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SuperPatriots.US Response to Jack Idema's "Unremarkable"
Military Career
This is a clear case of injustice and false reporting.
 There are several points to consider. We are offering Peter Bergen and Rolling Stone a $50,000 Cash Reward if
Mr. Bergen can prove his sources' allegations about Idema's
military career are true, and if he can prove that Idema did not
do what he claims he did, or have the training and Special
Forces background he claims to have had. No journalist has
been able to actually prove Jack Idema was anything other than
what he said he was. The basic concept of
innocent until proven guilty was ignored by the Afghan courts,
and certainly by the press. These men have been forced to
repeatedly disprove rumor and innuendo. Journalists simply
threw out lies based on rumor, hearsay, and unnamed sources or
no source, hoping something will stick, and then other
journalists pick it up and report it as gospel. Now, SuperPatriots.us shoots them all in the foot-- by releasing
pictures never before published of Jack Idema.
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Idema after receiving his Green Beret at JFKCENMA, Fort Bragg,
North Carolina.
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Idema's Special Forces Force Qualification Diploma
awarded to him By Colonel Charlie Beckwith and
General Robert Kingston. Bergen wasn't the
only journalist that had this. It is highly
redacted to prevent real wannabes from copying a
real diploma.
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Idema being awarded his Hwa Rang Do Instructor
Qualification by the legendary Michael Echanis. You
had to be a Sergeant on your second enlistment to be
selected into the course. Idema was only an
E-4 (corporal) with less than two years in the army.
Only 11 men ever graduated- ever.
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Idema's Hwa Rang Do Hand to Hand Combat and Special
Weapons and Tactics Course Instructor Diploma.
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Idema being awarded Royal Thai Commando Master Wings in
1985 by the Commander of the Thai Special Warfare
Command in LopBuri Thailand. The man on the
left is holding a Royal award device reserved for
awards authorized by the King. The row of men
standing are all Thai General Officers. This
picture was taken in 1985 when there were supposed
to be no Green Berets in South East Asia.
Idema is alleged to have called the Thai Commander
"Uncle George."
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Idema with his Special Forces Mountain Team- "Rear
Base Radio Operators" don't do this- they sit in a
radio room copying code. Idema is
the first Green Beret on the lower left. On the right is Francis McCabe, a highly
regarded SF hero in Vietnam.
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Jack Idema at the Special Forces U/W Ops School- he
is wearing an Emerson Closed Circuit Rebreather system for covert
infiltration of enemy coastlines and clandestine
Submarine lockouts- this was ONLY
available to Special Forces and Navy SEAL Teams.
Idema was only 20 at the time, making him one of the
youngest graduates ever of what is known as the
hardest course in Special Forces. He later
went to the Navy SEAL /UDT Orientation Course
at Little Creek, VA (the actual BUDS Qualification
Course is at Coronado). This picture has never
been released before. (Picture courtesy of the SF
Schools archives.)
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Idema as a principle Senior Instructor to the
British 22 SAS Commandos. He is seen
here, for the FIRST time ever, placing a STABO
extraction harness on Colonel Paddy Baker- the
British SAS Commando who became legendary during the
battle of Oman. Colonel Baker later wrote that Idema
was the finest young Green Beret he had ever
worked with and invited Idema to work at SAS Headquarters in
Hereford in the mid-80's. The rope you see is
attached to a hovering helicopter. In other
words Colonel Baker was trusting Idema with his
life.
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Idema
with Colonel Gary Rohen on a Special Forces
Counter-Terrorist Team. Both are carrying
SF-M16's with 203 Grenade Launchers, PVS-5 Night
Vision Goggles, and Browning Fast Action pistols. Rohen is now the Deputy Director of the FBI's
Counter-Terrorist Watch and was in constant contact
with Jack Idema during his latest mission to
Afghanistan. Rohen was supposed to deploy with
TASK FORCE SABER 7 to Afghanistan but was pulled
from the mission for medical reasons.
