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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alighieri who wrote (195404)	7/22/2004 2:37:36 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1571405

Jul. 22, 2004. 12:56 PM Military admits to contact with freelance soldiers BY STEPHEN GRAHAM ASSOCIATED PRESS KABUL — The U.S. military acknowledged today it held an Afghan man for a month after taking custody of him from three American men who have since been arrested on charges of torturing prisoners at a private jail they ran in the Afghan capital. The admission follows claims by the group's leader that they had Pentagon ties, and could be another black eye for U.S. officials already coping with their own prisoner abuse scandal. The American military has tried to distance itself from the group, led by a former American soldier named Jonathan Idema, insisting they were freelancers. But spokesman Maj. Jon Siepmann acknowledged that the military had received a detainee from Idema's group at Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, on May 3. Siepmann said Idema had appeared "questionable" the moment he presented the detainee, and that suspicion grew as interrogators realized he was not the top suspect that Idema had claimed. "That doesn't mean at the time that we knew Mr. Idema's full track record or other things he was doing out there," Siepmann said. "This was a person who turned in a person who we believed was on our list of terrorists and we accepted him." Siepmann declined to identify the detainee or the fugitive he was mistaken for. He said it was unclear how Idema, who officials say had been posing as a U.S. special operations soldier, identified himself to soldiers at Bagram, or if he asked for anything in return for the detainee. Afghan President Hamid Karzai was "concerned" about the men's activities and any contacts with U.S. forces, his spokesman Jawed Ludin said. "As far as we know, what they were doing was unlawful." The U.S. government has offered rewards for the capture of a string of top fugitives, including a $50-million bounty on Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Siepmann said officials were investigating whether Idema had other contact with the 17,000-strong U.S.-led force here, but insisted: "We did not commission him to go out and look for terrorists." Afghan security forces seized Idema, two other Americans and four Afghans on July 5 after freeing eight prisoners from their makeshift jail in Kabul. The arrests came after international peacekeepers contacted the U.S. military about their own suspicion of Idema's group, which duped the NATO-led force into helping in three raids in late June. The seven defendants went on trial in Kabul on Wednesday, charged with hostage-taking, torture and firearms offences. Idema of Fayetteville, N.C., and co-defendants Edward Caraballo of New York City and Brent Bennett, also reportedly of Fayetteville, could be jailed for up to 20 years if convicted. The Americans didn't testify Wednesday, and the case was adjourned for two weeks so the accused can prepare their defence. But Idema told reporters in the courtroom he had daily contact with U.S. officials "at the highest level," including Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's office. "The American authorities absolutely condoned what we did. They absolutely supported what we did," Idema said. A Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was no evidence that Idema or the two other Americans were in contact with the Defence Department. Idema, who was in the army reserve from 1975 through 1984, did receive special forces training, the official said. Since 2001, the U.S. military has found 94 cases of confirmed or alleged abuse of prisoners by U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, the army's inspector general said in a report Thursday. The number is significantly higher than all other previous estimates given by the Pentagon, which had refused until now to give a total number of abuse allegations. The army inspector general report, looking at the period from Oct. 1, 2001, through June 9 in Iraq and Afghanistan, is by far the most comprehensive examination of the abuse that sent shock waves through both the Arab world and the United States since the scandal broke earlier this year at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison. Idema, reportedly 48, claimed his group had halted a plot by "world-class terrorists" to blow up Bagram with fuel trucks and assassinate Afghan leaders. The court heard three of Idema's former captives describe being beaten, held under water and left without food. Idema, who claims to have fought the Taliban in 2001-02, offered protection for journalists and hawked purported Al Qaeda training videos to television networks. He is featured in a book about the Afghan war called Task Force Dagger: The Hunt for bin Laden. thestar.com

To: Alighieri who wrote (195404)	7/22/2004 2:50:58 PM
From: Tenchusatsu	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1571405

Al, Covering what up? The lack of substance within Kerry, or at least the need to overly inflate his image. Obviously you'd rather dismiss all of this as petty. I don't blame you. It's probably why you were upset at the one who is pointing out such pettiness, rather than the one who is petty to begin with. Tenchusatsu

