The following article was inspired by my debate, “Is Obama Keeping or Breaking His “Promises” As President When He Continues to Engage In Wars?“…
Why did American troops invade Afghanistan in the first place?
Why are American troops still in Afghanistan?
Why did Amercan troops cross the sovereign borders of Afghanistan in the first place? Does your reasoning have anything to do with the Osama Bin Laden, with “his” 19 “Al Qaeda” hijackers story propogated by the Bush Administration? Well, before you answer any of my questions, here is some less-know information that you should be aware of:
(A) 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi Arabian citizens:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002/02/06/saudi.htm
So, why did the Bush adminstration choose to attack Afghanistan in the first place? What made our government believe that they would find Bin Laden in Afghanistan?
(B) Osama Bin Laden was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as the son of BILLIONAIRE BUSINESSMAN (Saudi Arabia’s wealthiest construction magnate), Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/etc/cron.html
Again, I ask: why exactly did the Bush administration choose to attack Afghanistan in the first place? Why would Bin Laden hide in Afghanistan? And, what is this Saudi-US-Afghani connection to 9/11? Isn’t our government on friendly terms with Saudi Arabia because they provide us with a great deal of our OIL (the 3rd US supplier, after Canada and Mexico)? And, since the Bush family is involved in the OIL business with the Saudi Royals, could this somehow play an unknown role in everything?
(C) And, here is where it gets complicated. In 1979 Osama Bin Laden joined Afghanistan’s “Mujahideen” (translated as: “Freedom-Fighters,” or more literally, “People Engaged in Jihad,” or “People Engaged in the Struggle”). Finally! A real Afghani connection! But, wait! If you’ll recall, this is the same Mujahideen that the CIA trained and funded during the Cold War to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan! The same group that allegedly disbanded after the defeat of the Russians. Hmm… Obviously, there is something a little more complex at work here. Let’s do some research:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mujahideen#Afghanistan
If you’ll notice, Wiki states:
“The Mujahideen were significantly financed and armed (and are alleged to have been trained) by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the Carter and Reagan administrations, the government of Saudi Arabia, Zia-ul-Haq’s military regime in Pakistan, Iran, the People’s Republic of China and several Western European countries. The Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was the interangent used in the majority of these activities to disguise the source of support for the resistance. Under Reagan, U.S. support for the Mujahideen evolved into an official U.S. foreign policy, known as the Reagan Doctrine.”
(Oh, and, by the way, Wiki is very censored – controlled and moderated by corporations, political parties, the Pentagon, and government intelligence agencies, so when something like this allowed through the filters, it’s because it is unavoidable to do so without the entire Wiki project losing credibility!)
The CIA’s actions were carried out under the military directives of OPERATION CYCLONE, implemented as policy from 1979-1989 (with bipartisan support – both Carter and Reagan were on-board), and, later, through the executive directives of the Reagan Doctrine:
OPERATION CYCLONE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cyclone
According to the Wiki:
“[OPERATION CYCLONE] relied heavily on using the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) as an intermediary for funds distribution, passing of weapons, military training and financial support to Afghan resistance groups.”
It is interesting to note that, to this day, OPERATION CYCLONE is still considered “one of the longest and most expensive covert CIA operations ever undertaken.” For more on the Reagan Doctrine, go here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan_Doctrine
After joining the Mujahideen, Osama Bin Laden went on to co-found “Maktab Al-Khidamat” (Afghan Services Bureau, or MAK) with Abdullah Azzam in 1984, which was AGAIN indirectly funded by the US:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maktab_al-Khadamat
Even Wiki notes:
“Maktab Al-Khidamat maintained a close liaison with Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency through which the CIA funneled money to Afghan Mujahideen. The MAK paid the airfare for new recruits to be flown into the Afghan region for training.”
Also notice how the article states:
“MAK became the forerunner to Al-Qaeda and was instrumental in creating the fundraising and recruitment network that benefited al-Qaeda during the 1990s.”
As you can see, our CIA, Pakistan’s ISI, Afghanistan’s Mujahideen, the MAK and Osama Bin Laden were partners of sorts during the Cold War… Bin Laden was involved in two separate military-based, CIA-through-ISI backed Islamic fundamentalist groups that were funded and networked through our tax dollars by our government.
Between 1987-1989, the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan. In 1988, Osama Bin Laden split from Maktab Al-Khidamat and formed the group that would later come to be known as “Al-Qaeda.” He was having differences with Abdullah Azzam over how to proceed with the MAK now that Afghanistan was liberated. Interestingly, Azzam wanted to expand militarily and Bin Laden wanted to expand non-militarily. In 1989, Bin Laden from returned to his birthplace, Saudi Arabia, while Azzam was assasinated.