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With Ronald Regan as the President from 1980 until
1988, clandestine and covert Ops, as was Special
Forces, were at an all time high. Idema was
the driving force in the formation of
the Counter-Terrorist Group, and developed
counter-terrorist and hostage rescue concepts and
doctrine which would be followed by
counter-terrorist units all over the world. He
is seen here training the President's son, Ronald
Regan, Jr., in combat pistol techniques, in 1985.
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Additional pictures will be uploaded as received from the Special Forces Command and former
teammates of Jack Idema
Any Special Forces, Ranger, or SEAL Team Operators
who have pictures of Jack and would like to lend
them to us can email them to:
socom3@superpatriots.us |
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Charlie Beckwith at battle in Vietnam. |
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Colonel Charlie Beckwith at the first Delta Force
Compound in 1980. Beckwith had personally
handed Idema his Special Forces diploma and his
Green Beret about 4 1/2 years before and they
remained close friends until Beckwith's death in
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Idema FINDING the Real Explosives- NOT "Traces"
as reported in
Rolling Stone.
This
is a piece of A1X2 explosive (similar to SEMTEX
Explosive except is is incendiary and untraceable by
bomb dogs). Thanks to TF SABER7 ISAF and U.S.
MPs at Bagram were able to obtain 4 kilos of this
explosive to train their bomb dogs. Prior to
finding this explosive in Serajan's pillow, neither
US or Coalition Forces had the ability to detect
this special explosive which was designed for
sabotage and terror attacks. A search of the
house netted the team explosives, detonators, firing
devices, ammunition, and IEDs inside pillows, rice
bags, and mattresses. The French Foreign
Legion, Netherlands EOD Teams, and Swedish Liaison
officers all thanked Jack profusely.
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NOTE: Rolling Stone has NO Excuse for this mistake.
This photograph was supplied to Rolling Stone by
Polaris Images in NY, yet Rolling Stone still stated
only "traces" of explosive were found (FYI- this is
enough A1X2 to flip a car over the roof of the US
Embassy if used correctly). Traces? We
believe the press is saying this because they can
not bring themselves to admit they were wrong and
that these men found and captured the real
terrorists that were going to kill American
soldiers.
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Idema has in fact supplied us with
extensive proof of his military background. Furthermore, Jack
Idema's background is well known, and was well reported on prior
to their July 2004 arrest in Afghanistan. Understandably, we
are shocked that reporters throughout the world ignored this. We have now put
some of that proof up on this site which completely destroys
Bergen's allegations of Idema's "unremarkable" military career as a
rear base radio operator (see
www.superpatriots.us/flogginfraud/page2.htm ).
 This
"unmotivated" "loser" received his Green Beret
at 18 and graduated the SF course at 19- this is unheard of.
Is their ANY other person in the world that has ever achieved
this? Idema went to SFUWOC, the Green Berets' equivalent to Navy SEAL school at
20 (average age is 28). He went on to become a Master Diver, a Senior Open Water
Instructor, a Master Instructor, and an Instructor Trainer. He
was jumpmaster at 24, a Counter-terrorist HRT team leader at 27,
having graduated the most classified counter-terrorist school in
the world in 1981. Idema later evaluated the course in 1983,
and rewrote their curriculum at age 27. He trained and
advised the British SAS at 25 years old (Her Majesty's Special Air Service- aka the folks that
did the Princes Gate Raid on Iranian Terrorists).
Idema worked
with the German GSG-9 Commandos and French GIGN throughout Europe in the late
70's and early 80's, then throughout the world in the following
years. Idema returned to TEACH the Special Forces
Course in 1984 as a SENIOR instructor.
 The bottom line is this; we've
done our background check. We've talked to Command Sergeant
Majors that trained him and worked for him. We've talked to
Colonels, Generals, and Admirals in the Navy SEALs. From
where we see it the press (all of them) have promoted a lie that
they are too scared to back out of now. What is worst
about this, although there are some good points in Bergen's
Rolling Stone article, is that Peter Bergen saw diplomas,
documents, plaques, and even saw photos in Idema's prison cell
that discount EVERYTHING written about Idema's "substandard"
military career.
