Reagan & Conservatives -- Revisonist History 101

[Meathead]

[]We understand that you're upset, especially with Reagan, about your defeat in the Cold War, but have you ever thought to consider the plight of the Poles, Czechs and the host of others who were oppressed by your comrades?

I thought not.

I'm upset that 3000 Americans were killed on 9/11 by people that Reagan armed and aided.


And, no, I don't give a **** about Poles, Czechs or anyone else, most of whom brought their misery on themselves. If they couldn't free themselves, it certainly wasn't our problem. And the eventual fall of the USSR had nothing to do with the assholes we armed in Afghanistan. The Communist puppet regime in Kabul outlasted the Berlin Wall and even the USSR.

I care about AMERICANS.

You care about nothing but yourself. If you believe that these peoples who had the misfortune of living adjacent to the Soviet Union brought the oppression you wish for your own country on themselves, then you are obviously a low-life scumbag with serious intellectual and mental issues.

But then we already knew that.

 

[bedowin62]

libs r morons i swear to God. nothing Reagan did; not even arming islamic fanatics; gave them a reason to attack us on 9-11.

where is the logic in these idiotic left-wing minds?

Russians killed over 1 million Afghanis; if anything arming resistance fighters was a reason to be thankful to the US.

the hijackers used PLASTIC KNIVES to do what they did; not weapons privided by Reagan in the 80's. Again libs are just idiots. if hte idiot blaming Reagan for 9-11 isnt a lib; he sure does look as stupid and ignorant as one.

 

[bedowin62]

the mujahideen was waging war; BACKED BY US BEFORE REAGAN TOOK OFFICE; and the Taliban DIDNT EXIST UNTIL THE CLINTON YEARS.

libs are losers who lie to themselves

 

[editec]

Ronald Reagan was NOT a conservative by the standards of the people who today, call themselves conservatives

By the standards of the time when he was in office, yes he was a CON.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Liberals hate Reagan for liberating Eastern Europe from Soviet Communism which to them is their Mecca Oz and Nirvana all at once. Think of it, a life where you have no freedom and the government tells you who you are and what you'll do 24/7/365

Sent from my Chinese Supercomputer made from XBox parts Bush sent to China

 

[CrusaderFrank]

[]We understand that you're upset, especially with Reagan, about your defeat in the Cold War, but have you ever thought to consider the plight of the Poles, Czechs and the host of others who were oppressed by your comrades?

I thought not.

I'm upset that 3000 Americans were killed on 9/11 by people that Reagan armed and aided.


And, no, I don't give a **** about Poles, Czechs or anyone else, most of whom brought their misery on themselves. If they couldn't free themselves, it certainly wasn't our problem. And the eventual fall of the USSR had nothing to do with the assholes we armed in Afghanistan. The Communist puppet regime in Kabul outlasted the Berlin Wall and even the USSR.

I care about AMERICANS.

^ Lying ****

 

[hunarcy]

So what if some of the support Reagan provided the Pakistanis made its way to Bin Laden; war is a messy business, if one becomes paralyzed by fears of what will happen after the war you ends up losing the war. We fight one war at a time.

Or you recognize that in a fight, you are backing the wrong side.

We knew in 1979 the people we were backing in Afghanistan weren't Jeffersonian democrats, they were Islamic fanatics who hated ALL modernity and westernization. They weren't fighting the Soviets because they "hated communism and loved freedom", they were fighting the Soviets because they were bringing in modernity and teaching girls how to read.

And we armed these nutjobs anyway, and as a result, bin Laden became a hero to that MINORITY of Muslims who cling to the 11th century.

But dammit, we were beating communism, and that was the important thing. And so what if the USSR is now dozens of squabbling countries today like the Ukraine that are undergoing constant civil war, that's a lot better than a single partner we could do business with.

We understand that you're upset, especially with Reagan, about your defeat in the Cold War, but have you ever thought to consider the plight of the Poles, Czechs and the host of others who were oppressed by your comrades?