Only a year later, the Saudi government allowed American troops to position themselves on Saudi soil for the first US war against Iraq and Saddam. Bin Laden was highly against this, and began to write papers that challenged the actions of the Saudi Arabian government and US military presence. The Saudis attempted to have him silenced, and by 1992, he was pressured into moving to Sudan, where he could continue on with his anti-western, anti-Saudi sentiments. The Saudi Royals then had Bin Laden’s Saudi citizenship fully revoked.
As you can see, not every citizen in Saudi Arabia was pleased with our government’s military occupation of their homeland! Hmm… Another Saudi-US-Afghani connection! Apparently, certain Saudis felt that their government was being a little too friendly with the US, and those who spoke out against either nation were soon censored and banned from their own country. The Saudi government could not risk any dissent from foreign policy, as their entire economy is based on OIL EXPORTS:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabia#Economy
For the sake of the stability and solvency of their country’s economy, the Saudi Royals needed to keep their oil flowing out and money flooding in. To do this, they would need to keep friendly relations with our government, and also, a public appearance of support for the U.S. Anything less would lead to chaos.
Now, to continue with Bin Laden: Al-Qaeda, a word that means “the base” (apparently, short for “database”) was a name given by the CIA to the list of Mujahideens trained and recruited with the help of the CIA to fight against the Russians during the Cold War. Around 1988-1989 (shortly after Russia began to withdraw from Afghanistan), many of the men on the list began “allegedly” operating independently of CIA direction, and under the direction of Osama Bin Laden – holding highly extreme jihadist ideologies, and looking to expel all foreign troops from Middle-Eastern soil. They were given this title and tied together as a terrorist organization by our intelligence community (aka the CIA), so that members of the list could be tried by our government in their absence (for bombings, and other terrorist activities) in accordance with law. This information can be accessed here:
http://shaphan.typepad.com/blog/2006/05/robin_cook_the_.html
http://www.globalresearch.ca/al-qaeda-the-database/24738
http://polidics.com/cia/top-ranking-cia-operatives-admit-al-qaeda-is-a-complete-fabrication.html
Bin Laden was tried in this way (in his absence) in 1998 for the bombings of two US Embassies in Africa.
Of course, we must understand another connection between Al-Qaeda and our government: Under Bill Clinton, Al-Qaeda was indirectly funded through our government’s collaboration with Kosovo’s Liberation Army (KLA):
Clinton-Supported KLA Rebels of late 1980s Trained in Terrorist Camps Run By Bin Laden (1999):
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/KLA-binladen.htm
According to the article:
“The KLA members, embraced by the Clinton administration in NATO’s 41-day bombing campaign to bring Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to the bargaining table, were trained in secret camps in Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina and elsewhere, according to newly obtained intelligence reports.
The reports also show that the KLA has enlisted Islamic terrorists — members of the Mujahideen –as soldiers in its ongoing conflict against Serbia, and that many already have been smuggled into Kosovo to join the fight.”
The article also states:
“The intelligence reports document what is described as a ‘link’ between bin Laden, the fugitive Saudi millionaire, and the KLA –including a common staging area in Tropoje, Albania, a center for Islamic terrorists. The reports said bin Laden’s organization, known as al-Qaeda, has both trained and financially supported the KLA.”
Al Qaeda’s Balkan Links:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/561291/posts
The Crimes of the KLA: Who Will Pay?
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/jatras9.html
As you can see, just like the Mujahideen and the MKA, our government indirectly funded the KNOWN TERRORIST GROUP, Al-Qaeda, in an effort to fight a proxy war against Yugoslavia.
Now, the Taliban, on the other hand, formed in 1994 as a movement bringing peace between previously warring factions of Mujahideen. It evolved into a political party that controlled Afghanistan from 1996 to late 2001 (when our military invaded Afghanistan, along with the British).
As you may have noticed in the earlier Wiki article on the Mujahideen, that after they beat the Soviets:
“[Mujahideen] did not establish a united government, and many of the larger mujahideen groups began to fight each other…After several years of devastating infighting, a village mullah organized a new armed movement with the backing of Pakistan. This movement became known as the Taliban, meaning “students” (in Arabic), and referring to the Saudi-backed RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS known for producing extremism.”
Read about the origin of the Taliban:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taliban#Origin
Wiki acknowledges the following:
“Some basis for military support of the Taliban was provided when, in the early 1980s, the CIA and the ISI (Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Agency) provided arms to Afghans resisting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the ISI assisted the process of gathering radical Muslims from around the world to fight against the Soviets [Mujahideen]. Osama Bin Laden was one of the key players in organizing training camps for the foreign Muslim volunteers. The U.S. poured funds and arms into Afghanistan…by 1987, 65,000 tons of U.S.-made weapons and ammunition a year were entering the war.”