What is even more extraordinary is that
Bergen, like every other journalist, quoted PHONY "reports," that quoted PHONY military records, stating Idema was
unmotivated and unprofessional. Idema says he is also offering
a $50,000 reward to ANYONE that can prove those statements are
true. Dan Rather bit the bullet on this type of thing, and it
appears he was legitimately conned-- so who is going to take
these journalists to task?
Why did the press rely on
false
sources (one of them told National Geographic he was a Knight of
the Vatican with two Silver Stars and a Bronze Star for bravery
in Vietnam- and wore the medals at a West Point benefit on
videotape- we checked this out with VeriSEAL at
http://sec-global.com/services/ctp/vsg/vrf.html and they
confirmed that this source, "Sir" Edward Artis, was a fake and
Idema was real (VeriSEAL is the organization that confirms or denies Navy SEALs and Green Berets). Exactly how did the press overlook
this?
 Idema was in Thailand and
Haiti in 1985 and 1986 (as we recall no Special Forces were
"supposed" to be in either place), receiving the
highly coveted Royal Thai Army Master Wings at 30 (he was ONLY
the 11th Green Beret to obtain this award since the fall of
Vietnam- more than ten years before). By 35
he had trained more than 20 foreign Special Forces units, and
was advising five federal agencies on counter-terrorism and
hostage rescue. Pictures of Idema along with copies of several of the
more than 25
Special Operations/SF diplomas and awards he received while in
the army have been provided to this website. They confirm
everything he has said.
There was a picture of American
Advisors in El Salvador in SOF magazine in 1984- one of those
advisors is Jack Idema, and it is obvious even with the black
bars across all of their faces. How did the "press" miss
all this? Maybe the same way the press falsely accused American
soldiers of "desecrating the Koran" on May 13th (Newsweek in
particular), which directly resulted in hundreds of
injured people and a dozen dead from riots in Afghanistan.
Newsweek- and every reporter that repeated these lies should be
sued for wrongful death by every Afghan family that lost a
family member as a result of their false reporting. They
apologized after people were already dead, and one day they will
also be apologizing to
Idema and his men.
 Idema's
supporters and comrades in Special Forces have supplied us with photos showing him in an American Army
uniform in Thailand, Panama, Haiti, Central America, Europe,
Eastern Europe, training the SAS, at the Army's Hostage Rescue
Force compound, at
the super-secret Mott Lake SOT base at Fort Bragg, at Scuba School, Navy
SEAL bases, as an instructor at the Army's secret Hwa Rang
Do course and he has personally supplied us with a picture of him
graduating the Special Forces course. We now have a signed
affidavit which says, that
Peter Bergen,
Stacy Sullivan, and
Mariah Blake were shown
all of this before they wrote their articles. So
Bergen, who is being applauded for helping Jack, still covered
up the truth and still lied like every other journalist.
What we really find
extraordinary are several letters on official stationary from
the Department of Defense. One is from the Assistant Secretary
of Defense that basically says Idema walks on water. Another is
from a Colonel that says the same, and there are more than 50
others from the early 90's that Idema has supplied us with and
says Bergen had access to. Just as important is the fact
that many of the "journalists" that wrote articles had access to
these (including Mariah Blake and Stacy Sullivan- who, according
to Jack's lawyer, are definitely getting sued).
Bergen,
Sullivan, and Blake all personally met and interviewed Special
Forces Officers and NCOs, like Master Sergeant Thomas Bumback
who confirmed Idema's military background yet NOT ONE SINGLE
JOURNALIST ever printed this information. So exactly why did Rolling
Stone and other "journalists" only quote documents which were unsubstantiated and
unverified? And
are phony? Why did they ignore documents that were official and
verifiable. Bergen can find bin Laden for an interview but he
can't get Jack Idema's military record correct or find out the truth?
