In 2001, with Clinton's attack plans in hand, Bush paid the Taliban $43M!

[dpbrown]

As now made clear through the recent revelations into the Cole bombing and plans for retaliation by the Clinton administration, Clinton put together the plan to attack Afghanistan in retaliation for the Cole and passed those plans on to Bush, who then became the world's biggest monetary benefactor of the Taliban instead.

The Bush administration gave the Taliban, arguably the most repressive regime in the world, and the government harboring the most dangerous terrorist in the world, $43 million for declaring that growing opium is "against the will of god." This made the United States, in 2001, the world's greatest monetary supporter of the Taliban.

This is after Bush was advised that al qaeda was responsible for the Cole bombing and with Clinton's plan to attack Afghanistan in his hand!

This is waaaaaaay more than negligence, people.

Edited to add link:

Robert Sheer's Bush's Faustian Deal With the Taliban, published May 22, 2001 in the Los Angeles Times.

[MadMaddie]

1. Agreed so how do we get this out to the public...?

[Dems Will Win]

38. And more facts that have been censored by the corporate media:

The DIA had Atta identified and Tommy Franks and Gen. Isler prevented the ABle Danger agents fcrom telling Clinton or Clarke about Atta! They even made them put a yellow Post-it over Atta's photograph on the chart!

When they took power, they were trying to make a deal with the Taliban over the planned Centgas pipeline. So the Bush Cheney team told the FBI
to "back off the Saudis and the Bin Ladens" in Feb. Demoted Clarke, stopped the Predator, scuttled the offshore laws that had just been passed, etc. etc.

When the Taliban and basically Osama demanded a cut of the pipeline profits, on Aug. 2, 2001, the Taliban were told "Accept our carpet of gold or you will get a carpet of bombs". On Aug. 6, Bush got the PDB saying Bin Laden Determined to Strike In US and told the agent, "you've covered your butt, (so goodbye)" Then David Frasca keeps putting the terror and FISA request memos from the FBI field agents on the bottom of the pile--and he gets promoted later!

They had Atta and most of them under surveillance.

Bush knew. Otherwise, why did the Secret Service not hustle him out of an unprotected site for an hour while the country was under attack and why did he blithely read My Pet Goat AFTER the second plane hit????

It's a lot more than not lifting a finger.

[bif]

42. It's BEEN out in the public.

I heard about this back in 2001. Nobody gave a shit, though. Nobody gives a shit now, either.

[flyarm]

86. yes it has been out in the public and many of us have worn it out on the

inernet..but the msm just continues to ignore those facts..many of us for many years have done blitz's on the media demanding they report this..but to no avail!

many internet groups have done mass mailings to msm and reporters..again to no avail..

none of thi sstuff is new news..its all old news..but the media refuses to tell the american people..and in most cases ..most of the American people could give a rats ass..

fly

[flyarm]

87. not only did * give the money on May 22nd 2001 to the taliban

he did it while Clinton had a ban on taliban money and frozen accounts in this country against the taliban!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2092846&mesg_id=2093347

U.S. Froze $254 Million In Taliban Cash in 1999
Posted by flyarm in General Discussion
Sat Sep 09th 2006, 06:08 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?p...

U.S. Froze $254 Million In Taliban Cash in 1999
State Dept. Opposes Using Assets for Terror Victims

By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 13, 2001; Page A16

Two years ago, President Bill Clinton signed an executive order freezing $254 million in Taliban assets in the United States, more than twice the amount linked to terrorist groups and seized worldwide since the Sept. 11 attacks.

U.S. officials will not disclose where the $254 million came from, except to say that it was under the control of the Taliban. But the large sum, contrasted with the very small amount of trade between the United States and Afghanistan, has raised questions about the source of the money.


fly

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

2. (sorry to have to do this, but...) Link?

[Beaverhausen]

4. This is a well known fact that people just seem to forget

give me 10 seconds on google

[Beaverhausen]

5. here

http://www.cato.org/dailys/08-02-02.html

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

32. TYVM!

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

31. Oh no you didunt!

Make me feel STOOPID for not knowing what everyone else knows???!!! <BIG WINK>

Seriously, 'everybody knows' is dangerous. Saying this makes people think they are just out-of-the-loop and not question.

So 'Everybody knows... clinton is a liar, democrats are weak on terror, fox news is fair & balanced'.


I dont mind speaking up and saying 'but sir, where are your clothes?'

[Beaverhausen]

39. in the months after 9/11 this was a big story - well among progressives

I'm just surprised at the surpise people here are showing. I guess it wasn't as well known as I thought, or even better, maybe there are a lot of former republicans here who are only just now learning about the evil that is the Bush Administration.

I didn't mean to offend. sorry :hi:

[originalpckelly]

43. Well not everyone saw F9/11, like myself...

because I WAS POOR! I couldn't afford to see it anyway anyhow! We need to make sure this info is put in television ads!

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

44. No offense, just having a spot of fun, 'mate.

[ContraBass Black]

77. Well, maybe everybody doesn't know, but that doesn't change the fact

That some people say. ;)

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

123. Some people say?

Link please! :)

[geek tragedy]

91. It's a myth, not a fact. Just like Saddam being involved in 9/11.

But, whatever. People will believe what they want to believe.

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

126. Hence why critical thinking is so much more important today

.. with all the information and disinformation available on the net.

It was always bad with newspapers putting statements on the front page one day and two or three days later publishing retractions buried on the bottom of the second page or lost in the rest of the sections.

Even as a high school kid, when we'd have a test and we'd only get our scores back, I'd ask the teacher, so I made an 88, that's pretty good. However I 'missed' 4 questions so without knowing which ones I got wrong, I'll continue to think I was 'right' when I could have been mistaken.

Our learning and knowledge seems to always be shifting and refocusing. We need to use care about being to 'absolute' on things we're not 100% sure on.

[rinsd]

129. A well known fact that been thru several spin cycles. (nt)

[NVMojo]

3. Link to facts so we can get this out to the public please!!!!

[Hubert Flottz]

8. Here ya goooooooo

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2232403&mesg_id=2235262

[Hubert Flottz]

19. More Links...

Bush's Faustian Deal With the Taliban
By Robert Scheer
Published May 22, 2001 in the Los Angeles Times


Enslave your girls and women, harbor anti-U.S. terrorists, destroy every vestige of civilization in your homeland, and the Bush administration will embrace you. All that matters is that you line up as an ally in the drug war, the only international cause that this nation still takes seriously.

That's the message sent with the recent gift of $43 million to the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan, the most virulent anti-American violators of human rights in the world today. The gift, announced last Thursday by Secretary of State Colin Powell, in addition to other recent aid, makes the U.S. the main sponsor of the Taliban and rewards that "rogue regime" for declaring that opium growing is against the will of God. So, too, by the Taliban's estimation, are most human activities, but it's the ban on drugs that catches this administration's attention.

Never mind that Osama bin Laden still operates the leading anti-American terror operation from his base in Afghanistan, from which, among other crimes, he launched two bloody attacks on American embassies in Africa in 1998.

Sadly, the Bush administration is cozying up to the Taliban regime at a time when the United Nations, at U.S. insistence, imposes sanctions on Afghanistan because the Kabul government will not turn over Bin Laden.

http://www.robertscheer.com/1_natcolumn/01_columns/0522...


SILK ROAD, THE BUSH/BINLADEN/CHENEY LINKS

http://www.freedomdomain.com/Templemount/link1j.html

[Tellurian]

54. Copy, Print,Send to Olberman...

He'll Love the ammunition..

[Junkdrawer]

6. And they didn't do nothing during the 8 months before 9/11...

Remember Colleen Rowley, the Phoenix Memo, and Siebel Edmonds.

They worked HARD to interfere with all attempts to stop 9/11.

[originalpckelly]

7. Here is a link to an article on it!!!

http://www.robertscheer.com/1_natcolumn/01_columns/taliban.htm

HOLY FUCK! WE GAVE MONEY TO THE FUCKING TALIBAN RIGHT BEFORE INVADING THEM!!!

[originalpckelly]

9. HOLY FUCK THE TIMES ARTICLE IS REAL!!!! Look:

http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?query=+Taliban%27s+Ban+On+Poppy+A+Success%2C+U.S.+Aides+Say+&srchst=nyt

From the New York Times archive!!!! OMG!!!!

[seafan]

70. Yes, it is very real. We were funding the Taliban, a terrorist harbor

...while at the same time, the Bush administration knew of the terror ties. It is time to strip power from our own criminals.

May 20, 2001, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.puerto-rico/browse_thread/thread/f8e9fd18d4c324d4/367765fda1b227d2?lnk=st&q=Taliban%27s+Ban+On+Poppy+A+Success%2C+U.S.+Aides+Say+&rnum=3#367765fda1b227d2">Taliban's Ban On Poppy A Success, U.S. Aides Say

By BARBARA CROSSETTE


The first American narcotics experts to go to Afghanistan under
Taliban rule have concluded that the movement's ban on opium-poppy
cultivation appears to have wiped out the world's largest crop in less
than a year, officials said today.

The American findings confirm earlier reports from the United Nations
drug control program that Afghanistan, which supplied about
three-quarters of the world's opium and most of the heroin reaching
Europe, had ended poppy planting in one season. But the eradication of
poppies has come at a terrible cost to farming families, and experts
say it will not be known until the fall planting season begins whether
the Taliban can continue to enforce it.

"It appears that the ban has taken effect," said Steven Casteel,
assistant administrator for intelligence at the Drug Enforcement
Administration in Washington.
The findings came in part from a Pakistan-based agent of the
administration who was one of the two Americans on the team just
returned from eight days in the poppy-growing areas of Afghanistan.

Mr. Casteel said in an interview today that he was still studying
aerial images to determine if any new poppy-growing areas had emerged.
He also said that some questions about the size of hidden opium and
heroin stockpiles near the northern border of Afghanistan remained to
be answered. But the drug agency has so far found nothing to
contradict United Nations reports.

snip

On Thursday, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell announced a $43
million grant to Afghanistan in additional emergency aid to cope with
the effects of a prolonged drought. The United States has become the
biggest donor to help Afghanistan in the drought.
"We will continue to look for ways to provide more assistance to the
Afghans," he said in a statement, "including those farmers who have
felt the impact of the ban on poppy cultivation, a decision by the
Taliban that we welcome."

