Brent Bennett

Brent Bennett is a former U.S. Army paratrooper who was convicted by an Afghan court on September 15, 2004 for participating in torture and kidnapping, and for running a private jail in Kabul. Bennett and his associate Jonathan Idema had been operating as independent security contractors in Afghanistan, but had been representing themselves the American and international media, members of the U.S. military, and Afghani nationals as U.S. government-sponsored covert operatives to track and apprehend Osama Bin Laden and senior Taliban officials. The government has repeatedly denied the validity of their claims.cite web |url=http://www.arcent.army.mil/media_releases/2004/july/jul22_02.asp |title=News Release No. 04-07-43: Detainee Received from Jonathan Keith Idema |date= 2004-07-22 |accessdate=2007-02-15 |format= |work=Headquarters United States Central Command ] cite web |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0407/20/acd.00.html |title=Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees |accessdate= |format= |work=CNN broadcast transcript |quote=MICHAEL BOUCHER, STATE DEPT. SPOKESMAN: So I'm afraid we don't -- have no connection with these individuals. The U.S. government has no connection with these individuals.]

Bennett and Idema, along with journalist Edward Caraballo were arrested by Afghan police on July 5, 2004 during a raid in which they found eight Afghani men (some hanging from their feet) bound and hooded in detention. On 15 September 2004, a three-judge Afghan panel headed by Judge Abdul Baset Bakhtyari sentenced both Idema and Bennett to a ten year prison term, while Caraballo received eight years. Idema and Bennett's sentences were later cut to five and three respectively. Caraballo claimed he was filming Idema and Bennett for a documentary on counterterrorism. Four Afghanis working with Idema were sentenced to between one and five years imprisonment.cite web |last =Sullivan |first =Stacy |authorlink = |coauthors = |title =Keith Idema's Operation Desert Fraud |work = |publisher =New York Magazine |date =2004-10-04 |url =http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/features/10121/ |format = |doi = |accessdate =2007-04-10] cite web |last =Blake |first =Mariah |authorlink = |coauthors =A.G.Basoli |title =Tin Soldier: An American Vigilante In Afghanistan, Using the Press for Profit and Glory |work = |publisher =Columbia Journalism Review |date =2005-01 |url =http://cjr.org/issues/2005/1/blake-soldier.asp |format = |doi = |accessdate =2006-12-27]

The defendants claim that there had never been any evidence the Afghans were abused. Moreover, Bennett and his family have maintained that he was working through official U.S. channels and was abandoned by U.S. officials after being arrested. It is not known whether Bennett, as an associate of Idema's, collaborated with Idema in misrepresenting themselves or whether he was led by Idema to believe they were on a U.S. government covert operation. Most of the media attention surrounding the case has been focused on Idema, the apparent leader of the group.

On September 30, 2006, after serving more than two years of his sentence, Bennett was released from prison and flown out Afganistan. U.S. officials secured Bennett a passport and a ticket out of the country, then boarded a plane for Dubai.Fact|date=April 2007 It was not clear if Bennett was free or in the custody of U.S. officials.

While in the U.S. Army, he spent time in units in Alaska and North Carolina. He never saw combat. After his discharge, he settled in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and worked in restaurant management.Fact|date=April 2007

External links

* [http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,SOF_0804_Idema,00.html "U.S. Bounty Hunter on Trial in Afghanistan"] , "Soldier of Fortune" Magazine.
* [http://www.superpatriots.us/speakout/brentspeaks.htm Bennett's perspective of the events, from Jonathan Idema's website.]

ee also

References