With just a little research, we discover the truth about the real extent of our involvement with the Taliban:
How Washington Funded the Taliban in Fighting the “War on Drugs”:
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3556
Hmmm… in May of 2001, the our government gave $43 million dollars to the same Taliban government that would be overthrow only a few months later!
What does all of this mean? Well, for one, it reveals the fact that Osama Bin Laden was at least indirectly supported, funded, armed, trained and networked with other extremists by our own military consistently over time, using our tax dollars – through the CIA using the Pakistani ISI. However, it also reveals that Osama did this through his involvement in three different groups tied to our government’s proxy wars and meddling in the Middle-East. It also illustrates the fact that the Taliban is a completely separate entity from Al-Qaeda, and was also indirectly supported, like Al-Qaeda, but was also directly funded by the our government, unlike Al Qaeda.
To begin tying all of this into our government’s historical “presence” in the Middle East, we must understand that Saddam Hussein and Iraq were financially and militarily-supported by our government with our tax dollars in order to win the Iraq-Iran War (1980-1988). And, after our government armed this dictator, our military eventually went to war with him. The similarities between Saddam and the Ex-Mujahideen-based Taliban and Al-Qaeda are remarkable:
Shaking Hands with Saddam Hussein:
The U.S. Tilts toward Iraq, 1980-1984
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/
United States Support for Iraq During the Iran–Iraq War:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_support_for_Iraq_during_the_Iran%E2%80%93Iraq_war
And…sadly, the reason our government supported Saddam was because it was still trying to clean up the GIGANTIC MESS IT STARTED THIRTY YEARS EARLIER! This goes back to 1953, when our CIA, at the request of the BRITISH GOVERNMENT (and its OIL companies), OVERTHREW THE DEMOCRATICALLY-ELECTED GOVERNMENT OF IRAN!!! This endeavor was called “OPERATION AJAX“:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_ajax
With the help of our CIA, the popular Prime Minister Mosaddeq was outsted in a coup d’état, and replaced by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as an authoritarian monarchy. This was done because the elected leader dared attempt to throw the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company out of his country, and let the nation control it’s own natural resources. Hmm… More CIA meddling, and another OIL connection!
During the Iraq-Iran war, Iranians started a revolution, and tried to take their government back to install the democracy they once had (and our government had taken away). Our government’s response: our tax dollars should pay for pay Saddam Hussein to stop the Iranians!
Can you see a pattern forming here?
If not, then, allow me to direct your attention to some less-known recent information:
Bush Sanctioned ‘Black Ops’ Against Iran to Achieve “Regime Change” (2007):
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1552784/Bush-sanctions-black-ops-against-Iran.html
US Indirectly Funding Al-Qaeda Linked Sunni Groups in Move to Counter Iran (2007):
http://www.democracynow.org/2007/2/28/investigative_reporter_seymour_hersh_us_indirectly
Reporter Details Congressionally Approved Covert Funding of Terrorists in Iran to Bring About “Regime Change” (2008):
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/07/080707fa_fact_hersh
As you can see, our government continues to apply the same failing military tactics to Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan, while apparently pinning them all against each other as much as possible in the process!
Now, here are some important articles on CIA “Blowback” in relation to Bin Laden:
(the unintended consequences of the our government’s international activities that have been kept secret from us)
Blowback:
http://www.thenation.com/article/blowback
Bin Laden Comes Home to Roost:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3340101/
Note that this article is from 1998! All of the politics and emotions of 9/11 are nonexistent at this point!
Terror ‘Blowback’ Burns CIA:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/terror-blowback-burns-cia-1182087.html
Note that this article, too, is from 1998!
Bin Laden, Taliban Created During Cold War Era:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0110/S00004.htm
Note that this article is from Oct. 2001, right after 9/11!
As we’ve observed so far, we have a repeated pattern of non-disclosure by our government on the matter of Osama Bin Laden. All real connections between him and our government have been made through independent discovery (by those with the patience, dilligence and time to sort through all of the facts).
So, the next questions are:
Why is our government not being forthcoming about the connections between the CIA, Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban?
Why has our gov’t not taken responsibility for the fact that Bin Laden was indirectly created by out proxy war with Russia (aka “Cold War)?
Why does our gov’t deny culpability?
To answer these questions, we’ll have to dig a little deeper – starting with our government’s denial.
