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| During Cold War, Islamic Radicals Were Allies |
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Posted by FoM on September 13, 2001 at 16:42:53 PT By Tom Pelton, Sun Staff Source: Baltimore Sun 
They have prohibited most varieties of public or private entertainment, including television, singing, movies, dancing at weddings and the hanging of photographs on the walls of homes.They have threatened to beat any man who fails to grow a beard longer than a fist. Women, under the rule of the Taliban organization that controls most of Afghanistan, are barred from leaving their homes without covering themselves from head to toe. But the radical Islamic revolutionaries who formed the Taliban were once allies of the United States. As part of the Cold War against the Soviet Union, the United States in the 1980s supplied money and weapons to many of the leaders who now run Afghanistan. The Taliban have since become estranged from Washington, in part because they shelter the Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden, regarded by U.S. officials as a top suspect in this week's terrorism attacks against New York and Washington. President Bush declared this week that the U.S. would strike back at those responsible for the terrorism, making no distinction between those who planned the hijackings and those sheltering the terrorists. "That statement [by the president] would probably include the Taliban and Osama bin Laden, because he has already been indicted by the U.S." for the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998, said Stephen P. Cohen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington, D.C. The Taliban have said they had nothing to do with this week's violence. But if the United States concludes that bin Laden is responsible, Afghanistan might turn out to be the closest thing to an enemy state. Whom would the United States be fighting? "The Taliban is trying to take Afghanistan back to what they perceive as a pure Islamic state that may have existed somewhere in the Middle Ages," said Yossef Bodansky, author of Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America. "And they are willing to do this on the backs of their own people and foreigners, if necessary." Born out of the poverty of refugee camps and the hatred of foreign powers that long sought to control Afghanistan, the Taliban leaders and their culture are about as far removed from American ways as can be imagined, author Ahmed Rashid wrote in his recent book, Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia. The Taliban have their origins in wars that consumed Afghanistan for two decades. From 1979 to 1989, the Soviet Union poured the equivalent of $45 billion into a losing war that tried to subdue Afghan rebel groups, collectively called the Mujaheddin, which opposed a president installed by the Soviets. The United States poured in between $4 billion and $5 billion, including deliveries of weapons, to help fight the Soviets. Before the Soviet invasion of the country, Islamic radicals had little influence in Afghanistan, Rashid writes. But aided by money and arms supplied by the CIA, the Islamists gained influence. When the Soviets withdrew in 1989, the country entered a vicious civil war. From this chaos, the Taliban movement rose in the mid-1990s, according to Rashid. "Afghanistan was in a state of virtual disintegration just before the Taliban emerged at the end of 1994," Rashid writes. "The country was divided into warlord fiefdoms and all the warlords had fought, switched sides and fought again in a bewildering array of alliances, betrayals and bloodshed." Left in rubble by Soviet bombs, the country was ruled by dozens of rival bandit groups and beset with rape and robbery. In this lawless landscape, the future leaders of the Taliban promoted themselves as a force to promote the integrity and religious character of Afghanistan. Because many of those volunteering for the effort were young students of the Quran, they chose the name taliban, which means students. Their goal was to create an ideal Islamic country, following their interpretation of the precepts of the prophet Muhammad. They believe their current leader was selected by God because of his intense piety. He is Mullah Mohammad Omar, who lost an eye to a rocket blast during the Soviet war and who, according to Rashid, has never been photographed. By the end of 1994, about 12,000 Afghan and Pakistani students had joined this new movement. Many were orphans of the Soviet war, raised in refugee camps and radicalized by violence and poverty. In an attempt to bring order, they adopted a puritanical code of conduct. The organization was aided financially by neighboring Pakistan and the drug trade. The Quran forbids Muslims from using drugs. When the Taliban first took over much of Afghanistan, their leaders announced that they would eliminate all drug production in the country. But soon the leadership realized the government needed more revenues, and it responded by imposing a tax on all opium dealers. The group rationalizes its profit from drug dealing by saying the drugs are used by corrupt Westerners, not Muslims, according to Rashid. Note: When Soviets withdrew, Taliban began their rise. Complete Title: During Cold War, Islamic Radicals Were Allies of U.S. Source: Baltimore Sun (MD) Related Articles: The Roots of Hatred A Superpower's Sorrow, Comeuppance Who’s The Mastermind? Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #5 posted by CANNABIS FOR FREEDOM on September 14, 2001 at 18:25:35 PT |
| While the FBi was killing non-violent marijuana farmers, and colin Powell was helping to poison and murder poor Columbians, terrorists were roaming free in America. We have had a War on American citizens for too long. The politicians and lawmakers of the United States are just as responsible for these terrorist acts as are the terrorists that carried them out. If our current administration and the current Senators and Congressmen really cared about our people they would have thwarted this violence before it ever occurred. But, no they had to eradicate a harmless substance
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| Comment #4 posted by dddd on September 13, 2001 at 23:40:47 PT |
| There's alot of careless misinformation flying about nowdays, ,,and the pro government media are not the only ones generating propaganda,and articles with dubious "facts".. dddd [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by E. Johnson on September 13, 2001 at 23:26:46 PT |
| The Taliban were children in the refugee camps in Pakistan during the Cold War and were not our allies during that period. But the Taliban have been our Drug War allies since 1999. That's much more scandalous because it covers the period of time when these heinous terrorist attacks were most likely being planned. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by E. Johnson on September 13, 2001 at 21:35:58 PT |
| Notice the glaring inconsistency between this: As part of the Cold War against the Soviet Union, the United States in the 1980s supplied money and weapons to many of the leaders who now run Afghanistan. and this: Born out of the poverty of refugee camps and the hatred of foreign powers that long sought to control Afghanistan, the Taliban leaders and their culture are about as far removed from American ways as can be imagined, author Ahmed Rashid wrote in his recent book, Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia. This guy probably did no more than skim the book, and write a quick review. Otherwise he would have noticed that the Taliban cannot have been the adult men whom we trained to fight against the Soviet-backed government of Afghanistan --- because they were children in Pakistani refugee camps at the time. The people we trained were called the Mujahedeen. When the Taliban were old enough to shave, they grabbed a bunch of guns and VOWED TO EXTERMINATE THE US-BACKED MUJAHEDEEN. For example: Spring 1989: The pro-Moscow government of Mohammad Najibullah continues to battle United States and Pakistan-sponsored Mujahedeen forces. Mujahedeen repulsed after staging coordinated attacks in Jalalabad. Oct 12, 1994: The hardline Islamic Taliban militia emerge and seize the southern city of Kandahar vowing to oust the Mujahedeen and introduce pure Islamic rule. Mr. Pelton, shame on you. During the Cold War, most of the Taliban were children and were not employed by America in any capacity whatsoever. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by how much longer on September 13, 2001 at 21:30:29 PT |
| That is a title of latest news from czech internet news agency, that I just found. Here is translation: LONDON - Office of afgan national movement Taliban is ready to turn Usama bin Ladin to islamic court, if USA show his involvement in terorist attacks against US. This news was brought by Afgan radio station Sharia. [ Post Comment ] |
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