AP Uses Fake SEAL to Back Kerry, Slam Bush

AP, Multiple ^ | September 12, 2004 | Travis McGee

[Deb]

Did you send it to Drudge?

[Criminal Number 18F]

You are right post-message-469.
You are wrong pre-message-469.

I am assuming that 469 is the post where Grampa Dave posted John S.'s report of Majied's confession.

I disagree with you that that was a turning point. Let me explain. To some of us it was crystal clear from Majied's statements in the first Elliot Minor story that Majied was, shall we say, embellishing the truth. (It jumped out at me, and it was probably even clearer to Travis than to me). There's embellishing (i.e. anything written by Marcinko) and embellishing (complete fabricated bullshit). Majied was in Category #2 for anyone familiar even broadly with SEALs and their Vietnam operations. He could have been no living SEAL because the only SEALs that cam close to five years in Vietnam are very well known individuals -- in a small circle.

Let me give you an example. You meet me in the corner bar. If I were to claim that I played for the Detroit Tigers, say, in the 1980s, and had a .366 batting average, some folks might be impressed. But anyone familiar with baseball statistics or the Tigers would know I was lying. Indeed, that claim is farfetched enough that anyone tuned into baseball would immediately get suspicious and check it out. If I said, "my name is now swami Brahmaputra cause I joined the Hare Krishnas, and I won't tell you what my old name was," while I may not have proved I was a phony to a criminal court standard, I am certainly at the preponderance-of-evidence point of civil jurisprudence, and way over the line of common sense.

That is analogous to the situation here. Majied's claims were outlandish.

I have run into wannabees everywhere -- seen people with bogus MIT doctorates in business, caught guys in the military wearing extra badges (a career-ending screwup, that), met more "fighter pilots" and "astronauts" in aviation than there ever were. The worst kind is when somebody dies and the family tries to authenticate these kind of claims that the guy's kids grew up believing. I don't know why people do this: my best guess is too much TV and a feeling of inadequacy about their achievements, in extreme cases, and in a mild case like Majied, well, he was just trying to lend some authority to his statement, I suppose. Some guys can't resist, in retirement, making a good career better.

Why did he do that? The guy is a Navy vet and that's good enough for me, but he had to make that statement, a statement that was as obviously false to some of us as if he had said he was Pope, and then we had a duty to respond.

I do agree that John S. of LeanWrite handled it well. Majied has claimed that he has gotten abuse by phone, and anybody who did that handled it all wrong. He is still a human being and deserves respect for what he has done, as long as he retracts claims of things he has not done. I don't believe anyone has overturned (or even tried to) his claim of retiring from the Navy as an E-9 Master Chief, quite an achievement in itself.

Lesson to the rest of us: resist the craving for an "improved" resume. There are people out there who know.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[FR_addict]

I sent this email to the USS CURRITUCK ASSN:

"I think you may be interested in knowing that your newsletter is involved in a controversy on a major forum.

What happened is a man, named Ahamd Majied, was pretending to be a Seal and slammed Bush. Someone tracked him down on the internet as serving on your ship, through your newsletter, but the Seals said he is not a Seal.

Supposedly Majied has back down on being a seal, but now we want to know if he was really on your ship."

I received this reply tonight:

"If memory serves me correctly, when he contacted me regarding membership, he claimed a name change. While I could not find his name in the list of crew members I extracted from the ship's personnel diary from the National Archives on microfilm, there was a possibility because some of the documents were illegible. He joined the association in Sept 2003, but he might have duped us/me as well. Would be interesting to know how many other organizations he has applied for membership in.

Ron Curtis, Sec USS CURRITUCK ASSN"

Any Freepers out there know how to check whether Mr. Ahmad Majied was in the service.?

[FR_addict]

Ron,
Also said:

"if this guy is a phoney, would like to expose him."

So the USS CURRITUCK is also interested in knowing the truth behind Mr. Majied.

[spodefly]

I was never a SEAL, but I think they are just as cute as they can be ...

[Travis McGee]

The baseball star analogy is perfect.

[Travis McGee]

No, I think this is too small potatoes for Drudge. I sent it to G G Liddy, because he has a son in SEALs, and to Larry Bailey, a REAL famous VN era SEAL who heads up various groups.

[Travis McGee]

His real name is found up at reply 520, did you check under that name also?

[Travis McGee]

Until you club them, and skin them.

[FR_addict]

OK, I sent an email to verify that he checked under both names. I probably won't hear anything till tomorrow.

Everyone's involved in the bigger press scandal, but all these other stories add up.

I'm tired of journalists getting away with false stories and we already know it was false thanks to your work.

[Travis McGee]

Yes, they do add up, and it's worth it just for that. "Exibit C" to add to the rest.

[FR_addict]

Re: Did you look under his other name?????

"My records show an Artis G Williams reporting aboard as an ABH3 in 1963. That is an Aviation Boatswain Mate Hydraulics Third Class (paygrade E-4) in 1963.

Ron Curtis, Sec USS CURRITUCK ASSN"

He was listed in the newsletter as MACM. Above is Mr. Williams rank in 1963.

[CardCarryingMember.VastRightWC]

"Artis Williams," did you say? Wasn't he an astronaut before he became a SEAL?

Seriously though ..... does anyone know if AP retracted the story? If so, it will be posted to this thread, I hope.

[CardCarryingMember.VastRightWC]

"Artis Williams," did you say? Wasn't he an astronaut before he became a SEAL?

Seriously though ..... does anyone know if AP retracted the story? If so, it will be posted to this thread, I hope.

[Travis McGee]

Yeah, this was checked with authentiseal back at post 520 I think. No Artis among the frogs. And what's more, Artis has admitted it. Now, if he was an E-4 in 1963, and changed to a muslim name in 77, I'd say there is almost no chance he put in 30 years and retired as a Master Chief.

[B4Ranch]

Ahmad Majied, doesn't show up on lists of former SEALs because he changed his name when he converted to Islam after leaving the Navy.

[Momto2]

Any updates on this guy? Did the reporter respond or "correct" his article.....(holding breath...)

[Travis McGee]

A freeper found Artis William's name back around 520. Not a SEAL under that name either. And since he was an E-5 in 63, and changed his name to a muslim one in 77, I'd say it's 99-1 he's lying about being a 30 year vet who retired as an E-9 Master Chief.

[Travis McGee]

Nothing I've seen.

[B4Ranch]

>>I asked him if he was a US Navy SEAL. He said no, but that he worked with SEALs. I was floored, and asked him to repeat what he said. He said it again....he was not a SEAL, but worked with them. I asked him if he had ever completed BUD/S. He said no; he was not trained as a SEAL. When I asked in what capacity he worked with the SEALs, he told me that he served as part of an amphibious ready group.<<

http://www.leanwrite.com/politics/040913sealtrackers.html

From what I've seen, I have doubts the guy said he was a SEAL, but that the original journalist may have been the one who made the error in presuming that he was one. Who knows the truth, will we ever find out? I don't know.