To: Alighieri who wrote (195404)	7/22/2004 2:54:16 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1571405

Today: July 22, 2004 at 11:17:45 PDT Prospective Aladdin buyer would invite Ronstadt back By Dan Kulin LAS VEGAS SUN If the prospective new owners of the Aladdin have their way, Linda Ronstadt will soon be back at the Strip resort -- with controversial filmmaker Michael Moore in tow. Ronstadt was booted from the property after she dedicated a song to Moore and praised his movie "Fahrenheit 9/11" at her Saturday night concert at the Aladdin, prompting some audience members to walk out and ask for their money back. On Wednesday, Planet Hollywood Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Earl, a partner in the group that won the right to buy the Aladdin in bankruptcy court, said that, if his group takes over the Aladdin, "we would like to offer the use of the Theatre of Performing Arts to Linda Ronstadt for a second concert and further to take Michael Moore up on his offer to join her on stage to introduce her and sing a song." Earl's Planet Hollywood group is awaiting Nevada Gaming Commission approval for the purchase, which Earl said could come as early as Sept. 1. The sale would give the Aladdin a very different management philosophy regarding performances at the resort, he said. "We respect artists' creativity and support their rights to express themselves," Earl said. "We were very sorry to hear about the unfortunate circumstances of this past Saturday night and want to make it clear that Planet Hollywood has never, in our 13-year history, restricted any artist's right to free speech and we will continue with that policy once we take ownership." Peter Keps, senior vice president of Princeton Entertainment, producer for Ronstadt's shows, including the recent Aladdin gig, said this morning he "wasn't aware of anything" regarding Earl's offer and could not comment on it at this time. Keps said Ronstadt was on tour and could not immediately be reached. Attempts this morning to reach Ronstadt's spokeswoman Kelly Bronowich at Susan Blond Inc. in New York were not successful. Irving Azoff, legendary manager of groups including the Eagles and a friend of Ronstadt's, said that while he couldn't say for sure whether Ronstadt would accept Earl's offer, "it would not surprise me if Linda, Michael Moore and many of their friends got together for some sort of a benefit concert there." Ken Sunshine, a spokesman for Moore, said Moore would be delighted to join Ronstadt on the Aladdin stage. "I can tell you that Michael Moore would be thrilled to take Mr. Earl up on his offer. Michael will do anything he can to support Linda Ronstadt, a true American patriot," Sunshine said. Moore criticized Aladdin President Bill Timmins in a letter posted on Moore's Web site Monday. Moore said throwing out Ronstadt was "simply stupid and un-American." "Invite her back and I'll join her in singing 'America the Beautiful' on your stage," Moore wrote. "Then I will show 'Fahrenheit 9/11' free of charge to all your guests and anyone else in Las Vegas who wants to see it." Ronstadt caused a stir when she dedicated her encore song, "Desperado," to Moore, whose film "Fahrenheit 9/11" has been criticized by conservatives and lauded by liberals. Ronstadt's dedication drew some boos and some of the audience walked out and marred posters for the concert as they left. Timmins, who was among the almost 5,000 fans at the concert, had security guards escort Ronstadt to her tour bus and had her belongings brought down from her hotel room after the concert. The hotel president also sent word that Ronstadt was no longer welcome at the hotel for future performances. Timmins said he was concerned about customer satisfaction and safety. "A situation like that can easily turn ugly and I didn't want anything more to come out of it," Timmins said the day after the event. "There were a lot of angry people there after she started talking. "If she wants to talk about her views to a newspaper or in a magazine article, she is free to do so. But on a stage in front of four and a half thousand people is not the place for it." Azoff said he was "appalled" by what happened to Ronstadt. "So I called my other friend Robert Earl to say, 'Who is this guy, and I hope he doesn't work for you,' " Azoff said. "This is a freedom-of-speech issue. This is an American issue," Azoff said, adding that he has never heard of anything similar happening to another singer. lasvegassun.com