-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: July 5, 2007 4:58:02 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Backstory: Why Pakistan Is A US "Ally" in "War Against
Terror"
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?
item=aearly80madrassas&scale=2#aearly80madrassas
Context of 'Early 1980:
Pakistan Turns to Islamic Fundamentalism
after Invasion of Afghanistan'
1973-1979: The US Starts to Provide Support to Islamists Opposing
the Soviets in Afghanistan
In 1973 Afghan Prince Muhammad Daoud ousts the king with help from
the Soviet Union, and establishes an Afghan republic. The CIA in
turn begins funding Islamist extremists, including Gulbuddin
Hekmatyar, as a resistance movement opposing the Soviets. US allies
like the Saudis, the Shah of Iran’s intelligence agency SAVAK, and
Pakistan’s Interservices Intelligence Directorate (ISI) play an
important role in funneling weapons and other forms of assistance
to the Afghan Islamist militants. After the pro-Soviet coup in
April 1978, the Islamic militants with the support of the ISI carry
out a massive campaign of terrorism, assassinating hundreds of
teachers and civil servants. [Dreyfuss, 2005, pp. 260 - 263]
1978: CIA Begins Covert Action in Afghanistan
The CIA begins covert action against the Communist government in
Afghanistan, which is closely tied to the Soviet Union. Some time
this year, the CIA begins training militants in Pakistan and
beaming radio propaganda into Afghanistan. By April 1979, US
officials are meeting with opponents of the Afghan government to
determine their needs. [Blum, 1995, pp. 344] Robert Gates, who
will become CIA Director in the early 1990s, will later recall that
in a meeting on March 30, 1979, Under Secretary of Defense Walter
Slocumbe wonders aloud whether there is “value in keeping the
Afghan insurgency going, ‘sucking the Soviets into a Vietnamese
quagmire.’” [Gates, 1996, pp. 145] In March 1979, there is a major
revolt in Herat province, and in June and August there are large
scale army mutinies. [Cooley, 2002, pp. 5] President Carter will
formally approve covert aid to opponents of the government in July
(see July 3, 1979), which will result in a Russian invasion in
December (see December 8, 1979).
July 3, 1979: President Carter Approves Covert Aid to Anti-Soviet
Forces in Afghanistan
President Carter authorizes covert aid for opponents of the
Communist government in Afghanistan. Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter’s
National Security Adviser, will state in 1998, “According to the
official version of history, CIA aid to the mujaheddin began… after
the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan… But the reality, secretly
guarded until now, is completely otherwise: Indeed, it was July 3,
1979 that President Carter signed the first directive for secret
aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul. And that
very day, I wrote a note to the president in which I explained to
him that in my opinion this aid was going to induce a Soviet
military intervention.… We didn’t push the Russians to intervene,
but we knowingly increased the probability that they would.” [Le
Nouvel Observateur (Paris), 1/15/1998] After Brzezinski’s
confession, other US officials who denied US involvement prior to
the Soviet invasion will change their story as well. For instance,
Charles Cogan, who is head of the CIA covert aid program to
Afghanistan at this time, will call Carter’s approval on this day a
“very modest beginning to US involvement.” [Cooley, 2002, pp. 10]
In fact, even this is not correct because the CIA had been aiding
the rebels since at least the year before (see 1978 and 1973-1979).
The Soviets invade Afghanistan by the end of 1979 (see December 8,
1979).
December 8, 1979: Soviet Forces, Lured in by the CIA, Invade
Afghanistan
Soviet tanks entering Afghanistan in late 1979. [Source: Banded
Artists Productions]
The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan. The Russians were initially
invited in by the Afghan government to deal with rising instability
and army mutinies, and they start crossing the border on December
8. But on December 26, Russian troops storm the presidential
palace, kill the country’s leader, Haizullah Amin, and the
invitation turns into an invasion. [Blum, 1995, pp. 342] Later
declassified high-level Russian documents will show that the
Russian leadership believed that Amin, who took power in a violent
coup from another pro-Soviet leader two months before, had secret
contacts with the US embassy and was probably a US agent. Further,
one document from this month claims that “the right wing Muslim
opposition” has “practically established their control in many
provinces… using foreign support.” [Cooley, 2002, pp. 8] It has
been commonly believed that the invasion was unprovoked, but the
Russians will later be proven largely correct. In a 1998
interview, Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Jimmy Carter’s National
Security Adviser, will reveal that earlier in the year Carter
authorized the CIA to destabilize the government, provoking the
Russians to invade (see July 3, 1979). [Le Nouvel Observateur
(Paris), 1/1998; Mirror, 1/29/2002] Further, CIA covert action in
the country actually began in 1978 (see 1978), if not earlier (see
1973-1979). The US and Saudi Arabia will give a huge amount of
money (estimates range up to $40 billion total for the war) to
support the mujaheddin guerrilla fighters opposing the Russians,
and a decade-long war will ensue. [Nation, 2/15/1999]
Early 1980: Pakistan Turns to Islamic Fundamentalism after Invasion
of Afghanistan
Muhammad Zia ul-Haq. [Source: Associated Press]
General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq seized power in Pakistan in a 1977 coup
and declared himself president. The US stopped all economic and
military aid to Pakistan as a result of the coup and Zia ruled
cautiously in an attempt to win international approval. But
immediately after the Russian invasion of Afghanistan (see December
8, 1979), the US allies with Zia and resumes aid. This allows Zia
to use Islam to consolidate his power without worrying about the
international reaction. He passes pro-Islamic legislation,
introduces Islamic banking systems, and creates Islamic courts.
Most importantly, he creates a new religious tax which is used to
create tens of thousands of madrassas, or religious boarding
schools. These schools will indoctrinate a large portion of future
Islamic militants for decades to come. [Gannon, 2005, pp. 138-142]
Zia also promotes military officers on the basis of religious
devotion. The Koran and other religious material becomes compulsory
reading material in army training courses. “Radical Islamist
ideology began to permeate the military and the influence of the
most extreme groups crept into the army,” journalist Kathy Gannon
will write in her book I is for Infidel. [Gannon, 2005, pp.
138-142] The BBC will later comment that Zia’s self-declared
“Islamization” policies created a “culture of jihad” within
Pakistan that continues until the present day. [BBC, 8/5/2002]
August 24, 1998: Bombed Training Camps Were Built by US and Allies
A satellite image of the Zhawar Kili training camp in Afghanistan,
taken shortly before it was hit by a US missile strike in August,
1998. [Source: Corbis] (click image to enlarge)
The New York Times reports that the training camps recently
attacked by the US in Afghanistan were built by the US and its
allies, years before. The US and Saudi Arabia gave the Afghans
between $6 billion and $40 billion to fight the Soviets in the
1980s (see December 8, 1979). Many of the people targeted by the
missile attacks were trained and equipped by the CIA years before.
[New York Times, 8/24/1998]
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