[seafan]

81. Secret pipeline negotiations w/ Taliban were to protect Enron.

What Congress Does Not Know about Enron and 9/11

(Scroll down to find article; several links no longer operable, but content is on this mirror site.)

(Note to mods: Free use of this printed text is encouraged at the linked web site.)


By Former Federal Prosecutor John J. Loftus
St. Petersburg, FL

May 31, 2002

snip

A captured Al Qaida document reveals that US energy companies were secretly
negotiating with the Taliban to build a pipeline. The document was obtained
by the FBI but was not allowed to be shared with other agencies in order to
protect Enron. Multiple sources confirm that American law enforcement
agencies were deliberately kept in the dark and systematically prevented
from connecting the dots before 9/11 in order to aid Enron's secret and
immoral Taliban negotiations.

The suppressed Al Qaida document tends to support recent claims of a
cover-up made by several mid-level intelligence and law enforcement figures.
Their ongoing terrorist investigations appear to have been hindered during
the same sensitive time period while the Enron Corporation was still
negotiating with the Taliban. An inadvertent result of the Taliban pipeline
cover-up was that the Taliban's friends in Al Qaida were able to complete
their last eight months of preparations for 9/11 while the Enron secrecy
block was still in force.

Although the latest order to block investigations allegedly resulted from
Enron's January 2002 appeal to Vice President Dick Cheney, it appears that
there were at least three previous block orders, each building upon the
other, stretching back for decades and involving both Republican and
Democratic administrations.

The first block came in the 1970's, as a result of Congressional reaction to
domestic espionage against the anti-Vietnam war movement. In a case of
blatant over-reaction, the FBI placed all houses of worship and religious
charities off-limits for any surveillance whatsoever unless there was
independent probable cause. This meant that all Mosques and other Muslim
meeting places for terrorist groups were effectively off limits until after
a crime had been committed. The block order was not lifted until last week
by Atty. General Ashcroft.

The second block order, in force since the 1980's, was against any
investigation that would embarrass the Saudi Royal family. Originally, it
was designed to conceal Saudi support for Muslim extremists fighting against
the Soviets in Afghanistan and Chechnya, but it went too far. Oliver North
noted in his autobiography, that every time he tried to do something about
terrorism links in the Middle East, he was told to stop because it might
embarrass the Saudis. This block remains in place.

As the combined result of these two blocks, the Saudis were able to fund
middle eastern terrorists in complete secrecy during the 1990's through a
network of Muslim charities in Virginia, Tampa and Florida. The Saudi
funding network was targeted at the destruction of the State of Israel and
the obstruction of the Palestinian peace process.

The Saudi funding conduit has now been exposed and shut down by means of a
private lawsuit, Loftus vs. Sami Al Arian, which is currently pending in
Hillsborough County, Florida. The lawsuit, filed on March 20, 2002,
influenced the government into raiding the Saudi charities in Herndon,
Virginia, a few hours later.

After filing the Al-Arian lawsuit, Attorney Loftus began to receive very
detailed documents and information about a third block: a prohibition on
investigations concerning the Taliban. In the early 1990's, a consortium of
American oil companies (lead by Unocal) had hired Enron to determine the
profitability of building an oil and gas pipeline across Afghanistan so that
America could have access to the Caspian Sea Basin, holding 1/8th of the
worlds energy supplies.

snip

The Taliban negotiations temporarily collapsed in 1999 after Clinton reversed his NSC
advisor's policy, and ordered a missile strike against terrorists in
Afghanistan.

However, in January 2001, Vice President Cheney allegedly reinstated the
intelligence block and expanded it to effectively preclude any
investigations whatsoever of Saudi-Taliban-Afghan oil connections.

Former FBI counter-terrorism chief John O'Neil resigned from the FBI in disgust, stating that he was ordered not to investigate Saudi-Al Qaida connections because of the Enron pipeline deal. Loftus has confirmed that it was O'Neill who originally discovered the AL Qaida pipeline memo after the Embassy bombings in Africa.

snip

Loftus asserts that the Enron block, which remained in force from January
2001 until August 2001 when the pipeline deal collapsed, is the reason that
none of FBI agent Rowley's requests for investigations were ever approved.
As numerous British and French authors have concluded, the information
provided by European intelligence sources prior to 9/11 was so extensive,
that it is no longer possible for either CIA or the FBI to assert a defense
of incompetence.

It is time for Congress to face the truth: In order to give Enron one last
desperate chance to complete the Taliban pipeline and save itself from
bankruptcy, senior levels of US intelligence were ordered to keep their eyes
shut and their subordinates ignorant.

The Enron cover-up confirms that 9/11 was not an intelligence failure or a
law enforcement failure (at least not entirely). Instead, it was a foreign
policy failure of the highest order. If Congress ever combines its Enron
investigation with 9/11, Cheney's whole house of cards will collapse.

[BelgianMadCow]

10. Also important : the reason for the 43 million $ : Oil

If memory serves, Bush*co was trying to negotiate a pipeline deal with the Taliban at the time.

[LSparkle]

14. Yes -- this is what Gore Vidal has been talking about for years

That bin Laden/Taliban was afraid that we were going into Afghanistan over the pipeline and 9/11 was a pre-emptive strike ("we know you're coming, so take this").

[BelgianMadCow]

29. An archive search yielded this great timeline of pipeline negotiations

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2114585&mesg_id=2114585


also the point you say Vidal has been making, is made. I don't know about that, the preemptive part. Definitely possible.

[BelgianMadCow]

34. And, from William Pitt's excellent Datadump, more on the pipeline

A pipeline project, aimed at exploiting massive natural gas reserves along the Caspian Sea in Turkmenistan, was revived by the Bush administration when it arrived in Washington in January of 2001. The pipeline project, which sought to bring oil and natural gas from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to a warm water port, had been the brainchild of American petroleum giant Unocal for much of the 1990s. After the destruction of two American embassies in Africa in 1998 by Osama bin Laden, the Clinton administration forbade any American companies from doing business with the Taliban, which had been sheltering bin Laden in Afghanistan. Unocal's pipeline project was frozen.

After the Bush administration came to power, reinvigorating the pipeline project became a high-priority matter of policy. Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca was dispatched to Pakistan to discuss the pipeline with Taliban officials in August of 2001. Rocca, a career officer with the CIA, had been deeply involved in Agency activities within Afghanistan. A Pakistani foreign minister was present at the meeting, and witnessed the exchange.

How does this pipeline relate to September 11th? The main obstacle to the completion of the pipeline was the fact that it had to pass through Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. The project would receive no international support unless the Afghan government somehow became legitimized. In bargaining for the pipeline, the Bush administration demanded that the Taliban reinstate deposed King Mohammad Zahir Shah as ruler of Afghanistan, and demanded that the Taliban hand over Osama bin Laden for arrest. In return, the Taliban would reap untold billions in profit from the pipeline. A central part of the Bush administration's bargaining tactics involved threats of war if these conditions for the legitimization of Afghanistan were not met.

PERMALINK :

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1975019&mesg_id=1975019

[walkon]

11. A link with both sides

of the story.

http://www.ariannaonline.com/showthread.php?t=47583

Food aid, not cash.

[Straight Shooter]

It's still U.S. taxpayer money.

It didn't come out of the bush family coffers.

[originalpckelly]

17. The money isn't the big story, this explains the lack of attack on Taliban

OMG!

[dpbrown]

24. With attack plans in hand and knowing they were responsible for the Cole

Bush gives the Taliban the largest handout in world history, instead of attacking, as Clinton had advised.

That's the story here.

[originalpckelly]

35. You have it, we need to make an ad about this. Shows Republicans..

real priorities, money fucking money!

[JuniperLea]

26. Looks like it was cash ear-marked for food

Who knows for sure where it went.

[dpbrown]

49. Maybe to plan and outfit 19 hijackers?

Who knows, indeed?

[geek tragedy]

93. It went to the United Nations and aid agencies.

This is a nothing story, and it discredits anyone who tries to make a big deal out of it.

[dpbrown]

12. By the way, there are tons of links to the $43 million Bush/Taliban payoff

This, however, is the genesis of all those links:

Robert Sheer's Bush's Faustian Deal With the Taliban, published May 22, 2001 in the Los Angeles Times.

[Junkdrawer]

15. From 1997: Taliban in Texas to negotiate pipeline deal...

A senior delegation from the Taleban movement in Afghanistan is in the United States for talks with an international energy company that wants to construct a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan across Afghanistan to Pakistan.

A spokesman for the company, Unocal, said the Taleban were expected to spend several days at the company's headquarters in Sugarland, Texas.

Unocal says it has agreements both with Turkmenistan to sell its gas and with Pakistan to buy it.

The Afghan economy has been devasted by 20 years of civil war
But, despite the civil war in Afghanistan, Unocal has been in competition with an Argentinian firm, Bridas, to actually construct the pipeline.

....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/west_asia/37021.stm

[dpbrown]

20. Karzai, appointed Afghan puppet President, was a UNOCAL consultant

Tom Turnipseed: Bush, Enron, UNOCAL and the Taliban

[Erika]

115. W's legacy

His family sure won't be fighting the Taliban.

[seemslikeadream]

13. Why would Osama bin Laden want to kill Dubya, his former business partner?

http://www.onlinejournal.org/Special_Reports/Hatfield-R-091901/hatfield-r-091901.html

[Initech]

16. Holy shit! This needs to get out to the public!

:scared: :nuke:

[originalpckelly]

18. I am e-mailing KEITH OLBERMANN NOW!!!

This will be on countdown!

[flyarm]

103. keith knows this ..it is old news..and has been all over internet for

years and years!

fly

[AIJ Alom]

21. And if I recall correctly Clinton in 1998 declared no financial dealings

with the Taliban because of the embassy bombings. There is a memo somewhere in the national archives.

[Beaverhausen]

22. I can't believe some of you are just learning this now

I guess it has been overshadowed by the mess that is Iraq, but it was talked about a lot in the months after 9/11.

and uh- did you all see Fahrenheit 9/11?

