Info please. Did the US ever have any dealings with al-Qaeda?

[Poiuyt]

I'm wondering if we did anything with them when Afghanistan was fighting the Soviet Union.

[neuvocat]

1. That's correct.

They came into existence because of the U.S.

[AlCzervik]

2. You mean aside from helping in their creation?

We helped out UBL when he was fighting the soviets in afghanistan. We like to arm everyone on all sides.

[Cheswick2.0]

3. we funded and supplied them with arms

we are the proud parents of Al Quida.

[never cry wolf]

4. They weren't called al-Qaeda then

but they were the Afghan "freedom fighters" fighting the Soviet Union. We armed, trained and funded them. I don't have links cuz I have been concentrating on the more current scandals.

[El Supremo]

5. Mujahadeen (sp?) n/t

[merh]

6. Yeah, remember Raygun brought an end to the cold war

We funded, trained and armed OBL and his freedom fighters. Then when they were able to turn the Soviets back, we in kind, turned our backs on Afghanistan. Their country was in rumble and we walked away from them and refused to help them rebuild.

Some of the weapons that are being used now in Afghanistan to fight off our efforts and maim and kill our soldiers were weapons that we provided.

How's that for a reality check!

[Hoping4Change]

7. "Bin Laden’s network of terror was once an ally."

Backed by the U.S., mujaheddin fought the Soviets.

By Ahmed Rashid
Special to the Star-Bulletin 11/23/01

ISLAMABAD >> William Casey, the director of U.S. central intelligence, committed the CIA in 1986 to support a long-standing initiative by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to recruit radical Muslims from around the world to fight alongside the Afghan mujaheddin against the invaders from the Soviet Union.

Pakistan sought to cement Islamic unity, turn Pakistan into the leader of the Muslim world and foster an Islamic opposition in Central Asia. Washington wanted to demonstrate that the entire Muslim world was fighting the Soviet Union alongside the Afghans and their American benefactors.

The Saudi Arabians saw an opportunity both to promote Wahabbism (their strict creed) and expel disgruntled radicals.

.....Among these recruits was a young Saudi student, Osama bin Laden"

Entire article

http://starbulletin.com/2001/09/23/editorial/special2.html


This is from The Center of Cooperative Research 9/11 Timelime. Their 9/11 timeline is the gold standard of research into 9/11, dating back to 1979.


http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/project.jsp?project=911_project

[seabeyond]

8. we made them thru money and quiet military

to take down russia in afghanistan

[wryter2000]

9. Also backed the Taliban

As late as 2001 we were giving money to the Taliban because they were trying to end poppy production. Part of the War on Drugs. Yeah, right....

[seemslikeadream]

10. Yea once the Taliban was able to stop the poppy production

it was all over for them. How is the BFEE gonna finance anything without their precious poppies.

[Poiuyt]

11. So, let me get this straight

We supplied arms to Osama bin Ladin and al-Queda AND Saddam Hussein when he was fighting Iran. This is just great!

[anarchy1999]

12. Just look up Charlie Wilson at google and you will get more than you

ever wanted to know!
What follows is just one on the second page............and yes, on edit, Osama, "Bless his Heart", is the creation of the US, probably why he hates us and is doing what he is doing now, he knows the Bush family and everything that goes with them better than anyone and is the first of many that are going to be standing up to "them". I'm afraid dear Bin Laden is getting ready to lead the way. Mercy be with us all. Can we please try a little diplomacy?

Can we just take a couple of steps back and say we are sorry for everything that has happened in the Mid-East since World War I, Lawrence of Arabia and the betrayal of the sheiks and tribes that helped the English defeat the Turks in that silly little, stupid first world war, you know the one that was supposed to end all wars. God knows, I think Wilson did try and did fail miserably and thanks to Wilson we have the The Federal Reserve.
I believe he even gave and speech and warned about the "secret government" from his "deathbed.

