Former Terror Detainee Recalls Captivity (on 60 Minutes, of course)

CBS — FIRST UP WITH ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO FORGE:

1995 : (CBS, 60 MINUTES & IDEMA — See DAN RATHER) In 1995, Mr. Idema participated in a 60 Minutes story about Russian crime syndicates smuggling beryllium to Lithuania. That story, produced in conjunction with U.S. News and World Report, won a prize from Investigative Reporters and Editors, a national journalists’ group. Mr. Idema’s credit, however, was deleted from the stories, partly because of a previous fraud conviction that landed him in a North Carolina prison for three years. Mr. Idema threatened to sue over the omission, but he never did.-———— “American Who Ran Afghan Jail Says He Sourced CBS,” The New York Observer ^ | September 22, 2004 | Joe Hagan

2001 : (IDEMA SELLS BOGUS AL QAEDA TRAINING VIDEO THE VARIOUS MEDIA OUTLETS) Mr. Idema—who has a reputation as an unsavory con man given to tall tales and violent streaks—had sold footage to almost all of the TV networks at one time or another, primarily portions of the seven-hour Al Qaeda training video that he got his hands on in 2001. -———— “American Who Ran Afghan Jail Says He Sourced CBS,” The New York Observer ^ | September 22, 2004 | Joe Hagan

DECEMBER 2001 : (AFGHANISTAN : SEIGE OF TORA BORA & IDEMA’S BOOK “THE HUNT FOR BIN LADEN” — See CBS/60 MINUTES DAN RATHER) In foreign desks around the Middle East, Mr. Idema’s reputation often precedes him. His exploits were written about in a book called The Hunt for bin Laden, which details the campaign by American Special Forces operatives in Afghanistan in the months after Sept. 11. Mr. Idema claimed he nearly captured Mr. bin Laden during the siege at Tora Bora in December 2001. In the book, Mr. Rather described Mr. Idema as “politically incorrect, abrasive, unconventional, and unquestionably heroic.”-———— “American Who Ran Afghan Jail Says He Sourced CBS,” The New York Observer ^ | September 22, 2004 | Joe Hagan

2002 : (IDEMA OFFERS HIS “CAPTURED AL QAEDA TRAINING FILMS” TO DAN RATHER OF CBS)

2002 : (CBS’ DAN RATHER INTERVIEWS IDEMA) In 2002, Mr. Rather interviewed Mr. Idema for 60 Minutes II as an expert on Al Qaeda and the Taliban. His financial arrangement with CBS was undisclosed.-——— “American Who Ran Afghan Jail Says He Sourced CBS,” The New York Observer ^ | September 22, 2004 | Joe Hagan

JUNE 25, 2004 : (AFGHANISTAN : IDEMA PUTS ON A SHOW FOR CBS ; TEN DAYS LATER HE WOULD BE ARRESTED ALONG WITH HIS ASSISTANTS — See CBS, DAN RATHER, BLEEDINGHEARTATTACK, AFGHANISTAN, TORTURE, PRIVATE PRISON) On Tuesday, Sept. 22 [2004], Mr. Tiffany [Idema’s lawyer] showed The Observer a 10-minute videotape that features Mr. Idema interrogating suspected Al Qaeda operatives in his makeshift detention center. It revealed a watermark showing it had been transmitted via CBS satellites. The footage was relayed to Mr. Idema’s licensing company in New York in early July from Mr. Rather’s offices. At the start of the reel, a standard TV test pattern with the watermark “CBS NEWS KABUL” can clearly be seen on the screen. The film looked like an Afghan version of the reality show Cops, complete with Mr. Idema’s own segment titles at the beginning of each raid. It features clips of Mr. Idema and his “Task Force Saber” running around in fatigues with assault rifles, arresting Afghan people whom Mr. Tiffany identified as suspected terrorists.
“Put your fucking hands up or I’ll blow your fucking brains out!” Mr. Idema yells at one point. Afterward, he places black bags on suspects’ heads and plastic bands around their wrists and proceeds to yell at them. The last arrest, said Mr. Tiffany, was filmed on June 25, 10 days before Mr. Idema was arrested....
.........A spokesman for CBS News [later, see Sept 22, 2004] said the footage was indeed sent by a technician at CBS News in Kabul and “the instructions were to send it to Dan.” But, he said, Mr. Rather was on his way to Baghdad when the tape arrived. “He never saw it,” said Mr. Tedesco. “It was erroneous to say we knew of some detention cell.”
The spokesman said the network had an “inquiry” over the summer after Mr. Idema was arrested. CBS found the footage “in the archives and then our bureau chief in London saw it on Aug. 20,” he said. “The tape in no shape or form could be vetted. There was no way of knowing whether it was real. He didn’t work for us. There’s no relation to us.”
But if the “instructions” were to send his material to Mr. Rather, and there was CBS technical participation in the transmission, then it appears the network had a relationship with Mr. Idema and was viewing his material.”While it’s true that some technician some place could have seen it,” said the CBS spokesman, “that could have been their own unprofessional opinion of this stuff. It wouldn’t be the same as a bureau chief seeing it.”
One freelance journalist working in Afghanistan, who declined to be identified, said that CBS staffers had expressed concern that they might be implicated in Mr. Idema’s case because, in fact, they knew what they were looking at. “Their satellite engineer came over: ‘Oh my God, I’m going to be arrested,’” recalled the journalist. “They had been feeding this material to CBS. They had been feeding into their London bureau footage of Jack’s detention center and of him capturing and interrogating people about 10 days to two weeks before he was arrested.”-———— “American Who Ran Afghan Jail Says He Sourced CBS,” The New York Observer ^ | September 22, 2004 | Joe Hagan