While the CIA can claim that it had no real involvement with Bin Laden until the sky falls, logically, we must admit to ourselves, first and foremost, that they are, in fact, professional liars and murderers. With that understood, we must realize how they accomplish these goals. The CIA compartmentalizes all of their information for protection so that no agent can be individual broken, turned, or become a threat to national security by “knowing too much”:
http://911research.wtc7.net/cache/faq/wikipedia_Compartmentalization.html
This is an important aspect of “plausible deniability“:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plausible_deniability
CIA agents are the MASTERS OF THIS ART! One of the main reasons that the CIA outsourced and filtered most of their proxy wars in the Middle East through the Pakistani ISI is because it lays the groundwork for PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY!
For example, would you be able to deny responsibility for any of the jihadist extremism and anti-western sentiments prevalent in the Middle-East if you took actions like these:
US Educates Afghanistan’s Children on Violent Jihad During Cold War:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A5339-2002Mar22?language=printer
According to this article
“In the twilight of the Cold War, the United States spent millions of dollars to supply Afghan schoolchildren with textbooks filled with violent images and militant Islamic teachings, part of covert attempts to spur resistance to the Soviet occupation. The primers, which were filled with talk of jihad and featured drawings of guns, bullets, soldiers and mines, have served since then as the Afghan school system’s core curriculum. Even the Taliban used the American-produced books, though the radical movement scratched out human faces in keeping with its strict fundamentalist code. The textbooks were developed in the early 1980s under an AID grant to the University of Nebraska-Omaha and its Center for Afghanistan Studies. The agency spent $51 million on the university’s education programs in Afghanistan from 1984 to 1994.”
Even if you didn’t know about this brainwashing corruption of the Afghani youth en masse through violent religious propoganda… knowing now, does that not change everything? Being responsible for the HATE ITSELF, does our government not owe it Afghanis to show them LOVE, NOT WAR? To give them PEACE, NOT OCCUPATION? These are individuals with a life-expectency of 43 years old, ravaged by poverty for a very long time. It is sad to know that after the Afghanis helped our military to win the Cold War, and our government’s actions and policies had thoroughly changed the landscape of their religion, politics and culture in the process, we simply left them high and dry. Our government moved forward in prosperity to become the unchallenged “superpower” of the world, while Afghanistan was left in war-torn shambles, with little in the way of even basic infrastructure. Running water, plumbing and electricity were never even considered something our government could help these “proxy-allies” to establish. For our government, cooperation can only be established and achieved through MILITARY ACTION, and NEVER THROUGH GENUINE GOODWILL & DIPLOMACY.
The only reason the our government is able to dissociates themselves from these completely irresponsible and unethical pre-violent-jihadi books they had our tax dollars manufacture is because the plans to make them were carried out in secret by the CIA – working in collaboration with our military. The military gave the orders to make them, but assigned agents in the CIA then went on to hire civilians and private businesses to carry out the foot-work, and devise the specifics. And, in the spirit of true compartmentalization, it is likely that no one civilian or business will have written the entirety any of the books mentioned in the artcle. In the spirit of true compartmentalization, it is much more plausible that each of the chapters were assigned to unrelated parties, so that no one person would become aware of exactly what sort of work they were contributing to, and how it was to be used. This would prevent anyone from leaking information to the Soviets, the Afghanis, or even the American public at a time when “national security” was vital – during wartime.
There is reoccuring evidence of our government’s support for Islamic Extremism in the Middle-East, with a strong desire to completely conceal it. The whitewash of our CIA’s original involvement in Afghanistan, Iraq , Iran and Pakistan, and OUR MILITARY’S SUBSEQUENT WARS (or directed hostilities) against these countries strong indicates a desire to continue meddling in all of their political affairs (along with others), and an absolute refusal to use any means other than covert & overt aggression to do so.
If you’ll recall: shortly after 9/11, the Bush Administration claimed that the Taliban were “harboring Bin Laden,” who they wanted to bring to “justice,” along with other high-ranking Al-Qaeda members. THIS WAS THEIR PRETEXT FOR OUR WAR IN AFGHANISTAN. HOWEVER, WHERE’S THE PROOF!?
Preliminarily, you’ll discover that the Taliban asked for either proof of Bin Laden’s connection to 9/11 (and the American embassy bombings) in order to hand him over, or a legal petition to have him extradited to another country. The Taliban also offered our government the option of an Islamic trial in Afghanistan for Bin Laden. The Bush camp refused all such offers, and instead, attacked the sovereign nation of Afghanistan UNPROVOKED, under the fallacious, false dichotomy that “you’re either with us, or you’re with the terrorists.” The Bush Administration claimed that they wanted to put Osama on trial, but this is the same Bush Adminstration that fed us the lies about Saddam Hussein holding WMDs in Iraq! There is no reason in the world to trust their judgement anymore! And, there IS good reason to hold their entire justifications for all of their wars under great scrutiny!
