The Seal of the United States Central Intelligence AgencyIn an article on American "weapons deals", Der Spiegel called Bin Laden "one of the CIA's best weapons customers."[1] The Russian journal Demokratizatsiya has described U.S. support for the Afghan Mujahideen as "the model for state-sponsored terrorism."[2] A BBC article on al-Qaeda claims, "some analysts believe Bin Laden himself had security training from the CIA."[3]
According to ABC News correspondent John K. Cooley, the Carter Administration allowed Sheik Abul Rahman, later revealed as one of the conspirators in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, to come to the U.S. to recruit Arab-Americans to fight in Afghanistan against the Soviets.[2][4][page needed]
Andrew Marshall, a journalist for The Independent newspaper describes the Al Kifah Refugee Center in Brooklyn, which raised money and trained foreign volunteers for Afghanistan, "a place of pivotal importance to Operation Cyclone, the American effort to support the mujahideen," and also the place where several of those "connected" with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing were "recruited."[5]
According to author Steve Coll,
Overall, the U.S. government looked favorably on the Arab recruitment drives. ... Some of the most ardent cold warriors at [CIA headquarters at] Langley thought this program should be formally endorsed and extended. ... [T]he CIA "examined ways to increase their participation, perhaps in the form of some sort of international brigade" ... Robert Gates [then-head of the CIA's Directorate of Intelligence] recalled. ... At the [CIA's] Islamabad station [station chief] Milt Bearden felt that bin Laden himself "actually did some very good things".[6]
Robin Cook, former leader of the British House of Commons and Foreign Secretary from 1997-2001, believed the CIA had provided arms to the Arab Mujahideen, including Osama bin Laden, writing, "Bin Laden was, though, a product of a monumental miscalculation by western security agencies. Throughout the 80s he was armed by the CIA and funded by the Saudis to wage jihad against the Russian occupation of Afghanistan."[7]
In conversation with former British Defence Secretary Michael Portillo, two-time Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto said Osama bin Laden was initially pro-American.[8] This view is corroborated by Prince Bandar bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia, who when questioned by CNN's Larry King, divulged that Osama bin Laden was appreciative of his personal efforts in bringing the United States to Afghanistan to help him fight the Soviets.[9]
Bandar bin Sultan: This is ironic. In the mid-'80s, if you remember, we and the United - Saudi Arabia and the United States were supporting the Mujahideen to liberate Afghanistan from the Soviets. He [Osama bin Laden] came to thank me for my efforts to bring the Americans, our friends, to help us against the atheists, he said the communists. Isn't it ironic?
Larry King: How ironic. In other words, he came to thank you for helping bring America to help him.
Bandar bin Sultan: Right.
Besides bin Laden and al-Qaeda, the Afghan Mujahideen of the 1980s have been alleged to be the inspiration for terrorist groups in nations such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Chechnya, and the former Yugoslavia.[2] Many of the Arab Mujahideen who gained combat experience in Afghanistan were later involved in terrorist acts against the U.S.
Monte Palmer, senior fellow at the al-Ahram Center for Strategic Studies in Cairo, believes that "it now appears that the American-sponsored jihad in Afghanistan was the first step in transforming the jihadist movements of Egypt, Iran, and Pakistan into an international network capable of challenging the United States. A coalescing of the jihadist movement would have occurred with or without Afghanistan, but the Afghan experience accelerated this process by years if not decades."[10]
Allegations of CIA assistance to Osama bin Laden - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
