the U.S. Army Special Operations Command warning them of Idema's activities, stating: Idema later filed suit against Artis and Knightsbridge, but the case was dismissed and a monetary judgement was in turn placed against him. Activities Idema led a group he called "Task Force Saber 7", consisting of two other Americans and several Afghans. The group may have been operating in Afghanistan with independent financial backing or with funds from the lawsuit settlements Idema had won a few years earlier. He frequently interacted with reporters, often going to great lengths in his interviews to stress connections with the CIA and Special Forces. Some supporters suggest that he was a former member of an unspecified covert operations unit, reactivated and positioned in Afghanistan to hunt for Osama bin Laden as part of Alec Station. A relationship to the Northern Alliance was denied by their official representative in the United States. Some critics of Idema claim that his attempts to create a high profile with the media make it unlikely that Idema was officially connected with any branch of the military; covert operatives go to great lengths to avoid public appearances and media, and are barred from unauthorized contact. The fact that Caraballo, who was not a soldier, was with Idema in Afghanistan to document his activities strained credibility that Idema was operating covertly. Idema was known to have a volatile temper that seemed to be particularly directed against news correspondents assigned to Kabul. On several occasions, Idema threatened journalists with bodily harm or death, and in one particular instance, at a dinner in December 2001, he threatened to kill a reporter from Stars and Stripes because the reporter had disclosed Idema's fraud conviction. It has been recorded that Idema frequently contacted the DoD through the front office of General William G. Boykin in the Pentagon, and that his information was duly acknowledged. However, all of those contacts were outside the U.S. military operating channels, and were all one-sided calls from Afghanistan via Idema's personal satellite phone. Boykin's office repeatedly asked Idema to stop making these unsolicited phone calls, because they were disruptive and time-consuming, and Boykin could not be of assistance. Idema continued calling Boykin's office anyway to establish some sort of self-serving relationship until his arrest. While the U.S. government was aware of Idema's activities in Afghanistan, they stated there was unequivocally no relationship between them. The United States Central