Free Republic

KABUL, Afghanistan - Three American vigilantes tricked NATO (news - web sites) peacekeepers into helping with illegal raids, the security force said Wednesday, getting them to send explosives experts and bomb-sniffing dogs to check buildings in Kabul where they had detained suspects. A spokesman said the men, led by former U.S. soldier Jonathan K. Idema, seemed authentic — fluent in military speak, decked out in faux U.S. Army fatigues and claiming to belong to a nonexistent task force. "Their credibility was such that with their uniforms, their approach, our people believed they were what they said they were," said Cdr....

KABUL (Reuters) - NATO-led forces in Afghanistan were tricked into helping a group of U.S. vigilantes hunting for militants and who were arrested for illegally detaining Afghans, a spokesman said on Wednesday. Three U.S. nationals were arrested last week after a brief shootout in Kabul. They and some Afghan accomplices had been illegally detaining and interrogating people they believed to be terrorists, Afghan officials said. The group had asked for, and received, help from members of Afghanistan's NATO-led peacekeeping force, who believed they were members of a genuine military task force, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)...