pentagon officials. He tried further to prove his official status when he claimed to be working for the US Counter Terrorism group, the same group that some sources say he founded. He claimed his group had prevented assassination attempts on Education Minister Yunus Qanooni and Defense Minister Marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim. He also claimed the FBI interrogated several militants captured by his group and that after his arrest, the FBI removed from his premises hundreds of videos, photos and documents. Some of the pieces were later returned to Idema and his defense team. One of the videotapes shows Afghanistan's former education minister Yunus Qanooni thanking Idema for the arrest of two people, and offering his full cooperation in future raids.
The Defense Department admitted having contact with Idema and accepting one prisoner from Idema who was held for a month by the US military but added that officials declined his offer to work with the government in capturing terror suspects in Afghanistan. In early 2004, Idema was in contact with Heather Anderson, the Pentagon's Acting Director of Security. Anderson was under the supervision of the chief official responsible for intelligence matters in Donald Rumsfeld's office. Idema told the Afghan court that Anderson commended his work and suggested making a contract. Anderson said she later turned down Idema's request to work in Afghanistan for the Pentagon. Idema continued to contact Anderson's office in hopes of establishing a relationship.
Idema, Caraballo and Bennett were charged with entering the country illegally, running a private prison, and torture. Idema's American attorney was John Tiffany. During the trial, Idema charged that he, Caraballo, and Bennett were being beaten while in Afghan custody; however, US authorities stated the men were being treated humanely.
On 15 September 2004, a three-judge Afghan panel headed by Judge Abdul Baset Bakhtyari sentenced both Idema and Bennett to a ten year prison term, while Caraballo received eight years. Idema and Bennett's sentences were later cut to five and three respectively. Caraballo claimed he was filming Idema and Bennett for a documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
on counterterrorism. Four Afghans working with Idema were sentenced to between one and five years imprisonment.
Caraballo was later pardoned by President Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai, GCMG is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001...
and later returned to the United States. Bennett was freed early for good behavior on September 30, 2006.
Caraballo's lawyer said that the day before Caraballo left Afghanastan, Caraballo and Bennett lived in a filthy 6 by 8-foot cell with four suspected Al Qaida terrorists; the American prisoners were moved to a different prison for better protection. In a more recent assessment, the cell in which the prisoners lived was described as "posh".
Amnesty and refusal to leave prison
On April 10, 2007, the Associated PressAssociated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
reported that Idema would soon be released from prison and then sent back to the United States, and that the Afghan government had granted him amnesty. However, under the amnesty that commuted his sentence he was effectively released on April 4.
Idema refused to leave the prison, first demanding that his passport, personal effects, and documents that he says proves his official connection with the US government be returned to him. According to him, he was owed compensation for $500,000 worth of equipment, mostly computers, weapons and cameras, that was confiscated by the Afghan government when he was arrested. Having obtained through the offices of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul a new passport as well as money to apply for a visa to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Idema insisted that his belongings be returned and that a pet dog previously owned by Bennett be allowed to travel with him.
He also filed another lawsuit against the US government, reaffirming allegations initially made in 2005 that he and his associates had been illegally imprisoned, except that this time, Idema was claiming that he was tortured. According to US District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, "Petitioners allege that United States officials ordered their arrest, ordered their torture, stole exculpatory evidence
Exculpatory evidence
Exculpatory evidence is the evidence favorable to the defendant in a criminal trial, which clears or tends to clear the defendant of guilt. It is the opposite of inculpatory evidence, which tends to prove guilt....
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." This was a shift from the earlier strategy on the part of Idema to exonerate himself on the basis that he was acting on a Pentagon-approved mission. Instead the focus was on the trial itself, specifically whether or not due process was observed, with the added claim of being a torture victim. In both instances Idema accused the U.S. government of deliberately withholding information.
Judge Sullivan subsequently ordered the FBI and the US Department of State to answer the allegations. Attorneys from the US Justice Department have requested the case be dismissed on the grounds that Idema's sentence had been commuted. Idema's lawyer said the government coordinated Idema's amnesty to avoid having to respond to allegations of misconduct.
Idema's allegations of withheld evidence were originally made during his Afghan trial in 2004. When the men were arrested in early July, the tapes were confiscated by the FBI. Caraballo's lawyer, Michael Skibbie, claims that he was only allowed to access a portion of the tapes weeks after he requested access. Several of the tapes were used; however, Skibbie said several important tapes were damaged, missing or partly erased after the FBI took custody of them. Some of the footage Skibbie obtained was shown in court. The court tapes showed Idema being greeted at an airport by high level Afghan officials, Idema being thanked by Yunus Qanuni
Yunus Qanuni
Yunus Qanuni is a politician in Afghanistan. An ethnic Tajik from the Panjshir Valley in Afghanistan, Qanuni is the leader of the Afghanistan e Naween political party and former Speaker of the House of the People .-Pre Election...