[originalpckelly]

23. HOLY SHIT! This is SUCH A BIG STORY, I e-mailed it to Keith...

Hopefully we will all soon be reminded of it.

[AIJ Alom]

27. Also mention Clinton Executive Order 13128 which reads

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=1999_register&docid=fr07jy99-146.pdf

Blocking property and prohibiting transactions with the Taliban from July 1999. Just in case the Bush Adminstrations tries to say that Clinton was dealing with the Taliban as well. By this time we knew they were harborers of terrorists.

[originalpckelly]

30. I'll send this in another e-mail right now.

nt

[dpbrown]

33. Great addition!

That's a key piece to the puzzle!

[flyarm]

104. see my post #87 and my previous posts on Du about this..

this is old news and most in media are well aware of this..


Clinton had a ban on taliban money and frozen accounts in this country against the taliban!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

U.S. Froze $254 Million In Taliban Cash in 1999
Posted by flyarm in General Discussion
Sat Sep 09th 2006, 06:08 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?p ...

U.S. Froze $254 Million In Taliban Cash in 1999
State Dept. Opposes Using Assets for Terror Victims

By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 13, 2001; Page A16

Two years ago, President Bill Clinton signed an executive order freezing $254 million in Taliban assets in the United States, more than twice the amount linked to terrorist groups and seized worldwide since the Sept. 11 attacks.

U.S. officials will not disclose where the $254 million came from, except to say that it was under the control of the Taliban. But the large sum, contrasted with the very small amount of trade between the United States and Afghanistan, has raised questions about the source of the money.


fly

[Trajan]

117. Just because this is already 'known' ...

Doesnt mean it shouldnt be discussed more ..... especially in light of the Path to 911 debacle, and the current VERY public debate between Clinton and the Right has sparked a need to re-evaluate those facts ... It is right to bring some light to the first months of the Bush WH, and show just how dangerous that WH's policies proved to be .... It was all about the Pipeline ....

There is NO DOUBT that the Bush WH coddled and kowtowed to the Taliban .... I recall vividly how disgusted I was as I read story after story about the awful things the fanatical religious absolutists were doing in Afghanistan, and how the Bush WH were apologizing for them ....

I recall the Sheer editorial when it was written ... I recall the Taliban going on an iconoclastic rampage to destroy ALL 'idols', and wiping out countless treasures, including the ancient Bamian Buddha .... I was SO distraught when this White House gave their support for the Taliban, while offering weak condemnation for their ugly, narrow minded fascism ....

Why NOT discuss at LEAST Bush support for the Taliban ? ..... WHY try to stifle such talk ? ...

It was all about the Pipeline .... It is well known that negotiations for that pipeline were ongoing, and then stopped in late July .... that threats were made about carpets of gold and carpets of bombs .... that Karzai AND Zalmay Khalilzad were UNOCAL and Enron lackeys from way back .... Cheney was fresh off his Halliburton career and having secret meeting regarding the future of american oil might, and Condi left her big supertanker behind at Chevron, while Bush collected the spoils of oil wealth from his friends to promote his campaign with promises of even BIGGER payoffs in the future ....

All THAT is sure as hell true .... I dont accept that ALL those oil sycophants and tycoons, with dollar signs flying around in their heads, didnt at least think about doing what they are precisely doing this very moment .....

Cries of 'conspiracy theory' cannot blunt the fact that men, given an opportunity, will plot a means to get rich, and do so using any means necessary ...

Including propping up muslim fascists and spilling american blood AND american treasure on the sands of Iraq and Afghanistan ....

Bush was too busy kissing Taliban ASS to get too wrapped up in defending his nation .....

Shout it from the fucking rooftops ....

[dpbrown]

128. It's news now because Clinton had an attack plan for Afghanistan

Bush did the exact opposite, and sucked up to them instead.

[blogslut]

25. Also told in Fahrenheit 9-11

First few minutes of the Documentary.

[jazzjunkysue]

56. I saw it 3 times but this all sinks in now, as we get the whole story.

Also, that movie is so incredible, you can't keep it all in your front cranium. There's so much more to process and it moves so fast, you have to let those earlier stories go to think about what you're seeing.

This is the time to get this out, now that the GOP is trying to blame clinton.

Send it to all the blogs. Make it move.

[wildbilln864]

28. IMPEACH BUSH/CHENEY 07...

kicked & recommended!

[originalpckelly]

36. This needs to be on the front page immediately.

It is absolutely SHOCKING!

[dpbrown]

47. I don't know how to get something on the front page...

How do you do that?

[BelgianMadCow]

53. 5 recommendations gets you on the front page - "greatest" page

and you have 28 already. Click on the greatest icon near the top of your screen (the star) :-)

[Oilwellian]

37. Remember the carpet of gold or carpet of bombs moment?

Let's insist the media report this story.

[BelgianMadCow]

52. sorry, misposted

[flyarm]

105. carpet of gold...

frommy files..fly


http://archive.democrats.com/view.cfm?id=5166

In the book ''Bin Laden, la verité interdite'' (''Bin Laden, the forbidden truth''), that appeared in Paris on Wednesday, the authors, Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasquie, reveal that the Federal Bureau of Investigation's deputy director John O'Neill resigned in July in protest over the obstruction.

Brisard claim O'Neill told them that ''the main obstacles to investigate Islamic terrorism were U.S. oil corporate interests and the role played by Saudi Arabia in it''.

The two claim the U.S. government's main objective in Afghanistan was to consolidate the position of the Taliban regime to obtain access to the oil and gas reserves in Central Asia.

They affirm that until August, the U.S. government saw the Taliban regime ''as a source of stability in Central Asia that would enable the construction of an oil pipeline across Central Asia'', from the rich oilfields in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, through Afghanistan and Pakistan, to the Indian Ocean.

Until now, says the book, ''the oil and gas reserves of Central Asia have been controlled by Russia. The Bush government wanted to change all that''.

But, confronted with Taliban's refusal to accept U.S. conditions, ''this rationale of energy security changed into a military one'', the authors claim.

''At one moment during the negotiations, the U.S. representatives told the Taliban, 'either you accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we bury you under a carpet of bombs','' Brisard said in an interview in Paris

[flyarm]

107. What Congress does not know about Enron and 9/11

http://www.911dossier.co.uk/pk11.html

What Congress does not know about Enron and 9/11

By John Loftus

About the author: As a former federal prosecutor, John Loftus had an insider’s knowledge of high level intelligence operations, including obstruction of Congressional investigations. Loftus resigned from the Justice Department in 1981 to expose how the intelligence community had recruited Nazi war criminals and then concealed the files from Congressional subpoena. After appearing on an Emmy Award winning segment of 60 Minutes, Loftus has spent the next two decades writing histories of intelligence cover-ups, and serving as an unpaid lawyer helping other whistleblowers inside US intelligence.

snip:

A captured Al Qaida document reveals that US energy companies were secretly negotiating with the Taliban to build a pipeline. The document was obtained by the FBI but was not allowed to be shared with other agencies in order to protect Enron. Multiple sources confirm that American law enforcement agencies were deliberately kept in the dark and systematically prevented from connecting the dots before 9/11 in order to aid Enron’s secret and immoral Taliban negotiations.

The suppressed Al Qaida document tends to support recent claims of a cover-up made by several mid-level intelligence and law enforcement figures. Their ongoing terrorist investigations appear to have been hindered during the same sensitive time period while the Enron Corporation was still negotiating with the Taliban. An inadvertent result of the Taliban pipeline cover-up was that the Taliban’s friends in Al Qaida were able to complete their last eight months of preparations for 9/11 while the Enron secrecy block was still in force.

snip:

However, in January 2001, Vice President Cheney allegedly reinstated the intelligence block and expanded it to effectively preclude any investigations whatsoever of Saudi-Taliban-Afghan oil connections. Former FBI counter-terrorism chief John O’Neil resigned from the FBI in disgust, stating that he was ordered not to investigate Saudi-Al Qaida connections because of the Enron pipeline deal. Loftus has confirmed that it was O’Neill who originally discovered the AL Qaida pipeline memo after the Embassy bombings in Africa.

O'Neill gave an overview of the Enron block to two French authors who will soon be publishing in the United States. The FBI is currently investigating Loftus’ links to John O’Neill, and is also refusing FBI agent Robert Wright permission to publish his own findings about the Enron block.

Loftus asserts that the Enron block, which remained in force from January 2001 until August 2001 when the pipeline deal collapsed, is the reason that none of FBI agent Rowley’s requests for investigations were ever approved. As numerous British and French authors have concluded, the information provided by European intelligence sources prior to 9/11 was so extensive, that it is no longer possible for either CIA or the FBI to assert a defense of incompetence.

[flyarm]

108. The Enron pipeline connection to 9/11

http://www.911dossier.co.uk/pk11.html

The Enron pipeline connection to 9/11

snip:

The email report, written by Al Qaida's head of military operations, Mohammd Atef, describes Al Qaida's view of ongoing secret pipeline negotiations between the US oil companies and the Taliban to build a pipeline through Afghanistan.

This Atef report was almost certainly reviewed by the late John O'Neill at the time of the Embassy bombing, shortly after the Al Qaida report was written. At the time, O'Neill was the FBI agent in charge of the Embassy bombing investigation. The shocking pipeline information may explain why O'Neill became fixated about the Saudi-Taliban-Al Qaida relationship for the few remaining years of his life.

After O'Neill's investigations were repeatedly shut down by his superiors, O'Neill allegedly began making discreet inquiries to French intelligence using two reporters as cut-outs. Both reporters were known consultants for French intelligence and are specialists on both the oil industry and terrorism.

It is plausible that the French Government was upset at being shut out of the Caspian Basin deal, and may have been helping O'Neill behind the backs of his superior's in Washington. It does seem that the more that O'Neill learned, the less he was alowed to do with it.

The last straw was Cheney's refusal to follow up on O'Neill's request to pursue the leads in the Phoenix memo in April 2001. After resigning from the FBI in disgust, John O'Neil spoke candidly to several people, including the two French authors, whom he met again in July.


fly

[flyarm]

110. Book/France Alleges that U.S. Was in Negot.to Do a Deal with Taliban

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0201/08/ltm.05.html

AMERICAN MORNING WITH PAULA ZAHN
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0201/08/ltm.05.html

Explosive New Book Published in France Alleges that U.S. Was in Negotiations to Do a Deal with Taliban

Aired January 8, 2002 - 07:34 ET



PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Time to check in with ambassador-in-residence, Richard Butler, this morning. An explosive new book published in France alleges that the United States was in negotiations to do a deal with the Taliban for an oil pipeline in Afghanistan.

