> Gautam wrote:
>
> The most recent example that still hurts was the
> replacement of the Communist regime of Afghanistan
> by the Talibans. It was a replacement of _bad_ by _worse_,
> and it was fully supported by the USA.
>
> Me:
> Not true. That's one of those nice pieces of mythology that has been
> created over the last year because it makes people like Jeroen happy, but
> it's not true. The US never supported the Taliban in Afghanistan in any
> meaningful fashion at all. Up until about 1989 or so we supported the
> people who would eventually become the Northern Alliance. After that we
> completely ignored Afghanistan. I'm fairly sure that I posted a New
> Republic article that disposed of this entirely scurrilous accusation.
I'm sorry I haven't had time to respond to you in depth to other
posts, but when I read the above I had to ask about this:
" Born in Saudi Arabia to a Yemeni family, Bin Laden left Saudi
Arabia in 1979 to fight against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
The Afghan jihad was backed with American dollars and had the
blessing of the governments of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
He received security training from the CIA itself, according to
Middle Eastern analyst Hazhir Teimourian.
While in Afghanistan, he founded the Maktab al-Khidimat (MAK), which
recruited fighters from around the world and imported equipment to
aid the Afghan resistance against the Soviet army."
from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_155000/155236.stm
It seems that Bin Laden is another in what seems to be a pattern of
U.S. "clients" turned U.S. arch enemies. Saddam Hussain being
another, Noriega a third and I'm sure there are more.
--
Doug
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.zo.com/~brighto
"Now people stand themselves next to the righteous
And they believe the things they say are true
They speak in terms of what divides us
To justify the violence they do"
Jackson Browne, It Is One