So, here are the real truths about the lead-up to our invasion of Afghanistan:
October 17, 2001 – New Offer on Bin Laden:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/oct/17/afghanistan.terrorism11
As you can read in the article:
“A senior Taliban minister has offered a last-minute deal to hand over Osama bin Laden during a secret visit to Islamabad, senior sources in Pakistan told the Guardian last night. For the first time, the Taliban offered to hand over Bin Laden for trial in a country other than the US without asking to see evidence first in return for a halt to the bombing, a source close to Pakistan’s military leadership said. But US officials appear to have dismissed the proposal and are instead hoping to engineer a split within the Taliban leadership.”
Apparently, the Bush adminstration wasn’t really interested in capturing Osama Bin Laden after all!
Indeed, Bush admitted, less than six months after the invasion of Afghanistan, when he stated:
“I don’t know where Bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don’t care. It’s not that important. It’s not our priority.” – 3/13/02
In fact, even now, the FBI does not even list the attacks of 9/11 on Osama Bin Laden’s Most Wanted Listing:
http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/fugitives/laden.htm
FBI Says, It Has “No Hard Evidence Connecting Bin Laden to 9/11″:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13664.htm
It looks like Osama Bin Laden’s only TRIAL so far in regards to 9/11 has been in the COURT of PUBLIC OPINION! This is the one place where our governments has provably collaborated with the mainstream media monopoly, and together, have utilized the most insidious, fear-mongering and deceitful tactics possible to trump up support for the unnecessary bloodshed of Middle-Easterners.
Is this the sort of “democracy” that we hope to bring to Afghanistan? Mob rule?
With this information, we only have “Al Qaeda” left as an excuse for the Bush Adminstration’s invasion of Afghanistan after 9/11. But, without the ability to name names and specific crimes, this excuse hold little weight. Also, as Al Qaeda isn’t a centralized group and is not really “based” in Afghanistan – being adaptable, portable, spread out and networked – searching for them in Afghanistan would only be as temporary, as members would certainly retreat upon just a few losses. Strategically, it is not smart to occupy Afghanistan, as it is a waste of resources, and will not bring our government any closer to capturing or killing members of Al Qaeda. Because of our military occupation of Afghanistan alone, Al Qaeda recruitment levels have dramatically risen. Killing more Al Qaeda today than before 9/11 is now meaningless because there are more members being recruited than before 9/11.
Besides, since catching Al Qaeda certainly doesn’t call for the removal of the Taliban, what is really at work here?
To gain a better understanding of what I mean, I’ll note the following information:
Taliban Foreign Minister Warned U.S. of Terrorist Attack in July 2001:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0907-08.htm
Why would the Taliban warn us of an impending attack by Al Qaeda if they weren’t “with us”? Why would they tell us of imminent danger if they were “with the terrorists”? And, even more importantly, why would our government ignore their warning?
As you can see, our government had other plans in the works for the Taliban and for Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan even before 9/11:
US Planned Attack on Taliban and Osama Bin Laden in July 2001, Months Before 9/11:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1550366.stm
U.S. Established Plans for World-Wide War Against Al-Qaeda:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4587368/
(Bush was Expected to Sign Them Into Action Just Days Before 9/11, But Was Delayed)
British Aircraft Carrier & Fleet head for the Middle East for War Exercise September 3, 2001:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1522987.stm
In fact, our government was well on its way to war with Afghanistan before 9/11, even as they were funded with our tax dollars in the “War on Drugs”:
1999 – US Attack Aimed at Bin Laden in Afghanistan:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/241477.stm
India Joins US and Russia in Invasion of Afghanistan –
Collaboration with Northern Alliance to Drive Taliban Out (March 2001):
http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jir/jir010315_1_n.shtml
(update: archived copy of above link located here: http://web.archive.org/web/20010715054155/http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jir/jir010315_1_n.shtml)
Anti-Taliban Opposition in Afghanistan Launches Spring Offensive After Winter Reinforcement by Russia, India and Iran (March 2001):
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/1328352/Anti-Taliban-forces-on-offensive.html
And, just like our military plans against Afghanistan before 9/11, we learn that our government had plans for war against Iraq before 9/11:
Bush Planned Iraq Invasion Before 9/11:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/10/oneill.bush/
A Buried 60 Minutes Interview / Indictment:
There was even specific strategy planning for an attack against Iraq before the propogation of the “Saddam has WMDs” lie:
Bush Began to Exact Plan of Attack Against Iraq Three Months After 9/11:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17347-2004Apr16.html
Why were the plans to attack Afghanistan already written in the months before 9/11, even as our government provided the country with funding? If Al-Qaeda is really so dangerous, why did our government indirectly create them, hide this fact, and even now, indirectly funds them to fight Iran?