Joining us right now is Richard Butler to shed some light on this new book. He is the former chief U.N. weapons inspector. He is now on the Council on Foreign Relations and our own ambassador-in- residence -- good morning.

RICHARD BUTLER, FMR. U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Good morning, Paula.

ZAHN: Boy, if any of these charges are true...

BUTLER: If...

ZAHN: ... this...

BUTLER: Yes.

ZAHN: ... is really big news.

BUTLER: I agree.

ZAHN: Start off with what your understanding is of what is in this book -- the most explosive charge.

BUTLER: The most explosive charge, Paula, is that the Bush administration -- the present one, just shortly after assuming office slowed down FBI investigations of al Qaeda and terrorism in Afghanistan in order to do a deal with the Taliban on oil -- an oil pipeline across Afghanistan.

ZAHN: And this book points out that the FBI's deputy director, John O'Neill, actually resigned because he felt the U.S. administration was obstructing...

BUTLER: A proper...

ZAHN: ... the prosecution of terrorism.

BUTLER: Yes, yes, a proper intelligence investigation of terrorism. Now, you said if, and I affirmed that in responding to you. We have to be careful here. These are allegations. They're worth airing and talking about, because of their gravity. We don't know if they are correct. But I believe they should be investigated, because Central Asian oil, as we were discussing yesterday, is potentially so important. And all prior attempts to have a pipeline had to be done through Russia. It had to be negotiated with Russia.

Now, if there is to be a pipeline through Afghanistan, obviating the need to deal with Russia, it would also cost less than half of what a pipeline through Russia would cost. So financially and politically, there's a big prize to be had. A pipeline through Afghanistan down to the Pakistan coast would bring out that Central Asian oil easier and more cheaply.

ZAHN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as you spoke about this yesterday, we almost immediately got a call from "The New York Times."

BUTLER: Right.





fly

[progressoid]

40. Facts Schmacts. Blah blah blah. Say, what's going on with Brad & Angelina?

[lostnfound]

48. It is so hard not to have that same reaction..

I think "Ho-hum. Doesn't everyone in the country who can read already know this?" But of course we know the answer to that. Unless you spend time reading books about it, or weeding through haystacks on the 'net, most people haven't run across this little fact. And oh gee, wasn't it explained away as a reward for getting rid of the poppies??

[Karenca]

41. This needs to get out....I'm emailing Keith

Please, everyone, spread this around.

[originalpckelly]

45. Yep, I e-mailed the story too, hopefully it will make the newscast!

OMG!

[flyarm]

111. it is old news!!..very old..like 5 years old..it has been on some media

newspapers..and all over the internet for years..it may be new to you, but it is old news..and has been discussed over and over and over again..

just go into archives here at du you will find lots of info on it..

fly

[flyarm]

113. Greg Palast: Beat the Press Hustler Magazine Saturday, March 1, 2003

http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=181&row=1

HUSTLER: And Dan Rather-

PALAST: I feel sick at heart when I see Rather, because he's actually a journalist. He came on my program, Newsnight and said, "I can't report the news. I'm not allowed to ask questions. We're gonna send our children and our husbands into the desert now, and I can't ask a question, because I will be lynched." This is what Rather said in London. He looked defeated and awful, and I was thinking, Why am I feeling sorry for this guy who is worth millions? He should turn to the camera and say, "Well, now for the truth. Over to you, Greg, in London." The problem is that he can't report the story of the intelligence agents who are told not to look at the Bin Laden family, not to look at Saudi funding of terror.

HUSTLER: What makes Rather afraid to do his job?

PALAST: It's not just that there are brutal shepherds like Rupert Murdoch out there to beat the dickens out of any reporter that asks the wrong questions; it's all about making news on the cheap. You know, for some of these editors, cheap and easy is a philosophy of life. To do a heavy-duty story on Bush, and his oil and Bush and his gold-mining company is beyond them. A little bit of the Harken stock scandal came out, but that story was already seven years old. To some extent they know that there are certain things you cannot say. Rather says he would be necklaced for telling the truth.

[me b zola]

46. k&r

[Disturbed]

51. Nothing is "well known" unless it is on every TV Network

for at least a week running on every station. Most people get their news from TV soundbytes. Even if the majority of Americans knew about this would they have cared enough to vote for John Kerry?

[Imagevision]

50. Bush+Taliban=$43 million! -- Today Afgan growing opium to pay bills

There could never-EVER be another president as bad/corrupt as George Bush.

[republicansarewhores]

55. We all need to e-mail Chris Wallace

And request that he ask about this next time he interviews cyborg man, shoe lady, Rumsferatu, or the giggling murderer.

RAW

[jazzjunkysue]

57. Uber-K and Uber-rec. Thanks. This is what I love about DU.

:loveya:

[ArmchairMeme]

58. Coincidence?

How interesting it is that this very evening Mr. Bush is meeting with President Musharef and Hamid Karzie at the White House - M$M is suggesting it is a peace summit!

How much is this going to cost tax payers?

[K8-EEE]

59. I Saw Robert Scheer Last UCLA Book Festival & Shook His Hand

Over this article.

[tabasco]

60. He is really great.

I've seen him on Link tv a couple times. Very smart.

[Make7]

61. "Our aid bypasses the Taliban..." - Colin Powell

Humanitarian Assistance to Afghans

Secretary Colin L. Powell
Statement at Press Briefing on New U.S. Humanitarian Assistance for Afghans
Washington, DC
May 17, 2001

SECRETARY POWELL: Good morning, everyone. Afghanistan is in crisis. After more than 20 years of war, and now the third year of a devastating draught, the country is on the verge of a widespread famine. Nearly 4 million Afghans are at risk. If the international community does not take immediate action, countless deaths and terrible tragedy are certain to follow.

At the direction of President Bush, I am today announcing a package of $43 million in new humanitarian assistance for the people of Afghanistan, including 65,000 tons of wheat, $5 million in complementary food commodities, and $10 million in other livelihood and food security programs within Afghanistan. We also expect to soon announce additional assistance to Afghan refugees.

Even before this latest commitment, the United States was by far the largest provider of humanitarian assistance for Afghans. Last year, we provided about $114 million in aid. With this new package, our humanitarian assistance to date this year will reach $124 million. This includes over 200,000 tons of wheat.

We will continue to look for ways to provide more assistance for Afghans, including those farmers who have felt the impact of the ban on poppy cultivation, a decision by the Taliban that we welcome.

We distribute our assistance in Afghanistan through international agencies of the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations. We provide our aid to the people of Afghanistan, not to Afghanistan's warring factions. Our aid bypasses the Taliban, who have done little to alleviate the suffering of the Afghan people, and indeed have done much to exacerbate it. We hope the Taliban will act on a number of fundamental issues that separate us: their support for terrorism; their violation of internationally recognized human rights standards, especially their treatment of women and girls; and their refusal to resolve Afghanistan's civil war through a negotiated settlement.

UN sanctions against the Taliban are smart sanctions and do not hurt the Afghan people, nor do these sanctions affect the flow of humanitarian assistance for Afghans. America seeks to help the neediest, wherever they may be. I call upon the international community to mobilize and respond generously to help avert this looming humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan.

Secretary General Annan and I have discussed this situation before, and I will ask for his further assistance to raise the international community's awareness about this crisis and to impress upon the international community the necessity to respond with energy and with dispatch.

Colleagues of mine from different parts of the government, as well as including the United States Agency for International Development, will be available to provide more detailed information, should you have questions.

Thank you very much.


Released on May 17, 2001

http://www.state.gov/secretary/former/powell/remarks/2001/2928.htm

- Make7

[dpbrown]

69. Knowing that Afghanistan was harboring the terrorist who bombed the Cole

He authorizes $10 million in what, cash? "Bypassing" the Taliban to give it directly to bin Laden?

Clinton already had a plan to attack Afghanistan because al qaeda was responsible for the Cole.

Bush pays them off instead.

This is seriously criminal.

[Make7]

83. "Bush paid the Taliban $43M!" - dpbrown

The Secretary of State at the time stated very clearly that this was for humanitarian aid for the Afghani people distributed through international agencies of the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations.

If you bring this issue up as some plot to give money to the Taliban or Al Qaeda, you will lose the debate unless you can provide some solid evidence that the money was not used for humanitarian aid. Simply speculating on where the money truly went will do nothing but undermine any case you are trying to make.

The obvious fall back position for anyone from an opposing point of view will simply be to ask you if you truly believe that giving humanitarian aid to help prevent hunger and starvation among Afghani civilians was the wrong thing to do. There are probably only three possible answers to that question. Without some very solid reasons, two of those will basically amount to you admitting to losing the debate:

1. Providing aid to Afghani civilians through international aid organizations was the wrong thing to do.
   - or -
   
2. The money didn't really go to the people of Afghanistan - it actually went to the Taliban and/or Al Qaeda.

You have shown no evidence for the second position, and I seriously doubt you can come up with anything reasonable to support it.

The third option is one that makes an assumption about the Taliban that would appear to be untrue. An assumption that would be easily refuted with numerous sources.

To summarize, this simply is not a very good issue to try to paint Bush or his Administration in an unfavorable light. There are numerous issues to choose from where the misdeeds are much greater and the evidence is overwhelming. Selecting this as an issue is a losing proposition - especially considering the absence of anything that might prove it.

- Make7

[go west young man]

88. This already available info may not have a great effect in the immediate

future but it can in the long run. After the public re-realizes that the Bush administration was in negotiations with the Taliban and later on when Cheney's secret energy task force meetings are revealed we will all have a better picture of what 9/11 was really about. It's a matter of time and diligence. The truth will eventually get out. John O'Neill deserved better than what he got as do all the victims of 9/11.

[geek tragedy]

92. Forget it. People love their mythology. eom

[Make7]

116. We should never let the facts get in the way of a good story. ( n/t )

[dpbrown]

125. Clinton had attack plans for Afghanistan, Bush coddled them

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to point out that even if Afghanistan got a pile of wheat and a pile of other food, it still got $10 million.

