Free Jack Idema Blogburst

This blogburst is hosted by Cao over at Cao's blog. The basic goes like this. Jack Idema is a former Army Ranger who went to Afghanistan to help out. False charges of torture were brought against him and his team. They are currently rotting in a crappy prison and our State dept. is working against thier release, though they've been found innocent in several trials. Cao has all the details.

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Please consider the plight of the Americans being held at Pulacharke prison at this moment. It's been over a year since they've been declared completely innocent by the Afghan appeals court, yet they're still being held. The question is...why? If the Afghans admit that no torture occurred (which they did), that they entered the country legally (which they did), that there was no torture (which they did), then why has the American government turned its back on them?

Put aside the question as to whether or not Jack and his men are active-duty soldiers, because that's not the question. The question is not whether he had an alleged "fraud conviction" (and that's not what it was!) The question is--if you were abroad working in a country that signed agreements to honor basic human rights of people working there in order to receive financial assistance--and then you're falsely arresting of something and thrown in prison for it--wouldn't you expect your countrymen to take up arms, or pens, or telephones and make sure that the people who are pulling the levers of power would at least be AWARE of this situation?

It would seem to me that if more people were aware of this story something would have been done about it besides trying to brush it under the rug.

Wouldn't your friends and family--if you were arrested under circumstances like these in a foreign country--demand that something be done about it?

Well it's time the American people did so on behalf of the Americans being held at Pulacharke. Certainly Karzai with all of the languages he speaks understands English!

It's time to turn up the heat on all our elected representatives, because this absolutely should not stand. How on earth can someone remain in detention--remain in prison--after they've been declared innocent by the country where they're being held? This whole affair is so convoluted it's beyond description, and it defies REASON!

Contact your representatives and ask them why Idema, Bennett and Caraballo are STILL being held at Pulacharke when they were all declared innocent by the Afghans since at least December of last year.


Secret US EMBASSY Fax: – 301-560-5729 (Local US Fax: Goes RIGHT TO Ambassador)

c/o US Ambassador Ronald Neuman
6180 Kabul Place
Dulles, VA 20189-6180



US Consul Russell Brown – 011-93-70201908 (Fired)

US Consul Addie Harchik- 011-93-70201908 (denied them water and mail at Thanksgiving)

US Embassy Translator Wahid – new – 011-93-70201902

US Embassy Translator Bashir Momman– 011-93-70201923

US Consul (friend of Jack's Now fired) Dawn Schrepel– 011-93-70201908




Embassy of Afghanistan (Good guys, Northern Alliance)
2341 Wyoming Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008

Ph: 202-483-6410, Fax: no. 202-483-6488

Website: http://www.embassyofafghanistan.org/



Ambassador Massoud Khalili (wounded with Massoud)
Islamic State of Afghanistan
Embassy of Afghanistan

New Delhi, India



H.E. Said Tayeb JAWAD (Afghan Ambassador- powerful in US)

Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington
2341 Wyoming Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
Tel: (+1-202) 483 6414
Fax: (+1-202) 483 9523



Mr. Jahed Hamrah, Consul General (pro-Taliban)

CONSULATE GENERAL OF

AFGHANISTAN IN NEW YORK
360 Lexington Avenue,
11th Floor New York,
New, York, NY 10017
Tel.: (+1-212) 972 2276 or 972 2277
Fax: (+1-212) 972 9046

Honorable Donald H. Rumsfeld


Secretary of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon – Room # 3E880
Washington, DC 20301-1000

Ph: (703) 692-7100

Fax: (703) 697-9080



Lt General William Boykin

Deputy Undersecretary
of Defense for Intelligence
1800 Defense Pentagon – Room # 3E836
Washington, DC 20301

Ph: (703) 697-0170

Private Fax: (703) 697-9080


Stephen Cambone
Principle Deputy Secretary for Intelligence
1800 Defense Pentagon – Room # 3E
Washington, DC 20310-0100


General Peter J. Shoomaker

Chief of Staff, Department of the Army
200 Army Pentagon – Room # 3E528
Washington, DC 20310-0200

Ph: (703) 695-2077 / Fax: (703) 614-5268



The Honorable John D. Negroponte

Director National Intelligence
New Executive Office Building
725 17th Street, N.W., Room 4203
Washington, DC 20503



The Committee
On Homeland Security
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515



Chairman Peter Hoekstra
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
H-405, U.S. Capitol
Washington, DC 20515-6415;

Office: (202) 225-4121 / Fax: (202) 225-1991
Toll Free: (877) 858-9040



M. Cherif BASSIOUNI

Independent Expert of the Commission on Human Rights
On the Situation of Human Rights in Afghanistan
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
UNOG-OHCHR
CH-1211 Geneva 10

Ph: +41(0)22 917 97 27 Fax: +41(0)22 917 90 18

Email: jwillems@ohchr.org www.ohchr.org



Senator Steven Saland (Jack's Rep and Neighbor)
9 Jonathan Lane
Poughkeepsie, NY 12603



Senator Elizabeth Dole (Jack's Rep)
United States Senate
310 New Bern Avenue, Suite 122
Raleigh, NC 27601
Ph: 919.856.4630

Fax: 919.856.4053



Senator Elizabeth Dole (Jack's Rep)
United States Senate
555 Dirksen Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Ph: 202.224.6342

Fax: 202.224.1100



Senator Richard Burr (of Interest)
United States Senate
217 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3154 / Fax: (202) 228-2981



Senator Bill Nelson (in the fight on Jack's Side)
United States Senate
Hart Senate Office Building
Room 716
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-5274 / Fax: 202-228-2183

FL Fax 407-872-7165



Senator Dianne Feinstein (Bennett's Representative)
United States Senate
Hart Office Building, Room 331
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3841



Representative Mike McIntyre (Jack's Representative)
United States Congress
2437 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Phone: (202) 225-2731 / Fax (202) 225-5773



Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (reference Captain Bennett- CA citizen)
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841 / Fax: 916-445-4633

http://ffs.capwiz.com/DHTML/CAjsform.js">

We should make it clear that we know what has gone on here and that it's an outrage and all men from TF Sabre/7 should be released, exonerated, their names cleared. And we should be also pushing for a Congressional investigation as to who was involved, the how and the why. Nobody fighting in Afghanistan or Iraq should EVER have to worry about being hung out to dry like this by a government that is employing stalinist tactics and turning its back on all the freedoms and rights that have been provided and guaranteed us by our founding documents and the blood of our forefathers, many of whom are laying at Arlington cemetary--as well as old standards which all men in uniform think they have as safeguards such as the Geneva Conventions. Are we to apply the Geneva Conventions to terrorists to whom these safeguards don't apply and ignore them for our men in uniform for whom they were written???

If so, we're setting ourselves up for FAILURE in this TERROR WAR.

This is the "Free Jack" campaign.

To join the campaign, email me and tell her you want to join the Free Jack Idema blogburst. You will be added to the blogroll and she'll send you the html code to put up for that week in case you're pressed for time and can't put something together...or you can write your own.

We will be blogging on this every Wednesday until he and his team are released, and when they are, we'll be blogging about a congressional hearing.

Caoilfhionn from Cao's blog will maintain an email list, and will email you the post of the week along with a picture (if there is one for that week) to host at your blog.

Join the fight. No American should ever have to worry about ending up in this predicament ever again. But first, we must make sure they get home safely and in one piece.


Blogs who are not posting on this and linking back to me will be deleted from the blogroll. I will be checking.

These are the blogs so far who are participating:


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