Posted on 09/13/2004 1:43:11 PM PDT by ambrose
about anti-Bush SEAL
This is a WorldNetDaily printer-friendly version of the article which follows.
Monday, September 13, 2004
ELECTION 2004 Posted: September 13, 2004 4:06 p.m. Eastern
By Ron Strom An Associated Press reporter is standing by his story that describes an anti-Bush veteran as a former Navy SEAL in the face of questions about whether or not the man was in fact a member of the elite unit.
The reporter, Elliott Minor says the Albany, Ga., man, 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.
In a story reporting the reactions of U.S. military personnel and veterans to allegations that President Bush failed to perform to National Guard standards, Minor quotes several current and former military men. Here is an excerpt from the AP story:
Ahmad Majied of Albany says the latest allegations about Bush's military record are more troubling to him than allegations about service honors leveled at Democratic challenger Kerry.
After reading the account, Travis McGee, a poster on FreeRepublic.com, contacted an organization called AuthentiSEAL, which researches claims by people posing as Navy SEALs, to see if Majied indeed had been a SEAL. According to his post, McGee received a response from Gregory Platt, an investigator with the group, saying the name Ahmad Majied does not come up on a search of former SEALs.
McGee says he became suspicious of the claim when he read that Majied had been in Vietnam for five years.
"When this fake SEAL's claim of spending five years in Vietnam was pointed out to me, I knew he couldn't be for real," he writes at Free Republic. "SEALs deployed to VN for six month tours, so 'five years in Vietnam' seemed highly improbable. I knew lots of multiple tour 'real deal Vietnam SEALs' during my peacetime duty in the teams in the 1980s, and I never heard of this guy.
"This only took a couple of minutes time for 'amateurs' on Free Republic to check out. The 'professional' journalists at the AP must have been to busy to do this basic checking."
In an interview with WorldNetDaily, however, Minor says he has no reason to disbelieve Majied's story.
"I really trust this guy," he said. "I believe he's a real straight shooter."
Minor says Majied didn't give him his previous name, "and I didn't press the matter."
The vet has received "nasty calls" since the issue has been publiclized, Minor says, adding, "This is a very peaceful guy. There's a peace about his voice."
Minor says Majied homeschools his seven children. "These are really upstanding people," he told WND.
The AP reporter addressed McGee's criticism of spending five months in Vietnam, saying Majied told him he was based in the Philippines and would go to Vietnam for short stints and then return to the islands.
"Altogether it was probably five years [in Vietnam]," Minor said.
Minor spoke to Majied this afternoon to try to verify the issue, and he said the veteran has refused to speak to other media about the issue.
He said of the Majieds: "I've met them around town, and they're just nice people. I just really think a lot of him."
Internet bloggers challenging the claims of mainstream media outlets has become more prevalent recently. It was on the Net where the first questions were raised about National Guard memos CBS News claims show that Bush's former commander, Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian, was resisting pressure from his superior, Col. Walter B. "Buck" Staudt, to "sugarcoat" Bush's officer evaluation files.
Document experts and amateur sleuths began questioning the memos' authenticity within hours after they were published on the Internet, citing typographical and formatting issues that suggest they were created by a modern-day word processor rather than a Vietnam War-era typewriter.
Despite the irregularities of the memos and the fact that a source CBS used to prove its case is saying the documents are forgeries, network anchor Dan Rather stands by the story he presented on "60 Minutes II" last week.
Related stories:
Bush Guard papers forged, says source
Rather backs docs on Evening News
Ben Barnes' daughter: Father lied about Bush
CBS News denies Bush docs forged
Ron Strom is a news editor for WorldNetDaily.com. |
What I want to know is how Mr. Minor found Mr. Majied in the first place to interview.
Did one of the local civil rights orgs. or mosques recommend Majied as a "typical Albany veteran" who wanted to opine on the whole Vietnam issue, did Majied recommend himself when a local civil rights org./mosque was looking for vets?
Has anyone said how these two (Minor and Majied) were able to cross paths?
Where did he go to Elementary school or high school? Church. . .before he 'converted'. . .?
a real idiot would have asked that sooo important question.
As I see it, EVERY special forces member or unit, past or present, has the right to demand verification when someone goes public. They've earned it. He voluntarily talked to AP and made the claim, it's up to him to prove it. If he did, he would get a number of apologies and be left alone.
p.s.. . .(beyond 'grade school/high school)how about his 'next of kin' on records. . .Father's name et al; surely they are not Muslim as well. . .
Follow the link in #84 above.
yeah and since when these clowns approve of home schooling?
It's preposterous that he was in VN for five years. He used his lie as the basis to slam Bush, so he's fair game.
If I claimed that I was a police investigator in your town for five years, and I knew you were the town drunk and beat your wife, but as a cop I used another name back then.... And I can't tell anyone what my name was back then....
Would you mind if AP new reporters ran my "story," without checking my bona fides?
This creep has stolen the valor and honor of real VN SEALs, in order to slam Bush.
Tough luck if he gets slammed back.
I dont think itll be viewed like that by the majority. And if not, it works against us.
I think everyone has a right to silence. If someone wants to challenge it, its up to them to do the legwork.
He did worse than just make the claim. If he was a bar braggart, I could care less. He used his false SEAL bona fides as the basis to slam Bush. That made him a public player.
Is it? In the Navy? On tour in a combat zone? Also, he didnt claim he knew anything, certainly not in an official capacity like your silly analogy. He had an opinion, and calmed a valor thats in doubt, but not yet disproved. Innocent until guilty is a fundamental principle of freedom.
I wonder whether he got orders from "higher up" in his Mosque to come out with this disinformation.
They probably thought it would be accepted without question by the media. (/sarcasm)
Within the week we'll seen some sappy journalist schmo write an AP article claiming there is no "Travis Mcgee" in the Seal Records!
I said "public"...we're on the same page.
Check ur mail
Great. I would answer that in one minute. But even an AP reporter might go to the website in my tagline, it's all there.
Patriarchal ... we're also patriarchal.
But at least when Der Net-Knight is 58-60, like the gent in this article, all our (current) kids will be out of the house!
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