Maybe Bergen was too embarrassed
to print what he knew after claiming that Idema was "rounding up
anyone with a long beard in Kabul in the hopes of finding bin
Laden." Is Bergen that naive? Why is it
that journalists ONLY quote unnamed sources on false statements
about Idema being unprofessional and unmotivated but FAIL to mention the following:
On Unmotivated and Unprofessional?:
A. Jack Idema was
Honor Graduate in his 1975 Special Forces Communications Course-
and received a letter of commendation from the commander (Idema's final score was a
perfect 100).
B. He was the Distinguished
Graduate in Phase I of his Special Forces Course. He
was one of only 16 to graduate out of a class of 1250 Airborne
and Ranger qualified soldiers to start selection. He set
eleven records Light Weapons Records in his Phase II Special Forces Light & Heavy
Weapons Course. According to the Chief of the SF Weapons
office at least three records still stood in 2004 (just shy of 30 years
later).
C. In 1976, according to
official records at JFKSWC (JFKCENMA/JFKSWCS) he was chosen to participate
in the most elite course in the Army; the Special Weapons and
Hand to Hand Combat Instructor School.
D. Within six months
Idema was
qualified as the youngest instructor ever, and one of only 11
(there were 44 total in all service branches and combined Special Ops units).
E. In November 1976 he was
chosen to go to USAJFKSWC-SFUWOC, the Army's "Navy SEAL" Course.
He broke two swimming records - You can call the school HQs to
confirm this- We heard this from a former commander there.
F. Over the next five years he
went to various NATO schools, including German Mountain
Climbing, Ski School, City Warfare School, and was on the
Special Forces Pistol Team where he competed at the Camp Perry
National Matches, ranking 6th in all combined services on his
first attempt. Thousands of the best shooters in the world
compete. He also competed at the Secret Service
matches and shot a "possible" (a perfect 100) at the NA Day FBI
matches at Camp Peekskill (a "possible" means your target is
sent to Quantico to placed in the running for the FBI's highest
score/champion for the year, NA means National Academy).
Most FBI agents dream of doing that-- very few ever do in their
entire career.
G. He went to the top secret SWC (different from Special
Warfare Center above- it stands for Special Weapons Course- and
we can't even hint at what that was on this website).
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In 1985 he graduated the US Army Special Forces Jumpmaster
Course. But
according to the press he wasn't even in the Army then.
I. Idema graduated the Special Forces
Instructor Course in 1986 and was then qualified to teach at the
Special Forces Schools, where he was assigned as a Senior
Instructor in a variety of positions (but according to
journalists Idema was thrown out of the Army in 1978).
J. His MOS (Military Occupational Specialty)
was NOT that of "rear base radio operator" but was 11B4S-W9--
the designation of a Special Forces Senior Weapons Sergeant
SCUBA qualified sniper. His secondary MOS was 11C3S-W7
designating Heavy weapons sergeant, and his "additional" MOS was
05B4S-W7 which was for cross-trained commo sergeant (Special
Forces Morse Code radio operator). He was later re-designated 18
series when the Army changed Green Berets to their own branch
(18). He was also cross-trained in demolitions and combat
medicine.
This isn't just Bergen's fault, the entire press corps has been
promoting a wide range of vicious lies- as an example, one
journalist, Tod Robbeson, quoting an "un-named source," claimed that Idema
stole food from his classmates in the Special Forces Course--
if this wasn't so viciously slanderous we'd be rolling on the
floor-- (the only time you lack food in the SF course is during
Phase I- the portion where you do land navigation, survival, and
E&E ops. During that portion of the course in 75-76 you WERE
COMPLETELY ALONE ! You walked for about 14-16 days ALONE- so
exactly who would have been there for Idema to steal this food
from? Was Tod Robbeson counting the chipmunks in the forest?)