JULY 5, 2004 : (ARREST OF IDEMA, BENNETT & CARABALLO — See CBS, DAN RATHER, BLEEDINGHEARTATTACK, AFGHANISTAN, TORTURE, PRIVATE PRISON ) Mr. [Jonathan “Jack”] Idema was arrested along with Brent Bennett and Edward Caraballo on July 5, when Afghan security forces raided the Kabul compound where they had allegedly detained prisoners. According to Afghan officials, Mr. Idema and company were found wearing U.S. military uniforms and were armed with assault rifles. They were charged with illegal entry into the country, operating an illegal jail and torturing innocent civilians. ....According to Mr. Idema’s lawyer, John Edwards Tiffany, as well as network sources and people on the ground in Kabul, CBS News had prior knowledge of Mr. Idema’s private jail before his arrest on July 5. According to early reports, eight prisoners were interrogated and tortured there, some found hanging from the ceiling by their feet......
Mr. Tiffany claimed that his client had an active role as a source for Mr. Rather, and network sources said that Mr. Rather had hoped to get access to suspected Al Qaeda operatives—and, possibly, Osama bin Laden, whom Mr. Idema has attempted to capture in the past....
...According to Mr. Tiffany, his client told him that a CBS engineer was present at the prison before the arrest. “The person was present where some if not all of the detained prisoners were being held,” said Mr. Tiffany. “They were on the premises. They were aware that there were detainees on the premises.”My client is either incredibly bold or my client is operating consistent with D.O.D. interrogation guidelines,” Mr. Tiffany argued. “Why would he invite a CBS engineer in the house if there were problems?”
It was not clear what a CBS employee was doing there, said Mr. Tiffany, and his client declined to name the staffer, other than to say that the person was an “engineer.”......Asked if a CBS employee had been on the premises of Mr. Idema’s jail, the network spokesman said, “Even if he was there, he’s just there to make sure the tape is O.K. He just sends the feed. It doesn’t mean they’re in cahoots with this guy. It doesn’t mean CBS knew what was in this footage. His job was just to make sure it was fed to London and that’s all.”....-———— “American Who Ran Afghan Jail Says He Sourced CBS,” The New York Observer ^ | September 22, 2004 | Joe Hagan

AUGUST 20, 2004 : (THE DATE CBS’ LONDON BUREAU CHIEF ALLEGEDLY FIRST SEES IDEMA ‘PRISON’ FOOTAGE) .........A spokesman for CBS News [later, see Sept 22, 2004] said the footage was indeed sent by a technician at CBS News in Kabul and “the instructions were to send it to Dan.” But, he said, Mr. Rather was on his way to Baghdad when the tape arrived. “He never saw it,” said Mr. Tedesco. “It was erroneous to say we knew of some detention cell.”
The spokesman said the network had an “inquiry” over the summer after Mr. Idema was arrested. CBS found the footage “in the archives and then our bureau chief in London saw it on Aug. 20,” he said. “The tape in no shape or form could be vetted. There was no way of knowing whether it was real. He didn’t work for us. There’s no relation to us.”
But if the “instructions” were to send his material to Mr. Rather, and there was CBS technical participation in the transmission, then it appears the network had a relationship with Mr. Idema and was viewing his material.”While it’s true that some technician some place could have seen it,” said the CBS spokesman, “that could have been their own unprofessional opinion of this stuff. It wouldn’t be the same as a bureau chief seeing it.”-———— “American Who Ran Afghan Jail Says He Sourced CBS,” The New York Observer ^ | September 22, 2004 | Joe Hagan-

SEPTEMBER 15, 2004 : (AFGHANISTAN : IDEMA SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS; CARABALLO IS SENTENCED TO 8; BENNETT IS SENTENCED TO 10— See CBS, DAN RATHER, BLEEDINGHEARTATTACK, AFGHANISTAN, TORTURE, PRIVATE PRISON )

*** Not to mention their TANG [Texas Air National Guard] forgeries. ***

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