The unassailable truth is that Clinton had decided to attack Afghanistan in retaliation for the Cole bombing, passed those plans on to Bush, and Bush paid the Taliban off instead.

If Bush had followed through on Clinton's plan to attack Afghanistan instead of trying to prop them up through funneling aid and money, al qaeda would have been broken up and the attacks on Sep. of that year would never have happened.

Now spin your pseodo-logic and made-up responses by the other side any way you want to.

Clinton handed off a plan to disrupt the terror network rooted in Afghanistan and Bush did the exact opposite.

He coddled and provided aid and comfort to the enemies of America. The result was the attack in September.

[Make7]

134. Clinton provided $113.2 million in aid to Afghanistan in FY2000.

And $76.6 million in FY1999. Did some of that money also go to the Taliban? Was Clinton also "trying to prop them up through funneling aid and money"?

Can you please just demonstrate (and provide evidence for) how any of the aid money that the Bush Administration gave to Afghanistan went to the Taliban and/or Al Qaeda?

My reason for replying to your original post was to give you the actual information regarding the $43 million you claimed was given to the Taliban. The fact is the money was not given to the Taliban, I thought it would be best if you didn't continue to repeat that it was. Perhaps you feel differently.

- Make7

[dpbrown]

135. The Cole was bombed on October 12, 2000, blame not pinned 'til December

That's all of 2000. Clinton was completely justified in providing aid to Afghanistan when he did. The point is that once the attack had been certified to al qaeda, in December of 2000, and attack plans drawn up to hit al qaeda in Afghanistan in order to break it up, Bush, in his zeal to completely overturn or reverse anything Clinton had done, turned to a policy of appeasement instead, with the disasterous result that in September of 2001, after Bush had made himself the world's largest supporter of the Taliban (certified by the Clinton Administration as sheltering al qaeda), and having sat on what now turns out to be Clinton's prescient attack plan to disrupt al qaeda to prevent further attacks, a wheat-stuffed and fully monetized al qaeda hit the United States (not that the August 6, 2001, presidential daily briefing entitled "Bin Laden determined to strike in US" hadn't made it even more crystal clear).

Bush sought a policy of appeasement with a rogue government certified as sheltering a terrorist enemy that had already attacked the U.S. by bombing the Cole.

Any aid Clinton had provided in 2000 is irrelevant, because this certification didn't take place until December. Bush was handed attack plans for Afghanistan and sat on them, throwing away the opportunity that Clinton would have acted upon to disrupt al qaeda and prevent the attacks on the United States. He was even warned in August that the attack was coming at home and still did nothing, after having made his administration the world's largest supporter of the Taliban in 2001.

[Make7]

136. Bin Laden was indicted by a US Federal Court in 1998.

The Clinton Administration had also drawn up a military/political strategy for dealing with Al Qaeda that same year. It was referred to in Richard Clarke's January 25, 2001 memo as Pol-Mil Plan for al-Qida, but is more commonly known as the Delenda Plan. Clinton had also signed Executive Order 13129 on July 4, 1999 in part to freeze any Taliban assets within US control. He issued this EO because the Taliban provided a safe haven and base of operations for Al Qaeda which was considered to be a threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. Furthermore, Clinton had ordered the cruise missile strikes on Al Qaeda training bases in Afghanistan on August 20, 1998. It appears that Clinton was aware of the threat of Al Qaeda, yet he still provided humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.

Could you please elaborate more on your distinction that the aid given to Afghanistan by the Bush Administration was somehow aiding a known enemy, but the aid given in 2000 by the Clinton Administration was "completely justified". Clinton gave $113.2 million in aid that year, why did that not make him "the world's largest supporter of the Taliban" in 2000?

I must reiterate that I entered this discussion simply to inform you that the $43 million you claim went to the Taliban was actually humanitarian aid that was distributed by the UN and other international organizations. It was essentially the same as the aid provided to the Afghani people by the Clinton Administration.

Your insistence that humanitarian aid somehow benefited the Taliban during the Bush Administration, but not during the Clinton Administration does not seem to be supported by any facts whatsoever.

- Make7

[dpbrown]

138. Clinton had no attack plan for Afghanistan until December of 2000

Aid after that date should be considered aid to an enemy state.

[Make7]

139. So being an enemy state or not is based upon the US having an attack plan?

From the historical documentation, it appears that the Clinton Administration considered the Taliban and Al Qaeda a threat while continuing to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan.

To begin, I present you with a portion of Executive Order 13129 signed on July 4, 1999:

I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States of America, find that the actions and policies of the Taliban in Afghanistan, in allowing territory under its control in Afghanistan to be used as a safe haven and base of operations for Usama bin Ladin and the Al-Qaida organization who have committed and threaten to continue to commit acts of violence against the United States and its nationals, constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat.

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=1999_register&docid=fr07jy99-146.pdf#page=3

To further establish that Al Qaeda was an enemy, here is some information concerning the indictments made against bin Laden, and other members of Al Qaeda:

Bin Laden, Atef Indicted in U.S. Federal Court for African Bombings

Terrorists will be tracked down, officials say

New York -- Usama bin Laden and Muhammad Atef were indicted November 4
(1998) in Manhattan federal court for the August 7 bombings of the US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and for conspiring to kill Americans outside the United States.

    <- snip ->

The 238-count indictment charges, among other things, that bin Laden and Atef along with co-defendants Wadih el Hage, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed Sadeek Odeh, and Mohamed Rashed Daoud al'Owhali, acted together with other members of "al Qaeda" -- the worldwide terrorist organization led by bin Laden -- to murder US nationals, including members of the American military stationed in Saudi Arabia following the Gulf War and in Somalia as part of UN Operation Restore Hope, as well as those employed at US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

    <- snip ->

Beginning in 1992, bin Laden allegedly issued through his "fatwah" committees a series of escalating "fatwahs" against the United States, certain military personnel, and, eventually in February 1998, a "fatwah" stating that Muslims should kill Americans -- including civilians -- anywhere in the world they can be found.

http://usinfo.state.gov/is/Archive_Index/Bin_Laden_Atef_Indicted_in_U.S._Federal_Court_for_African_Bombings.html

And from the indictment solely against bin Laden:

06 November 1998

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK


UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

- V-

USAMA BIN LADEN

    <- snip ->

Overt Acts

8. In furtherance of the said conspiracy, and to effect the illegal object thereof, the following overt acts, among others, were committed:

    <- snip ->

l. On October 3 and 4, 1993, members of Al Qaeda participated with Somali tribesmen in an attack on United States military personnel serving in Somalia as part of Operation Restore Hope, which attack killed a total of 18 United States soldiers and wounded 73 others in Mogadishu;

    <- snip ->

p. On or about August 23, 1996, USAMA BIN LADEN signed and issued a declaration of Jihad entitled "Message from Usamah Bin-Muhammad Bin-Laden to His Muslim Brothers in the Whole World and Especially in the Arabian Peninsula: Declaration of Jihad Against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Mosques; Expel the Heretics from the Arabian Peninsula" (hereafter the "Declaration of Jihad) from the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan. The Declaration of Jihad included statements that efforts should be pooled to kill Americans and encouraged other persons to join the jihad against the American enemy";

q. In or about late August 1996, USAMA BIN LADEN read aloud the Declaration of Jihad and made an audiotape recording of such reading for worldwide distribution; and

r. In February 1998, USAMA BIN LADEN issued a joint declaration in the name of Gamaa't, Al Jihad, the Jihad movement in Bangladesh and the "Jamaat ul Ulema e Pakistan" under the banner of the "International Islamic Front for Jihad on the Jews and Crusaders," which stated that Muslims should kill Americans -- including civilians -- anywhere in the world where they can be found.

http://www.fas.org/irp/news/1998/11/98110602_nlt.html

An excerpt of Richard Clarke's testimony before the 9/11 Commission concerning plans formulated during the Clinton Administration to deal with Al Qaeda:

MR. GORTON: In August of 1998, did you recommend a longer- lasting military response or just precisely the one that, in fact, took place?

MR. CLARKE: I recommended a series of rolling attacks against the infrastructure in Afghanistan. Every time they would rebuild it, I would propose that we blow it up again, much like, in fact, we were doing in Iraq, where we had a rolling series of attacks on their air defense system.

MR. GORTON: And shortly after that you came up with the so- called "Delenda Plan," as I understand it? And is our staff report accurate in saying that it had four principal approaches -- diplomacy, covert action, various financial members, and military action? Is that a reasonable summary that our staff has given us?

MR. CLARKE: Yes, sir.

    <- snip ->

MR. GORTON: And at the very end of the Clinton administration, after the attack on the Cole, there was triggered, either by the Cole or by everything else, that a new set of initiatives resulting in what is called a “Blue-Sky memo,” is that correct?

MR. CLARKE: That's right.

MR. GORTON: And were you a part of that? Was that -- did you draft it? Was it your plan?

MR. CLARKE: The Blue-Sky memo I believe you are referring to was part of an overall update of the Delenda Plan. And it was a part generated by the Central Intelligence Agency. We, my staff, generated the rest of the update.

MR. GORTON: And the goal of that plan was to roll back al Qaeda over a period of three to five years, reducing it eventually to a rump group, like other terrorist organizations around the world?

MR. CLARKE: Our goal was to do that to eliminate it as a threat to the United States, recognizing that one might not ever be able to totally eliminate everybody in the world who thought they were a member of al Qaeda. But if we could get it to be as ineffective as the Abu Nidal organization was toward the end of its existence, it didn't pose a threat to the United States. That's what we wanted. The CIA said if they got all the resources they needed, that might be possible over the course of three years at the earliest.

MR. GORTON: And then Delenda and that Blue-Sky proposal, I take it, were pretty much the basis of what you recommended to Condoleezza Rice in January of 2001, covert assistance to the Northern Alliance, you know, more money for CIA activities, something called choosing a standard of evidence for attributing responsibility for the Cole, new Predator reconnaissance missions and more work on funding?

