Just to clarify the history in Afghanistan ... The US aid to Afghanistan (mentioned below) was to various groups (mostly the equivalent of tribal clans) who were resisting the intervention of the Soviet Army in Afghani affairs. At that point in time, they were not unified and posed no external threat. Nor are they an external threat currently.
Osama wasn't technically a recipient. He came on the scene late and had his own money. He originally obtained a following primarily by offering an assortment of humanitarian assistance. The fighting came later. Many of his followers were religious students (Talib = student, Taliban = students [plural] ). The Taliban was able to strong-arm their way to control the trade route from Pakistan through Kandihar and, subsequently, obtained the support of the Pakistani intelligence services. Any American weapons possessed by Osama and Al-Qaida came from the other, earlier groups which became allied with the Taliban. The exception was Masood, whose ethnic Tajik "Northern Alliance" resisted (and continue to resist) the Taliban government. Al-Qaida and Taliban are two different entities. Many in the Taliban government were very religious. There was actually a lively debate (similar to our own ongoing dialog) within the Taliban circles concerning the validity and legality of indiscriminate violence. Al-Qaida never had that debate, nor were they very pious. Taliban are technically fundamentalists (refer to previous email <g>); the "means must justify the end" (translated ... do it right in God's sight). For Al-Qaida, the "end justify the means" (translated ... immoral action is justified by victory) - therefore, they are merely terrorists. And, BTW, for the conspiracy theory group - there is an oil pipeline involved there, too. Bob (originally from Re: International law???) On Fri, 21 Feb 2003 10:12:31 -0800 Vitaly Luban <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > On Thursday 20 February 2003 11:17 am, Casper Gielen wrote: > > Op donderdag 20 februari 2003 07:31, schreef Vitaly Luban: < a bunch of stuff snipped> > > that the US trained Afghan rebels to fight > > against the USSR. One of the leaders of those > > rebels was Osama Bin Laden. > > You're mixing things again. US aid, if any, > was directed to afghans, to help them to > struggle against much stronger invader. It was > never directed to an international terrorist > organisation. Do not mix Al-Kaeda and, > say, Taliban. Though, in my personal opinion, > even this aid was a mistake. > ________________________________________________________________ Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today Only $9.95 per month! Visit www.juno.com