Apparently the press feels free to make up
whatever they want because they don't think this guy is ever
coming back; that would be stupid assumption if anyone really
knew Idema. The press needs to portray this guy as a lousy
soldier, otherwise their myth of torture and conning coalition
troops starts to evaporate. Here are some quotes the
press MISSED, but we know that Rolling Stone, Columbia
Journalism Review, and
others were given
copies of the original letters:
These are REAL QUOTES
from REAL sources
and with their REAL names:
“Keith Idema may be
one of the last individuals for whom the phrase ‘I give you my
word’ still has meaning. To Keith honor is everything…. Keith
will do what he has pledged to do, no matter how difficult..."
"I have relied on him in the past, and never been disappointed.”
(Signed; [The Honorable] Timothy Connolly, Principal Deputy
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low
Intensity Conflict) on official US DOD stationary (the top
Pentagon civilian over all US Special Operations units in the
world).
"In fact, I was assigned to teach surveillance operations to a
British SAS commando force during which time Idema was their
principal instructor in hostage rescue and close quarter
battle. He [Jack] was the consummate professional with only two goals
in mind; saving lives and combating terrorism for the red, white
and blue.” (Letter written by Peter D. Montfort, former Special
Forces operative and Senior Detective with the Dutchess County
New York Sheriff’s Office. The letter is dated May 25, 1994)
“SGT Idema possesses a strong personality and a highly developed
individualism…He is sure to abrade an occasional superior. Such
occasional abrasion is a scant price to pay for his often
demonstrated abilities; and besides, some superiors can use a
little scraping now and then…Idema is definitely a person, and I
prefer a thoroughbred that on occasion needs the bridle, but
never the whip, to a plodding cart horse. SGT Idema is the man
I want around when the going is rough and in times of stress and
crisis. He is a tough and hard driver when you need him. I
think the Army needs him and that he belongs in the Army for as
long as we can keep him.” (Excerpt from a 1978 efficiency
report contained in a letter of support for Idema written by his
former commanding officer, Special Forces Captain Ray Carney. The letter is dated April 30, 1994)
“Idema is a stand-up kind of person. He is what we call a self
starter. He is a leader of men and not a follower. He speaks
his mind in a true and honest manner and is not a bureaucrat.
Although some may not agree with his tact in which he uses to
get his point across he is true to his word and is dependable in
the highest caliber. I would stand side by side with Idema in
the toughest situations in both military and civilian life.”
(Letter of support for Idema written by Special Forces operative
and counter-terrorism expert, Master Sergeant Peter L. Conners
(later Command Sergeant Major). The letter is dated May 18,
1994 on Department of the Army stationary from a classified
unit)
I have known few people as loyal and dedicated to their Country
as Keith Idema.” (Letter of support for Idema written by John M.
Comparetto, New York City Police Detective and Executive
Director of the Rockland County Child Abuse Agency, and later Chief of State
of New Jersey Corrections). The letter is dated June 1, 1994)
“Idema goes in locked and loaded and never quits.” “But he’s not
afraid of pain, and he’s not sweating death. It’s never
occurred to the guy to yield; never crossed his mind.... No
doubt about it, Keith is a hardass, but a true
patriot, a man of courage and inviolable honor.”
Statements of
Major James Morris, recipient of FOUR PURPLE HEARTS, and FOUR
BRONZE STAR Medals for valor in Vietnam. Major Morris served three combat tours
in Vietnam and has covered eight wars and conflicts as a combat
correspondent. He is the author of the best-selling book WAR
STORY.
“Idema’s word can be taken
as gospel.. I would want him with me in any battle...” Command
Sergeant Major Alex Schwarcbher, US Army Special Forces, and the
Senior enlisted man for the United States Army Special Warfare
School at Fort Bragg -- the school that trains and qualifies
Green Berets. Schwarcbher's medals include the purple heart,
several bronze stars, the silver star, several MSMs, several AMs
with V device, and the Vietnamese
Cross of Gallantry.