MR. CLARKE: That's right, Senator. The update to the Delenda Plan that we did in October-November-December of 2000 was handed to the new National Security Advisor in January of 2001. It formed the basis of the draft National Security presidential directive that was then discussed in September of 2001 and signed by President Bush as NSPD-9, I believe, later in September.

http://www.9-11commission.gov/archive/hearing8/9-11Commission_Hearing_2004-03-24.htm

Now if only there was some way the Clinton Administration could have realized that Al Qaeda and the Taliban were the enemy sooner and came up with a plan to deal with the threat (maybe even using a word for the plan that means "to destroy" in Latin), then perhaps they would have had the foresight to cut off humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan instead of providing aid to what should have been considered an enemy state.

Do you believe that the many Afghani civilians that were suffering from poverty and drought were the enemy of the United States? Is that why you think the humanitarian aid given to them by the Bush Administration was aid to an enemy state? Weren't they the same people that the aid provided by the Clinton Administration went to?

The distinction you are making between aid to an enemy state and humanitarian aid to it's people seems like it has more to do with who was the President of the US when the aid was distributed than anything else.

- Make7

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

62. Wow! How the hell has this been missed? K&R!

[AzDar]

63. KICK!! n/t

[LunaC]

64. See how thiis fts in to the Big Picture

Visit the link in my sig line for details.

[nicknameless]

65. BushCo doesn't give a royal rip about opium.

That's why Afghanistan's opium production is up so high now.
The $43 Million was for the UNOCAL pipeline.

[Bjorn Against]

66. Thanks for the reminder dpbrown

I have known that fact for a long time, but it is a fact that is hardly ever talked about. I bring up and most people do not know it even if they are normally very well informed people. I just wish Kerry would have brought it up in the campaign, but it seems to be one of those facts that is just off limits to everyone.

PLEASE LISTEN UP DEMOCRATS THIS IS SOMETHING TO GO AFTER BUSH ON.

The media has been silent on this, we need a high profile leader to demand that the Bush Administration explain their donation to the Taliban. All it takes is one big name to grab the headlines, come on leaders take a stand.

[Name removed]

67. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[nam78_two]

68. Unlike your guy who was in 'Nam I take it??!!!

You might want to read the 9/11 commission report to see what the plan was that Clinton left for his successors...or are you of the mindset that thinks "Bin Laden determined to attack within the United States" wasn't clear enough :eyes:
That RW kool-aid must sure be tasty....sheesh

[Name removed]

72. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

75. Coming Soon, To A House Near You: Speaker Of The House, Nancy Pelosi!

Bwahahahahahaha!!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[me b zola]

79. It must suck to know that the guy that you back is a traitor...

...and a war criminal. What does that make you.

Hey, Clinton took appropriate measures to all intell relating to terrorists, unlike the idiot king that you are on your knees for. It must suck to be you.

[ComerPerro]

82. What do you want on your Tombstone?

How about: Here lies a disruptor. He disrupted poorly,

[ComerPerro]

84. pwned

[DemonFighterLives]

71. Great thread DP

Even though I knew of most of this stuff, it kind of all comes together now.
In Fahrenheit 911, was dubya waltzing around with the Taliban before or after his election scam?

I do believe that bushco is no stranger to drug dealing for profit and it comes as no surprise that Opium is growing like mad. Someone ought to look into how dubco is making out on that deal.

The whole thing with Clinton being blamed has caused much searching for the truth
:dem:

[dpbrown]

73. Thanks, DFL

I hope this connection is shouted out loudly from all the rooftops.

Clinton drew up plans to attack Afghanistan after the Cole, and Bush shelved them and became the world's largest benefactor of the Taliban instead.

[Erika]

74. This has been out there for a long time but ignored

The Taliban even visited W while he was governor of Texas.

Yes, W approved the 41 mil to be given to the Taliban when he became president. It does not appear W paid any attention to Clinton's warnings.

[Nikki Stone 1]

78. Was Clinton prevented from going after Bush's terrorist friends by

an impeachment over a blow job?

[drfresh]

76. I had forgotton that, but now I remember

What a douchebag (W)

[proud patriot]

80. Yep bushco are a bunch of Hypocrits

a few years earlier the taliban visited texas also ...

:patriot::patriot::patriot::patriot::patriot:

[windbreeze]

85. I cannot believe the people who don't know about this...

I have read every post on this thread and am absolutely amazed...I have known about this for years...and have mentioned it, in posts many times on this forum...no one ever responded..now here it is...amazing....

So now 9/11 begins to look a little different...'eh??? I too have asked the same questions...why would BinLaden attack while * was president(after all their families had been intertwined for decades)...and who actually got the $43 million? Karzai was a unocal official...and we appointed him to take over Afghanistan...so what was the reason we bombed Afghanistan again...to take out the Taliban??? yeah, right!! it's all tangled together and the truth is somewhere mucked up in the middle...but the truth is surely there, if you can decipher it..

It's apparent that when it comes to what * was doing in the previous 8 months before 9/11...he was giving the Taliban money...and aid...(read, he was giving BinLaden money/aid, because BinLaden was still the head of the Taliban in May of 2001, in Afghanistan) glad this subject is finally seeing some light again...it needs to be pounded home, especially when there are those who try to blame Clinton for 9/11...(I figure $43 million was way enough to do it...considering I just read somewhere that it was figured to be about a $100,000-$300,000 job) By the way, wasn't BinLaden treated at an American hospital in Dubai...in July 2001, between the 4/14th...

http://tinyurl.com/3xld4
windbreeze

[flyarm]

89. see my post #87..i have also posted this many many times here on Du..

and many other web sites..and the fact that pissy pants gave this money ( see my post #87) even though Clinton had the taliban assets frozen here in the usa..

but understand..that this money was exchanged when Haliborton and Cheney's energy commission was negotiating an oil pipeline through Afganistan with the taliban..

as well as negotiating with saddamn ...yes saddam..for the oil pipeline to go through Afganistan and Iraq..

problem is after the taliban got the money they renegged on the pipeline..so did saddam..

oh and there were pictures all over the internet.. in cheney's office of maps of the region for oil pipelines..

Some of Cheney's energy task force papers have been made public through court actions. They reveal that Mideast oil was an area of deep interest for the task force. Will the rest of the documents prove that the war in Iraq was motivated by a desire for oil after all?


from my files..fly


Judicial Watch - Because no one is above the law!

July 17, 2003
Contact: Press Office
[phone]


MAPS AND CHARTS OF IRAQI OILFIELDS:
CHENEY ENERGY TASK FORCE




http://www.judicialwatch.org/IraqOilMap.pdf

http://www.judicialwatch.org/IraqOilGasProj.pdf

http://www.judicialwatch.org/IraqOilFrgnSuitors.pdf

http://www.judicialwatch.org/UAEOilMap.pdf

http://www.judicialwatch.org/UAEOilProj.pdf

http://www.judicialwatch.org/SAOilMap.pdf

http://www.judicialwatch.org/SAOilProj.pdf



fly

[geek tragedy]

90. This is a lie that was debunked YEARS AGO. Waste of a thread.

http://www.spinsanity.org/posts/200106-3.html#12a

The US did not give a "gift" to the Taliban. In fact, it was widely reported by CNN and others that the aid consists of $28 million in surplus wheat, $5 million in food commodities and $10 million in "livelihood and food security" programs intended to help alleviate a looming famine. Moreover, as Secretary of State Colin Powell said in his announcement of the aid, it will be distributed through international agencies of the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations, not the Taliban. Powell specifically added that the aid "bypasses the Taliban, who have done little to alleviate the suffering of the Afghan people, and indeed have done much to exacerbate it."

The aid does indirectly help the Taliban by helping prevent mass famine. And it does mitigate the effects of the ban on poppy cultivation and thereby discourage farmers from resuming cultivation. Can we say that the drug war had no relationship to this decision? Absolutely not. Powell acknowledged in his statement the administration's desire to help farmers hurt by the ban on poppy cultivation and its support for the ban. But it is unfair to omit details of the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, in which more than one million people are estimated to be at risk, and to dismiss any humanitarian motivation. Remember, Afghanistan is under UN sanctions imposed at the request of the US under President Clinton that are supported by Bush. Sheer is just being blatantly deceptive.

[flyarm]

94. wrong..it was in papers all over the USA! here is from la times writer..

i have got lots of it saved in my files..fly



http://www.robertscheer.com/1_natcolumn/01_columns/052201.htm


Bush's Faustian Deal With the Taliban
By Robert Scheer
Published May 22, 2001 in the Los Angeles Times


Enslave your girls and women, harbor anti-U.S. terrorists, destroy every vestige of civilization in your homeland, and the Bush administration will embrace you. All that matters is that you line up as an ally in the drug war, the only international cause that this nation still takes seriously.

That's the message sent with the recent gift of $43 million to the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan, the most virulent anti-American violators of human rights in the world today. The gift, announced last Thursday by Secretary of State Colin Powell, in addition to other recent aid, makes the U.S. the main sponsor of the Taliban and rewards that "rogue regime" for declaring that opium growing is against the will of God. So, too, by the Taliban's estimation, are most human activities, but it's the ban on drugs that catches this administration's attention.

Never mind that Osama bin Laden still operates the leading anti-American terror operation from his base in Afghanistan, from which, among other crimes, he launched two bloody attacks on American embassies in Africa in 1998.

Sadly, the Bush administration is cozying up to the Taliban regime at a time when the United Nations, at U.S. insistence, imposes sanctions on Afghanistan because the Kabul government will not turn over Bin Laden.




snip:
The Taliban fanatics, economically and diplomatically isolated, are at the breaking point, and so, in return for a pittance of legitimacy and cash from the Bush administration, they have been willing to appear to reverse themselves on the growing of opium. That a totalitarian country can effectively crack down on its farmers is not surprising. But it is grotesque for a U.S. official, James P. Callahan, director of the State Department's Asian anti-drug program, to describe the Taliban's special methods in the language of representative democracy: "The Taliban used a system of consensus-building," Callahan said after a visit with the Taliban, adding that the Taliban justified the ban on drugs "in very religious terms."

Of course, Callahan also reported, those who didn't obey the theocratic edict would be sent to prison.

[geek tragedy]

95. Scheer lied. I know people have a hard time believing this,

but occasionally people on the left spread lies and bullshit.