U.S. Funds Sent from Iraq Ended Up with Al-Qaeda:
http://rt.com/Top_News/2008-09-23/US_funds_sent_from_Iraq_to_al-Qaeda_-_source.html
US Indirectly Funding Al-Qaeda Linked Sunni Groups in Move to Counter Iran (mentioned earlier):
http://www.democracynow.org/2007/2/28/investigative_reporter_seymour_hersh_us_indirectly
Reporter Details Congressionally Approved Covert Funding of Terrorists in Iran to Bring About “Regime Change” (also mentioned earlier):
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/07/080707fa_fact_hersh
Apparently, fighting terrorism isn’t a true part of our government’s agenda, or else they would pursue it whole-heartedly, and our tax dollars would never be used to actively fund terrorism!
If Bin Laden, indirectly funded by our government, was no longer “important” to Bush, and if our government funded the Taliban while secretly planning to attack them, even as the Taliban warned us about Al-Qaeda, who our government also indirectly funded, and still continue to do so in indirectly, what is really going on here? If we fund terrorists in Iran, but condemn terrorism, what is the so-called “War on Terror” really all about? What is our government really doing in the Middle-East? And, what are they really after in Afghanistan? Also, what about the OIL connection between the US and the Middle East?
Some information contained within our own Congressional Record might help us with all of these questions:
Is An Oil Pipeline Behind the War in Afghanistan?
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/sardi7.html
According to the article:
“On February 12, 1998, John J. MARESCA, vice president, international relations for UNOCAL oil company, testified before the US House of Representatives, Committee on International Relations. Maresca provided information to Congress on Central Asia oil and gas reserves and how they might shape US foreign policy. UNOCAL’s problem? As Maresca said: ‘How to get the region’s vast energy resources to the markets.’ The oil reserves are in areas north of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Russia. Routes for a pipeline were proposed that would transport oil on a 42-inch pipe southward thru Afghanistan for 1040 miles to the Pakistan coast. Such a pipeline would cost about $2.5 billion and carry about 1 million barrels of oil per day.
Maresca told Congress then that: ‘It’s not going to be built until there is a single Afghan government. That’s the simple answer.’
Dana Rohrbacher, California congressman, then identified the Taliban as the ruling controllers among various factions in Afghanistan and characterized them as ‘opium producers.’
Then Rohrbacher asked Maresca: ‘There is a Saudi terrorist who is infamous for financing terrorism around the world. Is he in the Taliban area or is he up there with the northern people?’
Maresca answered: ‘If it is the person I am thinking of, he is there in the Taliban area.’ This testimony obviously alluded to Osama bin Laden.
Then Rorhbacher asked: ‘… in the northern area as compared to the place where the Taliban are in control, would you say that one has a better human rights record toward women than the other?’
Maresca responded by saying: ‘With respect to women, yes. But I don’t think either faction here has a very clean human rights record, to tell you the truth.’
So women’s rights were introduced into Congressional testimony by Congressman Rohrbacher as the wedge for UNOCAL to build its pipeline through Afghanistan.”
Remember the name of the Vice President of UNICOL, MARESCA, because we will get back to him. Later in the article:
“Beginning in 1998 UNOCAL was chastized, particularly by women’s rights groups, for discussions with the Taliban, and headed in retreat as a worldwide effort mounted to come to the defense of the Afghani women. This forced UNOCAL to withdraw from its talks with the Taliban and dissolve its multinational partnership in that region. In 1999 Alexander’s Gas & Oil Connections newsletter said: ‘UNOCAL company officials said late last year (1998) they were abandoning the project because of the need to cut costs in the Caspian region and because of the repeated failure of efforts to resolve the long civil conflict in Afghanistan.’ [Volume 4, issue #20 – Monday, November 22, 1999]
Three days following the attack on the World Trade Centers in New York City, UNOCAL issued a statement reconfirming it had withdrawn from its project in Afghanistan, long before recent events. [ http://www.unocal.com September 14, 2001 statement]
UNOCAL was not the only party positioning themselves to tap into oil and gas reserves in central Asia. UNOCAL was primary member of a multinational consortium called CentGas (Central Asia Gas) along with Delta Oil Company Limited (Saudi Arabia), the Government of Turkmenistan, Indonesia Petroleum, LTD. (INPEX) (Japan), ITOCHU Oil Exploration Co., Ltd. (Japan), Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd. (Korea), the Crescent Group (Pakistan) and RAO Gazprom (Russia).”