, Qanooni's troops working with Idema, captured suspects confessing during interrogation, and ISAF forces helping Idema.
As he was playing out his legal options, Idema said that another reason he hadn't left was because he feared for his life, ostensibly at the hands of the Afghan government. "I could drive through the Policharki [sic] gates right now. Then what happens? I get arrested. [The intelligence service] will arrest me for not having an Afghan visa and they'll torture me and kill me. If I'm lucky, I'm only going to be tortured," he said.
On June 2, 2007, Idema left the prison and was immediately flown out of the country.
Relationship with the media
Idema had some success convincing members of the media that he was a terrorism expert. This allowed him to secure interviews and in some instances get his "terrorism videos" broadcast on television. After indicating to journalists that he had the videos in his possession, he would usually agree to provide them in exchange for money. Since Idema's questionable history has come to light, the news media has been criticized for its willingness to distribute any content or information coming from him.Lithuania
In 1995, while Idema was awaiting sentencing for fraud charges, he agreed to provide information to CBS about the nuclear materials smuggling plot he allegedly uncovered. Gary Scurka produced a 60 Minutes piece entitled "The Worst Nightmare", based in part on Idema's account. According to Scurka, the network declined to credit Idema during the broadcast because of the fraud conviction, even though he was a major source for the story. A CBS spokesperson claimed that the story took 6 months to fully investigate, by which time it was very different from the one Idema gave. Both the 60 Minutes story and a companion piece published in U.S. News & World Report received the prestigious "Renner Award for Outstanding Crime Reporting".The lack of credit given to Idema prompted Scurka and Caraballo to begin making a documentary film with the working title, Any Lesser Man: The Keith Idema Story. According to promotional materials, the documentary was to be "the real story of one lone Green Beret's private war against KGB Nuclear Smuggling, Soviet spies, Arab terrorists, and the FBI." It was never completed.
Marecek murder trial
Idema and Scurka again worked together as consultants for the 48 hours story about Colonel George Marecek, a highly decorated Special Forces soldier accused and later convicted of murdering his wife. The two were fired from the project because they were determined to be taking an advocacy role for the defense. They opened a "Free Marecek" office in the town where the trial was taking place. In December 2000, 48 Hours ran the story on Marecek which included material from Idema, and Scurka's research.Idema also took a leading part in the formation of Point Blank News (PBN) to support Marecek.
September 11th attacks
On the day following the attacks, Idema gave an interview as a "counterterrorism adviser" to KTTV, the Fox network affiliate in Los Angeles. During his broadcast news appearance, he said that the hijackers might have seized three Canadian jetliners, in addition to four American planes.Al Qaeda hoax training footage
Idema sold tapes to many publishers that he claimed showed an Al Qaeda training camp in action. The tapes showed men in camouflaged tunics and ski masks storming buildings, practicing drive-by shootings, and attacking golf courses. CBS bought the right to broadcast the tapes before any other network, they were used in a 60 Minutes II episode called, "Heart of Darkness" in mid January, 2002. CBS presented Idema and the tapes he supplied as reliable.Idema made more money from the same tapes when he sold them to The Boston Globe, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, the BBC, and others rights to rebroadcast the Al Qaeda training camp footage with still pictures.
The authenticity of the several hours of tape is disputed because the supposed tactics shown are not ones Al Qaeda operatives utilize. Moreover, men who were shown in the footage occasionally communicated in English and laughed, providing credence to the notion that the tapes were fake and entirely staged. Some major outlets, including NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...
and CNN declined to broadcast the tapes because of the credibility issue.
Idema in September 2008 Al Qaeda video
Al Qaeda itself appears to have used some of Idema's footage in their September 2008 video release. In a segment released by ABC, Idema appears "to threaten to kill an Afghan citizen during an interrogation." Al Qaeda claims to have "captured" the footage from Idema, but its provenance remains unclear.State-sponsored terrorism
Idema sought to show that he had inside knowledge of Al Qaeda's collaboration with state governments, although his statements would not be considered particularly insightful or original. For instance, he has made suggestions that there was collaboration among North Korea, several Middle-Eastern countries and Al Qaeda, and that was ample evidence linking "Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia to Al Qaeda and to the attacks on September 11," and that in Afghanistan, the link between Iraq and Al Qaeda was "common knowledge." He also has said that Iraq under Saddam HusseinSaddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
was a supporter of Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations "with money, with equipment, with technology, with weapons of mass destruction
Weapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
." He also claimed to have firsthand knowledge of nuclear weapons being smuggled from Russia to Iraq, Iran, and North Korea.