This is an urban myth.

[flyarm]

99. IT WAS ALSO BROUGHT UP IN NEWSDAY..5/29/2001

FROM :

http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_911_timeline&startpos=800#a830fortbelvoirmascal

IT WAS ALSO IN NEWSDAY..
QUOTE;

A Newsday editorial notes that the Taliban “are a decidedly odd choice for an outright gift ... Why are we sending these people money—so much that Washington is, in effect, the biggest donor of aid to the Taliban regime?”


Context of 'May 2001'
This page shows all events that either reference, or are referenced by, the event 'May 2001'.


May 2001: US Gives Taliban Millions Secretary of State Powell announces that the US is granting $43 million in aid to the Taliban government, purportedly to assist hungry farmers who are starving since the destruction of their opium crop occurred in January on orders of the Taliban. This follows $113 million given by the US in 2000 for humanitarian aid. A Newsday editorial notes that the Taliban “are a decidedly odd choice for an outright gift ... Why are we sending these people money—so much that Washington is, in effect, the biggest donor of aid to the Taliban regime?”
Entity Tags: Taliban, Colin Powell

[geek tragedy]

121. Except it's not true. eom

[flyarm]

100. delete dupe

[RangerSmith]

122. you're pissin in the wind

The MSM is all about the truth if we like the story and a bunch of lying sacks of shit if we don't.

Facts never matter.

[flyarm]

97. then you have this :WH PRESS BRIEIFING press briefing 2/27/01

then you have this...from my files...fly


http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/briefings/20010227.html#...

An attempt to draw attention/criticism away from the fact that the WH won't let Condi testify before the 9/11 commission, and Bush can't give more than an hour. The Clinton administration has agreed to participate "for as long as it takes." They have nothing to hide.
If Clinton should be blamed for something that happened on Dubya's watch, then George the 1st needs to be blamed for the WTC bombing on 2/26/93.
I'm still trying to find more information on whether or not Dubya could've had OBL in February of 2001. Ari was asked about it in a press briefing 2/27/01:

Q Ari, according to India Globe, the Taliban in Afghanistan, they have offered that they are ready to hand over Osama bin Laden to Saudi Arabia if the United States would drop its sanctions, and they have a kind of deal that they want to make with the United States. Do you have any comments?

MR. FLEISCHER: Let me take that and get back to you on that.


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
( notice my notes to keep this in myfiles and my internet group to keep this in our files!!)

FROM A SECTION OF THE PRESS BRIEFING..WE NEED TO KEEP THIS IN OUR FILES!! FLY

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the President supports plans to work closely with our allies on a host of issues that make for a stronger communities, and that involves trade, which is something that was discussed during the meeting with President Pastrana; human rights in Colombia as they discussed it; efforts to win the drug war as they discussed it. The President considers all that important parts of a bilateral relationship with Colombia, and he is committed to those areas and to working with the government of Colombia.
Let me also just add, there will be a briefing shortly after this on background to give a readout on that meeting, and what I would urge reporters to do on any other questions involved in that meeting, if you don't mind, gather right here in lower press after the briefing and we'll have a background briefing from somebody who was present.

Q Could I ask you on the policy -- nation-building, is that a bad word for this President?

MR. FLEISCHER: I really don't have anything for you on that. Q Can I just have a follow-up on a question I asked this morning, which doesn't speak to the meeting, but to U.S. policy? General Barry McCaffrey had maintained that Plan Colombia was an anti-narcotics operation, not a counterinsurgency operation; was and always would be. Does the President share that view, or is he concerned that the more involved we get in Colombia, the closer we could get to funding a counterinsurgency operation?

MR. FLEISCHER: I think that's a good question you might want to bring up at the briefing, post this.

Q Ari, according to India Globe, the Taliban in Afghanistan, they have offered that they are ready to hand over Osama bin Laden to Saudi Arabia if the United States would drop its sanctions, and they have a kind of deal that they want to make with the United States. Do you have any comments?

MR. FLEISCHER: Let me take that and get back to you on that.

Q And also, if you have seen the human rights report issued yesterday by the State Department, if the President has seen it, that it's calling on a U.S. resolution against China in Geneva at the United Nations. What will be different this time? Every year, there's a resolution, but never been passed. How far President Bush is willing to push this year to bring the allies together to pass this resolution against China?

MR. FLEISCHER: That resolution will have the support of the United States because President Bush believes it's the right thing to do. And that is why he is supporting it. We will see what the ultimate outcome is, but that's why the President is advocating it.


From the WH archives: Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer - 2/27/01

[SlavesandBulldozers]

96. oh look "So You Think You Can Sleep?" is on!!!!!

[populistdriven]

98. Ok so while the Repukes run ads say dems funded vietnamese prostitutes we

just sit on our hands on this?

Repub attack ad says dem funded vietnamese prostitutes, masturbation study

This has to be an all time new low in the history of political advertising. Absolutely disgusting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ugpb7qchIU&eurl=

[fujiyama]

101. Also worth remembering

Henry Kissinger, who favored opening diplomatic relations with the Taliban was Bush's first choice to head the 9/11 commission.

I'm not a big MIHOPer, but there are certainly things that make you wonder.

[truedelphi]

102. I reported this matter of 43 million dollars in January 2002

From "The Coastal Post" - January 2002
My Time Line of the events preceeding The Sept 11th attacks - I Wrote it December 17 2001
Published two weeks later THE COASTAL POST GENERALLY TELLS ITS READERS THINGS SIX MONTHS TO FOUR YEARS BEFORE OTHER NEWS SOURCES COME OUT OF THE CLOSET (thank you Editor Don Deane)


Little has been said to the American people about all the reasons that the Bush family so eagerly sought the war against Afghanistan. We were told that Osama Bin Laden was the brain behind the 911 attacks. It was mentioned, ad nauseum, that he was in Afghanistan. No mention was made that this ruthless terrorist was allowed to stay in an American hospital in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, in July, just two months before the attacks. "Le Figaro" of Paris reports that while in the hospital, he was visited by at least one CIA official. After his discharge from the hospital, he was allowed to leave Saudi Arabia by private jet. Over the summer, the government's official word on Bin Laden was that he was to be brought up on charges leading to his execution, yet these actions were never taken. (In October, the CIA denied all involvement with Bin Laden including involvement with him as a freedom fighter against the Russians.)

Additionally, we must examine our government's interactions with the Central Asian area of Afghanistan and Pakistan in the months prior to the Sept. 11th attacks. Our focus there is this Administration's desire on the part of Corporate America to secure an oil pipeline through the heart of Afghanistan. Let's review the timeline:

February 3rd, 2000. George Tenet, Director of the CIA, addresses the Senate Committee on Armed Services. He discusses openly the importance of the following: "Western companies are trying to construct a gas pipeline under the Caspian Sea from Turkmenistan through Azerbijan and Georgia en route to Turkey." Scenarios elaborated upon over the next few months recognize the importance of a Central Asian pipeline requiring permission to extend such pipeline into Afghanistan. The goal: to have one continuous pipeline running from the waters of the Caspian Sea to the Arabian Sea.
February to April 2001. Government officials from both the United States and Afghanistan meet to discuss the possibility of building this pipeline. Corporations most interested in this development are Unocal * and Amoco. Participating officials include Laila Helms, a relative of Richard Helms, former director of the CIA, and Sayed Ramatulla, aide to Taliban Mullah Mohammed Omar. Also around this point in time, over 40 million dollars were released to Taliban government of Afghanistan in the name of the American War on Drugs. In accepting these monies, the Taliban agreed to see that the opium in local drug lords' warehouses would stay there. This policy of course, did very little to influence the local drug lords, who simply raised the price of their product to cover for the curtailment of supply.

May 2001. During this time period, at least one significant meeting between CIA Director George Tenet and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraff takes place. Mushareff possibly repeats his earlier-in-the-year statement that Pakistan would be willing to hand Bin Laden over to a Muslim tribunal for his part in the Embassy bombings that took four lives.

July 2001, Thomas Simons, former US Ambassador to Pakistan; Karl Inderfurth, former assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs; and Lee Coldren, former State Department expert on South Asia, meet in Berlin with negotiators from the Taliban, Russia and six oil-rich nations that neighbor Afghanistan (BBC news, Sept. 18; the Guardian, Sept. 22, 2001).**

According to Jean-Charles Brisard, co-author of "Bin Laden: The Hidden Truth": "At one point during the negotiations, the US reps told the Taliban, 'Either you accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we bury you under a carpet of bombs." Naif Naik, former Pakistani minister for foreign affairs, was also present. He recalled that the discussions turned on "the formation of a government of national unity. If the Taliban had accepted this coalition, they would have immediately received international economic aid ... And the pipe lines from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan would have come.''

Naik also recalled that Tom Simons, the US representative at these meetings, openly threatened the Taliban and Pakistan. "Simons said, 'Either the Taliban behave as they ought to, or Pakistan convinces them to do so, or we will use another option.' The words Simons used were 'a military operation','' Naik claimed (Inter Press Service, Nov. 15, 2001).

July 2001: Pakistan's ISI (Pakistan Intelligence Agency) Chief Lt. Gen. Mahmud Ahmad has an aide wire-transfer $100,000 to Mohammed Atta, the pilot who later achieved infamy as the presumed leader of the Sept. 11 hijackings and atrocities. In October 2001, Mahmud Ahmad resigned from the ISI after the FBI confirmed this crucial wire-transfer (The Times of India, Oct. 11, 2001.)**
September 11th, 2001. Hijacked planes, supposedly seized and totally under the control of Muslim extremists, plow into the Two Towers of the World Trade Center, while another crashes into the Pentagon. Additionally, a fourth hijacked plane slams into a field in the country- side of Pennsylvania. (Approximately thirty-five hundred Americans are killed in these actions.) Although the plane hitting the Pentagon does not reach its target until a full hour after the initial crash in NY, not one Air Force fighter jet stationed at Andrews Air Force base outside Washington DC is scrambled to thwart this part of the attack.

Later, officials will state that since this type of event was previously unknown in American history, they simply were caught unprepared. Critics scoff. After all, every other day of the week, some Bozo with the keys to a Cessna is found attempting to photograph family members while the small aircraft invades airspace over the White House, the Capital Building etc. Those Bozos are never allowed to get close, but are escorted out and away from sacrosanct building fly space. So just what was going on during the terrorist raids of September 11th?

