Posted on 07/08/2004 1:21:25 PM PDT by jjm2111
Heh. Beat me to it.
Are you sure teddy bears won't make them talk? What about puppies?
(snip) Major news organizations and a celebrated author bought into his self-portrayal as an undercover spy, explosives expert, active-duty Special Forces operative, covert "black ops" specialist, and one of the few Americans truly dedicated to hunting down Mr. bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network.
But hundreds of documents, e-mail exchanges, photographs and other materials supplied by close associates of Mr. Idema offer an entirely different picture of who he really is a showman and convicted fraudster whose military career ended in 1984 before he'd even spent a day in live combat.
Perhaps because of his military-style uniform, the authority in his voice, his swagger and authentic use of Special Forces jargon, many journalists and media personalities accepted him too quickly as the real thing, according to journalists and close acquaintances who witnessed Mr. Idema's personality makeover.
"He's a very believable guy. He looks you in the eye. He looks like a Special Forces guy, acts like one. ... It's hard not to believe him once he gets talking," said Robin Moore, author of the 2003 book The Hunt for Bin Laden, Task Force Dagger, which features Mr. Idema as one of the central figures in the Afghanistan war.
A photo of Mr. Idema, 48, appears on the book's cover, and he receives co-author credit in the book's British version.
Mr. Moore, who also wrote The Green Berets and The French Connection, said he had been warned repeatedly about Mr. Idema during the 14 years they have been acquainted. He said they met in 1990 outside a Special Forces convention, where Mr. Idema was hawking military accessories. But it was only after the book was published that he began taking those warnings seriously.
(/snip)
-------"Records seem to discredit self-proclaimed Special Forces expert.....Out of service since '84, man accused in Afghan case never saw combat," By TOD ROBBERSON / The Dallas Morning News, Monday, August 30, 2004
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