Here is another interesting quote from UNOCAL:
In August 2001, U.S. State Department official Christina Rocca met with the Taliban, at their last negotiation over U.S. energy giant UNOCAL’s planned oil and gas pipeline through Afghanistan. She said:
‘ACCEPT OUR OFFER of a CARPET of GOLD, or we BURY YOU UNDER A CARPET OF BOMBS.‘”
All I can say is: WOW! That’s a powerful statement! Also, as we can see, there is business collaboration between UNOCAL Oil Company and our government in dealing with foreign nations, just like the cozy relationship between the British government and Anglo-Iranian Oil Company!
All of this information ties together pretty neatly:
U.S. Policy Towards Taliban Influenced by Oil:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/1115-06.htm
In the article:
“Bush’s family has a strong oil background. So are some of his top aides. From the U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, through the director of the National Security Council Condoleeza Rice, to the Ministers of Commerce and Energy, Donald Evans and Stanley Abraham, all have for long worked for U.S. Oil companies. Cheney was until the end of last year president of Halliburton, a company that provides services for oil industry; Rice was between 1991 and 2000 manager for Chevron; Evans and Abraham worked for Tom Brown, another oil giant.”
Watch “Farrenheit 9/11″ by Michael Moore if you want some background on the Bush family’s connections with oil companies and the Saudi Arabian Royal family!
Race to Unlock Central Asia’s Energy Riches:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/analysis/43219.stm
According to the article:
“American oil companies, together with Pakistan, have shown strong interest in an alternative route that would carry Turkmen gas, via Afghanistan, to the Pakistani port of Karachi.”
US Attack in Afghanistan Closes UNOCAL Oil Pipeline Project (1998):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/207183.stm
Suprisingly, there is even a Bin Laden OIL BUSINESS connection to Bush and the US:
Bush’s Former Oil Company Linked To Bin Laden Family:
http://www.rense.com/general14/bushsformer.htm
According to the article:
“Salem bin Laden, Osama’s older brother, was an investor in Arbusto Energy. – the Texas oil company started by George W. Bush. Arbusto means ‘Bush’ in Spanish. Salem bin Laden died in an airplane crash in Texas in 1988.”
And, REMARKABLY, only six months after the invasion of Afghanistan:
Afghan Pipeline Given Go-Ahead (May 2002):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2017044.stm
(Most of those living there still don’t have running water, but I bet this pipeline is halfway built!!)
And, OF COURSE, our current US Ambassador to Afghanistan, Zalmayis Khalilzad, was once a UNOCAL EXECUTIVE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zalmay_Khalilzad
In the article, “The So Called War On Terror,” the connection is made clear:
http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/154/26817.html
“The first ambassador to Mr. Karzai’s government was MR. JOHN J. MARESCA, a vice president of UNOCAL. The next ambassador to Afghanistan was Mr. Zalmay Khalilzad. Mr. Khalilzad had been a UNOCAL consultant.”
Wow! The very first Ambassador to the NEW AFGHANI GOVERNMENT, JOHN MARESCA JUST SO HAPPENS TO BE AN OIL EXECUTIVE (AND VICE PRESIDENT) FROM NONE OTHER THAN THE VERY COMPANY, UNOCAL, LOOKING TO MAKE DEALS IN AFGHANISTAN WITH THE TALIBAN!!! And, THE SECOND AMBASSADOR IS ALSO AN OIL EXECUTIVE FROM THE SAME COMPANY: UNOCAL!!!!
With our country picking oil executives as ambassadors to Afghanistan, it doesn’t take a leap of faith to understand what is really being sought after. And, apparently, as President Karzai works with these OIL EXECUTIVES, he is nothing more than the figure-head of a puppet government, chosen by our government to serve the corporate interests of the United States.
If you’ll also note, Ambassador Khalilzad is also a member of the “Project for a New American Century” (PNAC), as well as a co-author of the INFAMOUS September 2000 PNAC document, “Rebuilding America’s Defenses.” (Others members of PNAC who signed this document include: Jeb Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, John Bolton, “Skooter” Libby, Richard Pearle). After Bush “won” the 2000 election, he put at least 17 member of PNAC into his cabinet:
http://rationalrevolution.net/war/introducing_the_bush_administrat.htm
Then, Bush began to make a reality the entire outline of the PNAC document:
“Rebuilding America’s Defenses” – A Summary:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3249.htm
Bush Planned Iraq ‘Regime Change’ Before Becoming President:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/MAC209A.html
“Rebuilding America’s Defenses” calls for a “new Pearl Harbor” on American soil, a war in Iraq, two theaters of war at once, the removal of Saddam Hussein, expansion efforts in the Middle-East, the challenging of North Korea and Iran, and much, much more. This paper is either the most accurate piece of PROPHECY IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND, or it, as a much more simple explanation, it is really just an outline (a playbook, if you will), illustrating plans of things to come – made by the same exact men who would later gain control of the executive branch of the United States.