Mid-September 2001: Attorney General John Ashcroft proposes the Anti Terrorism Act, to greatly enhance the powers of law enforcement-for electronic media, beyond what the Constitution allows for conventional media-and reduce law enforcement's accountability to the public. Opposition rises from both liberals and conservatives. Republican representative Bob Barr notes that many of the powers in the bill had been requested before and denied by Congress. He accuses Ashcroft of taking advantage of the terrorist attack to acquire these powers during a time of great nationalism.
October 5, 2001: The Tampa Tribune reports that a secret flight evacuated Saudi royal family members from the United States with Bush's personal approval days after the terrorist attack, while the FAA denies that such a flight took place.

October 6, 2001: Debka File, a news source of low repute but which has scooped stories in the past, reports that China has recently deployed between 5,000 and 15,000 troops to Afghanistan to fight the United States.

October 7, 2001: The United States launches airstrikes against Afghanistan, unleashing 2000 lb. bombs upon targets such as airfields and known terrorist training camps. The Media immediately baptizes this event: The New War.

November 11, 2001: Two of Pakistan's top nuclear scientists report having met Bin Laden twice this year while working for a relief organization in Afghanistan.

Relentless media coverage of the War against Afghanistan gives the impression that our military objectives of destroying the Taliban are in the process of being achieved. Nothing is further from the truth. Although many training camps filled with twelve to sixteen year old boys have been blown off the face of the earth, many of the more influential of the Taliban have simply exited the Afghan border into Pakistan. US military generals privately speak of the "quagmire" that our country faces with our continued presence there. Meanwhile, up to seven million refugees face starvation, as we leave the distribution of life-giving foodstuffs to the Russians. The idea that Russia has been Afghanistan's traditional enemy seems to inadvertently have escaped our policy makers' decision process. Or did it?

Rumors exist that there are now over forty camps in which Afghanis are quarantined for becoming ill with a virulent virus closely related to Ebola. Rumor also has it that this virus possesses airborne-contagion properties.

Meanwhile, if you are paying attention to the stock market, it was announced in a recent SF Chronicle article that CalPers (the investment holder for state employees retirement funds) has benefited from their involvement with a little known business entity called the Carlyle group. This firm buys up distressed or mismanaged companies that have lucrative defense contracts. Sometime over the past several years, the Carlyle Group has acquired the Michigan firm holding the patent to the anthrax vaccine. Those deeply involved with Carlyle include members of the Bush family, and James Baker, former Secretary of State. The Carlyle Group's stock profits are presently escalating.

Furthermore, it appears that the anthrax that has infected various postal workers, post offices and the Senate and House of Representative chambers was originally developed by an Army facility in Florida.

Ah, Florida. Right before the September 11th attacks there were serious threats to this Administration from two sources. One was an impeachment process underway to terminate the "Gang of Five" positions as members of The Supreme Court. Also there was to be an investigation into the forty million dollar pay-out used to entice various Democrats inside the state of Florida to not take seriously their task of counting votes for Al Gore. The $40 million were assets created through the laundering of drug monies. Both activities ceased operation with the "new nationalism" that occurred after Sept. 11.

Time and space do not permit me to re-hash the CIA paper, the "Northwoods Report." This CIA thesis (circa early 1960's) proposed that the best way to allow American citizens to accept another invasion of Cuba would be to set up terrorist happenings here on American soil. After all, what good is a Central Intelligence Agency if you can't terrorize people on their own soil?
Do I think or know that is what happened on September 11th? No, but I do know there are more questions than answers, some concerning our inability to physically curtail Bin Laden, eventhough he was offered up at least twice on a silver platter. Given the usual runaround (the description of Andrews Air Force Base activity, or lack thereof, on Sept. 11th is now classified as State Secret), I can only quote good Ol' Janet Reno, "we will never ever know."

While I put finishing touches on this story, today's headlines (Dec. 17th '01) blare their stark truth: "Afghan Siege Over. Bin Laden Escapes." This might have me more worried, except I think I know where Bin Laden is. He's down in the basement at 1600 Pennsylvania, playing pool with Jenna and Saddam.



*Local brand name: Union 76
**Much of the "starred" paragraphs come from Don
Irrerevo of "SF Bayview"

Alert | Add to my

[cosmicdot]

106. a carpet of bombs or a carpet of gold? ... how 'bout both?

from the pioneering days of Bu$hwatching/Bu$whacking c.2001

there's lot to be said about:

"if you're not angry, you're not paying attention"


Operation Enduring Freedom - More than 12,000 bombs were dropped over Afghanistan in 4,700 sorties between Oct 7 and Dec 10, and between 1,000 and 1,300 civilians were killed. Residential areas were targeted.
http://www.orwelltoday.com/afghanstories.shtml


"'At one moment during the negotiations, the U.S. representatives told the Taliban, 'either you accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we bury you under a carpet of bombs'," Brisard said in an interview in Paris." http://www.truthout.org/docs_01/11.17A.Oil.Taliban.htm

whether this quote is factual or not ... it certainly seems plausible considering the bombs did fall, including matching yellow cluster bombs along with McDonald Happy Meals (MRE - meal ready to eat)

US radio broadcasts into Afghanistan began to include a safety warning: airdropped food parcels are square, unexploded cluster bombs are can-shaped.



~snip~
"The bright yellow plastic-wrapped meals ruptured upon impact because they were dropped from too high an altitude and spoiled, endangering the Afghans who ate them, the report by the retired officers said.

"Moreover, the meals often were collected by local warlords and sold for a profit at Afghan markets and seldom reached hungry families, according to aid workers. In other cases, Afghans were lured by the bright packages into minefields or confused them with cluster bombs of the same color."
~snip~

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0326-02.htm

Paging Colin Powell ... you were Secretary of State ... can you shed some light on this $43 million?? The UN speech isn't the only 'blot' on your record.
"In mid-May, 2001, Secretary of State Colin Powell announced a $43 million grant to Afghanistan..."
http://www.cato.org/dailys/08-02-02.html
(I normally wouldn't link CATO, but a search brought the article up)

We could use some better system of accounting of where our money goes and how it is spent. Here's $43 million for 'harboring teraishs'.

[Hippo_Tron]

109. But see, Clinton got a blowjob

Therefore 9/11 is his fault

[Hippo_Tron]

112. Dupe n/t

[Hippo_Tron]

114. Here's an old issue of the Top 10 Conservative Idiots

http://www.democraticunderground.com/top10/01/top10_2001_20.html

Look at #2

EarlG had the foresight to point this out at the time but the story was being overshadowed by the Republican humilliation from Jeffords' defection.

I can't believe that Clinton didn't bring this up in his already excellent destruction of Chris Wallace. Clinton leaves shurb battle plans to overthrow the Talibran. Shrub gives the Taliban money. It'd be hillarious if people weren't dead because of it.

[The Backlash Cometh]

118. I think we gave the Taliban 43 million dollars to pay for more than just

stop the growth of opium.

[ignatzmouse]

119. The Real Story -- Important that facts are straight

Okay, this is important, so let's sort out the details. The original agreement with the Taliban was with the U.N. drug czar to send $250 million to the Taliban for "drought aid." Drought aid is a euphemism for destroying poppy fields and making them workable to grow food crops. The Taliban was in essence extorting money in exchange for not producing drugs. The U.N. reneged on the agreement and imposed additional sanctions on the Taliban in January 2001 over their refusal to extradite Osama Bin Laden. The Taliban responded by destroying ancient giant Buddhas and persecuting Hindus.

In Spring of 2001, the Bush administration obsessed with the PR of the "war on drugs" reinvigorated the dormant U.N. proposal with a $43 million dollar promise with but a passing interest in the Taliban's human rights atrocities and their continued haven of Bin Laden and al-Queda. NY Times, May 20, 2001: "The first American narcotics experts to go to Afghanistan under Taliban rule have concluded that the movement's ban on opium-poppy cultivation appears to have wiped out the world's largest crop in less than a year, officials said today... On Thursday, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell announced a $43 million grant to Afghanistan in additional emergency aid to cope with the effects of a prolonged drought. The United States has become the biggest donor to help Afghanistan in the drought."

The Bush administration never finalized the $43 million dollar deal but continued to press their poppy eradication program. In August 2001, just weeks before 9-11, Colin Powell under direction of the White House met again with *Taliban officials*. The AP reported, "In recognition of the Taliban's elimination of opium, the raw material used to make heroine, the Bush administration is giving $1.5 million to the United Nations Drug Control Program to finance crop substitution". Now, there is an attempt to spin it as humanitarian "drought aid," but it wasn't. It is nothing but a dumb drug pay-off to the Taliban that explicitly shows the Bush administration had its head up its collective ass as time ticked down on 9-11. ...and of course, now, under Bush's thumb, there has only been a vast increase in poppy production. Crazy how that works.

[Vinca]

120. 43 million buys alot of opium seeds and God supplies the rain.

The beginnings of what was to become the most disastrous presidency in our history.

[LiberalEsto]

124. Prescott Bush bankrolled the Nazis

George H. Bush probably helped bankroll the Contras
and George W. bankrolled the Taliban.

Spay and neuter all members of the Bush family!

[OXM]

127. Hope you don't mind

I'm putting this article on Digg and on Reddit. More people should read that.

[dpbrown]

130. Go for it

When neocons are trying to lay the blame, they should know that we know Bush enabled the Taliban and tried to prop them up after Clinton gave Bush a plan for disrupting al qaeda.

[NoAmericanTaliban]

131. Irony - is that now Afgan has a record Opium crop output

so what ever happened to getting rid of the Opium in the first place. Another failure by * & co.

[OXM]

132. Main page on Reddit. Good.

http://reddit.com/

[dpbrown]

133. Awesome

Spread the word.

[leesa]

137. AND offered them a Carpet of Gold or a Carpet of bombs in July 2001

if they chose to agree to the transAfghan pipeline terms or not agree. The Taliban turned them down and they bombed them right on schedule just as they had threatened them they would in July, 2001.


The invasion of Afghanistan had NOTHING to do with 9-11.