Okay lots of tin foil everyone!!!


http://www.political.com/analysis-arc/0494.html

Charlie Wilson's War and Houston

Charlie Wilson War by George Crile is very interesting from a Houston viewpoint. It is how my old friend and sometimes drinking partner Congressman Charlie Wilson used his influence in the Congress to get arms to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan to fight the Russians. But to understand how he got involved you have to start in Houston with Joan King Herring now Davis and her involvement with the head guy in Pakistan.In the 1980's she was the honorary counsel general in Houston for that county.

Joan was and still is a knock out and was married to one of my old bosses Bob Herring who was at one time the CEO of Houston Natural Gas...which became Enron. Herring who died at an early age of brain cancer was married to Joan and I use to fly back from DC with them on the corporate jet. They were in love and would hold hands during the flight which sometimes would interrupt my trips to the jet's bathroom. But that is another story.

Anyway Charlie also interested in good looken women met Joan after Bob's death and they started a romance. Joan decided to get Charlie interested in helping those Mujahideen fighters and Charlie interested in Joan and fighting the Reds plus helping Israel got involved in getting the CIA to get them arms that they could use against the Russians. That is what this book is about and it is a good read. Interesting in how the CIA had a certain society and how folks moved up in the organization. How Charlie got the money against the CIA wishes sometimes to fund the arms and how he made a quiet name for himself in Congress. But in the middle east was a king and Charlie used his position to take many trips. The book has some great pictures of Wilson in Afghanistan

The best review is by Molly Ivins. She has a different prospective but it still give you a good idea of what the book is about. Go buy it and have a nice time reading about Afghanistan before 9/11.

"By Molly Ivins,Creators Syndicate

"Well, cut off my legs and call me Shorty. Danged if Charlie Wilson didn't win the Cold War singlehandedly.

That would be the same Charlie Wilson we've known all these years as a rascal, reprobate and roue -- and also, a semi-decent congressman from East Texas, a dead-serious patriot and a lot more fun than the average bear.
The thesis of George Crile's book Charlie Wilson's War is that Wilson, by brilliantly leveraging his position on the Defense Appropriations Committee, funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan, where they gradually bled the Red Army to death and caused the collapse of the Soviet Union.

End of Evil Empire, all courtesy of Charlie Wilson.

Crile has boatloads of evidence to back up this improbable thesis and a whale of a tale.

Who could miss with material like the time Charlie took a belly dancer from Fort Worth to perform for the Egyptian minister of defense? Or, my favorite, the time he dragged the wildly eccentric chairman of the Appropriations Committee, a guy who spits all the time and looks like the mad scientist from Back to the Future, off to meet Zia ul-Haq and the Mujahideen.

Accompanied by gorgeous females known as "Snookums" and "Snowflake," Wilson and his assorted accomplices, including a rule-busting CIA op and a born-again Houston socialite, pull off this fantastic, improbable coup.

[LTR]

13. Yup.

OLB was trained by the CIA.

http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/crime/terrorists/osama-bin-laden/

Young Osama graduated from a Jeddah university in 1979 with a degree in civil engineering. Naturally, this training inspired him to become a freelance warmonger. The chic venue at the time was Afghanistan, which the Soviet Union had invaded in 1978. With the support of the Saudi and U.S. governments, bin Laden took up the struggle of the mujahideen rebels who were working to repel the Soviets.

bin Laden used his personal fortune and connections to raise funds for the mujahideen, providing aid with logistics, supplies and "humanitarian" aid. He took part in fighting, by all accounts fearless and focused in working to fortify mujahideen positions. He also helped recruit Muslims for the battle from a headquarters in neighboring Pakistan.

As with so many of America's worst nightmares, bin Laden and his cronies received financial support and training from the CIA during this period. The CIA had come up with this fabulous notion that it could incite the entire Arab world into jihad against the godless Soviets. It looked great on paper! What could possibly go wrong?

President Ronald Reagan authorized the covert release of funds, high-end armaments and CIA "specialists" to assist the mujahideen in driving the Soviets out of Afghanistan, an effort that ultimately succeeded in 1989.