Here’s a Damning Indictment Against the Bush Adminstration’s Wars:
The So-Called War on Terror: A Masterpiece of Propaganda:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/25439
The moral of this story is pretty obvious: Liars lie about lying, and never tell the truth! This entire theater of war that our government is conducting in the Middle-East is completely lacking in CREDULITY, MORALITY and LEGALITY! Our military shouldn’t be occupying Afghanistan now, and they never should have entered its sovereign borders for the excuses layed out by the BUSH ADMINSTRATION in the first place!
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” – Voltaire
“All war is based on deception.” – Sun Tzu
(All original portions of this work, by Rayn Kleipe, are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, while all redistributed links, images, sounds, videos, and writings are protected under 17 U.S.C. § 107: Fair Use, or under Public Domain)
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“Oh, and, by the way, Wiki is very censored – controlled and moderated by corporations, political parties, the Pentagon, and government intelligence agencies, so when something like this allowed through the filters, it’s because it is unavoidable to do so without the entire Wiki project losing credibility.”
You are joking, right? Wiki is an open enclypedia in which anyone can write whatever they like.
Wikipedia is not approved documentation.
I am not joking, actually… I was being slightly sarcastic, though. And, I agree with you, in part. Indeed, Wikipedia is an open-source encyclopedia. And, anyone can write whatever they like within it, meaning that many articles will not qualify as “approved documentation.” However, this same exact freedom is what allows a great deal of TRUTH to also become a part of the Wiki record, as well. Any avid investigator/researcher understands the GIGANTIC difference between information that is SOURCED, facts that are VERIFIABLE, and information that is NEITHER of these things. And, in the case of Wikileaks, we are dealing with BOTH. Because of this, while the ENTIRETY of each and every Wiki article is suspect, and not to be taken at “face value,” SPECIFICALLY CITED intel cannot simply be dismissed. I tend never to “throw out the baby with the bathwater,” and I always avoid the snare of the false dichotomy. There are many jewels to be found within this minefield of information that we call “Wikipedia.” It is a public experiment, like most things in life, and will serve its purpose until the day it becomes obsolete. Like many other places on the internet, Wiki is a literal BATTLE-ZONE in the current INFOWARS taking place between those bearing the light of revelation, versus those bearing the darkness of mystery.
YouTube, like Wikipedia, is another great example of this double-edged sword of FREEDOM that we bear as humans. One can post just about ANYTHING they want within the amazing public media-sharing internet experiment that we call “YouTube,” whether it be pure TRUTH, half-TRUTH, disinformation, illusion, fantasy, or whatever. Yet, I could not rightfully dismiss the HUNDREDS upon HUNDREDS of amazing facts I have found using YouTube simply because of the MANY LIES I have also been exposed to while navigating the various uploaded videos on the site. As investigative journalists, we must ALWAYS remain objective, yet open-minded, and willing to scour through a million lies to find a single ray of truth.
With this being said, my point in the quote you posted was simple: Wikipedia is a VERY POPULAR reference resource, and many people take any information that they find within its pages for FACT, even though it is being actively edited and censored by high-ranking members of government, the military, gigantic corporations, and the like, who all find information freedom to be threatening to their hidden agendas. Keeping this in mind, when sourced information about the CIA’s involvement in the creation and funding of Afghanistan’s Mujahideen can STILL be found on Wikipedia, this can only mean ONE THING: that the information is so UNDENIABLY TRUE, and that the topic of Bin Laden’s history is SO WIDELY RESEARCHED, if the facts were to be OMITTED, Wikipedia would LOSE CREDIBILITY in the eyes of readers.
Honestly, the information about the CIA’s involvement in the creation of Bin Laden can be found just about ANYWHERE on the web. Yet, I specifically chose Wikipedia as my reference because I wanted to make a point: If EVEN the tampered-with Wikipedia won’t censor the truth about a given subject, then that particular subject is OBVIOUSLY worth looking into, because the evidence to prove it must be OVERWHELMING!!!
See Who’s Editing Wikipedia – Diebold, the CIA, a Campaign:
http://www.wired.com/politics/onlinerights/news/2007/08/wiki_tracker
Bias, Sabotage Haunt Wikipedia’s Free World:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/02/12/bias_sabotage_haunt_wikipedias_free_world/
Also, just so you know, this entire article originated from the “comments section” of my previous post, entitled “Obama to Send at Least 30,000 More Troops to Afghanistan,” wherein I had a long debate with my friend about the right of America to war. To create this posting, I simply consolidated all of my responses from that argument into one piece of work.
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