You'd think they'd have figured out it's easier to just tell the truth by now
U.S. Says It Got Afghan From Vigilantes
U.S. Says It Received Afghan Prisoner From Americans Who Are Charged With Torture at Private Jail
The Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan July 22, 2004 — The U.S. military said Thursday it held an Afghan prisoner for two months after receiving him from three Americans who have been charged with torturing detainees at a private jail.
The admission followed claims by the group's leader that it had ties to the Defense Department which the Pentagon denies and was another embarrassment for U.S. officials already coping with their own prisoner abuse scandal.
The American military insists the men acted on their own and has tried to distance itself from them and their leader, Jonathan Idema, a former U.S. soldier who once was convicted of fraud.
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.