Jack Idema is “a man who has walked the moral high ground, and
has lived according to the creed ‘Duty, honor, Country’…” Lt
Colonel Rick Lester, Classified Special Operations unit
(TF-160).
“Idema is the best Special
Forces Weapons Sergeant I have ever known, and one was one the
most valued team members in my command."
And, in a letter of
commendation, "...his ability to train indigenous foreign armies
is unsurpassed." Written by Colonel Gary Rohen (MACV-SOG
Vietnam Team Leader) who is currently the Deputy Director of the
FBI's Counter-Terrorist Watch Command in Washington, DC.
But lets sum it all up- take ALL the
unnamed unidentified alleged sources about what a lousy soldier
Idema was and how he barely made it in Special Forces School,
and then read what the Commandant of the SPECIAL FORCES SCHOOL said
about Keith "Jack" Idema.
In an official
letter dated January 7, 1976, Colonel Charlie A. Beckwith,
School Commandant, who became famous as the First Commander of Delta
Force, commended Jack on his "perseverance, motivation, and
professionalism" in Special Forces:
"During that selection course you excelled by meeting every
requirement set upon you, whether it be arriving at your
objective on schedule, navigating across hazardous terrain,
evading detection or leading an ambush. The initiative you took
and the motivation you showed in attaining every objective of a
course that was designed to be impossible to complete reflects
greatly upon yourself and Special Forces."
[Signed,] Charlie A. Beckwith
Colonel, Infantry
Director, Special Forces School
---CASE
CLOSED---
Someone IS lying, but it sure as hell isn't Jack
Idema....
Also, one last point- did journalists look at previous articles in
Maxim or Stuff? Both had pictures of Idema FINDING explosives,
yet they repeatedly say they found "traces of explosives." There
is a big difference between actual plastic explosives hidden in
a pillow by terrorists (see
www.superpatriots.us/aboutthecase/genevaconvention.htm ) and
"traces' subject to the interpretation of a bomb dog. We have
seen video showing ISAF bomb dogs confirming trace explosives in
the terrorists' taxis-- other video we saw showed actual
explosives in the terrorists' houses. The evidence is clear,
the bad guys were terrorists, they had real explosives, and they
were going to kill high ranking officials and American soldiers.
The problem we have with Rolling Stone and other journalists is
that they research this for months and months and still can't get the facts
straight. Or maybe they aren't "allowed" to get the facts straight,
or just don't want to get them straight.
Interestingly enough, NO journalists mention the SuperPats website in their articles.
So they actively conceal facts and evidence.
Do they fear the pictures and documents on this
site that contradict their stories?
The fact remains that these men are innocent, even Peter Bergen now
admits this, and a recent tape
supplied to an American agency shows all five judges and the
prosecution admitting these men are innocent-- so exactly why
are they still in jail? Because, as the Chief Religious Judge
of the Appeals Courts says on a tape we saw last night, "the
[FBI] did this to you and... the press did this to you.... you are innocent, but the journalists
have forced the government [Afghan] to keep you in prison...."
And this was at the request of the US government.
This is a case of unrelenting jealously- jealousy by the FBI
that Idema caught the terrorists they couldn't and stopped
bombings they couldn't stop; jealousy by frauds like Sir Ed Artis and Tracy Paul-Warrington that Idema does what they wished
they could do, and jealousy by the press- jealous that Idema
doesn't kiss their ass like everyone else.
In March 2005, ALL FIVE Appeals Court judges stated that these men
were completely innocent- yet Rolling Stone failed to print
this, and not one single American journalist has ever reported
this fact. Not ONE SINGLE PRESS AGENCY has ever told the
American people about the TAPE RECORDINGS of the the court
finding them innocent even though every major press agency knew
about and most heard them.
That, in closing, is the power of
the press. Quite sick when you think about it, the power to
destroy that which they fear-- the truth. Thank you for your
time and God Speed.
SuperPatriots.US
A force of American
Special Ops personnel
dedicated to helping American and Afghan
patriots.
We remain dark by necessity, not by choice...
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