Idema in September 2009 Al Qaeda video
An Al Qaeda video released in September 2009 appears to contain video clips of Idema torturing an Afghan by dunking his head in a bucket of water. This footage was used to make the case that the US is involved in torture in Afghanistan.Media coverage
- Task Force Dagger: The Hunt for bin Laden (ISBN 0-375-50861-9), by The Green BeretsThe Green Berets (book)The Green Berets is a book written by Robin Moore about the Green Berets during the Vietnam War. First published in 1965, it became a best-selling paperback in 1966. The latest edition was published in 2007.-Background:...
author Robin MooreRobin MooreRobert Lowell "Robin" Moore, Jr. was an American writer who is most known for his books The Green Berets, The French Connection: A True Account of Cops, Narcotics, and International Conspiracy and, with Xaviera Hollander and Yvonne Dunleavy, The Happy Hooker: My Own Story.Moore also co-authored...
, had sections devoted to Idema, referred to in the book as a special forces operative named "Jack" (he was also featured on the book's cover). Unknown to Moore, Idema had added a number of fictional episodes to the book that he would later use to support his claims. In the manuscript Idema also included appeals for donations to charities listed under his and his wife's address – charities that have since come under investigation. He managed to do this by altering the final manuscript without Moore's consent before it was sent to the publisher. Random HouseRandom HouseRandom House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
quietly dropped the book from print after publishing what had become a work of fiction that even its author had disavowed. Moore has since regretted Idema's involvement and insisted that the publisher refused to include his corrections. - Robert Young PeltonRobert Young PeltonRobert Young Pelton , is an author, journalist and documentary filmmaker. Pelton is considered an adventurer and a "witness" to conflict. Pelton is known for overcoming extraordinary obstacles in his search for the truth...
, in his book about private security contractorsPrivate military companyA private military company or provides military and security services. These combatants are commonly known as mercenaries, though modern-day PMCs refer to their staff as security contractors, private military contractors or private security contractors, and refer to themselves as private military...
, Licenced to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror (ISBN 1-4000-9781-9), devotes a chapter to Idema's exploits in Afghanistan, including his controversial involvement in Moore's book Task Force Dagger: The Hunt for bin Laden. - Mariah Blake, "Tin Soldier: An American Vigilante In Afghanistan, Using the Press for Profit and Glory," Columbia Journalism ReviewColumbia Journalism ReviewThe Columbia Journalism Review is an American magazine for professional journalists published bimonthly by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961....
, January/February 2005. - Stacy Sullivan, "Operation Desert Fraud: How Keith Idema marketed his imaginary Afghan war," New York Magazine, October 25, 2004.
- Peter Bergen's article published in Rolling Stone, "Jack Idema: Shadow Warrior," examines Idema's military career.
- Eric Campbell's book on reporting in war zones, Absurdistan (ISBN 0-7322-7980-1), has a few chapters on Idema.
- Idema's claims are given full support in Barry Farber's NewsMax columnColumn (newspaper)A column is a recurring piece or article in a newspaper, magazine or other publication. Columns are written by columnists.What differentiates a column from other forms of journalism is that it meets each of the following criteria:...
"The Case Against Keith Idema, July 22, 2004. - NewsweekNewsweekNewsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
had a short section on Idema called "An Afghan Mystery" by John Barry and Owen Matthews in the July 26, 2004 edition. - In February 2009, in an article entitled Laptop may hold key to high-level scam, the Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana wrote of a police report that Idema had attempted to obtain a laptop used by jailed military imposter Joseph A. CafassoJoseph A. CafassoJoseph Anthony Cafasso, Jr. is a former Fox News consultant on military and counterterrorism issues who left the network after allegations surfaced that he misrepresented his military record.-Early life:...
, also a former Fox News consultant, from the 63 year-old woman with woman Cafasso had recently been living. The woman was frightened of Idema and so turned the laptop over to police.
Wired Danger Room, Narco Blog, Sipse - Mercenary Located in Bacalar, Informativa - Denounced for Rape and Abuse, NotaCaribe -Former Green Beret Investigated for Domestic Violence in Bacalar, DQR -Rambo Barricaded in Bacalar, DQR - Enslaved by Rambo, DQR - Soulless Green Beret, DQR - More Niceties of the Green Beret, DQR - Rambo Slave with AIDS
External links
- BBC News profile of Idema
- Jonathan Idema: Our Man in Kabul?, from crimelibrary.com.
- Transcript of an episode of "Mediawatch" from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation about the al Qaeda tape controversy. Includes links to email documents from Idema to 60 Minutes, images of Idema allegedly interrogating Afghanis, and a copy of his military record.
- US Bounty Hunter Trial, General material about his actions and information about the Al Qaeda training videos he found. Describes the arrest and trial.