I thought not.

That troll constantly says that Reagan funded Al Qaeda. He's just a liar.

Osama bin Laden explained the origin of the term in a videotaped interview with Al Jazeera (journalist) Tayseer Alouni in October 2001: "The name 'al-Qaeda' was established a long time ago by mere chance. The late Abu Ebeida El-Banashiri established the training camps for our mujahedeen against Russia's terrorism. We used to call the training camp al-Qaeda. The name stayed."

"A variety of sources — CNN journalist Peter Bergen, Pakistani ISI Brigadier Mohammad Yousaf, and CIA operatives involved in the Afghan program, such as Vincent Cannistraro — deny that the CIA or other American officials had contact with the Afghan Arabs (foreign mujahideen) or Bin Laden, let alone armed, trained, coached or indoctrinated them."

"But Bergen and others argue that there was no need to recruit foreigners unfamiliar with the local language, customs or lay of the land since there were a quarter of a million local Afghans willing to fight; that Arab Afghans themselves had no need for American funds since they received several hundred million dollars a year from non-American, Muslim sources; that Americans could not have trained mujahideen because Pakistani officials would not allow more than a handful of them to operate in Pakistan and none in Afghanistan; and that the Afghan Arabs were almost invariably militant Islamists reflexively hostile to Westerners whether or not the Westerners were helping the Muslim Afghans."

"According to Peter Bergen, known for conducting the first television interview with Osama bin Laden in 1997, the idea that "the CIA funded bin Laden or trained bin Laden ... a folk myth. There's no evidence of this. ... Bin Laden had his own money, he was anti-American and he was operating secretly and independently. ... The real story here is the CIA didn't really have a clue about who this guy was until 1996 when they set up a unit to really start tracking him."

Osama was of the ARAB-Afghans. ie. Of the foreign Arabs who showed up in Afghan to help out the local Muslim Afghans fighting against the USSR. This conflict is not over either. It now continues in Chechnya for offensive jihad-build-up purposes."


We did not train, fund, or materielize a young Osama bin laden. - Reader comments for The Investigative Project on Terrorism

 

[Camp]

Geez, this is nothing more than a reader comment from another site. Did anyone bother to read the whole page. Gets pretty nasty in regards to Reagan.

 

[Camp]

Or you recognize that in a fight, you are backing the wrong side.

We knew in 1979 the people we were backing in Afghanistan weren't Jeffersonian democrats, they were Islamic fanatics who hated ALL modernity and westernization. They weren't fighting the Soviets because they "hated communism and loved freedom", they were fighting the Soviets because they were bringing in modernity and teaching girls how to read.

And we armed these nutjobs anyway, and as a result, bin Laden became a hero to that MINORITY of Muslims who cling to the 11th century.

But dammit, we were beating communism, and that was the important thing. And so what if the USSR is now dozens of squabbling countries today like the Ukraine that are undergoing constant civil war, that's a lot better than a single partner we could do business with.

We understand that you're upset, especially with Reagan, about your defeat in the Cold War, but have you ever thought to consider the plight of the Poles, Czechs and the host of others who were oppressed by your comrades?

I thought not.

That troll constantly says that Reagan funded Al Qaeda. He's just a liar.

Osama bin Laden explained the origin of the term in a videotaped interview with Al Jazeera (journalist) Tayseer Alouni in October 2001: "The name 'al-Qaeda' was established a long time ago by mere chance. The late Abu Ebeida El-Banashiri established the training camps for our mujahedeen against Russia's terrorism. We used to call the training camp al-Qaeda. The name stayed."

"A variety of sources — CNN journalist Peter Bergen, Pakistani ISI Brigadier Mohammad Yousaf, and CIA operatives involved in the Afghan program, such as Vincent Cannistraro — deny that the CIA or other American officials had contact with the Afghan Arabs (foreign mujahideen) or Bin Laden, let alone armed, trained, coached or indoctrinated them."

"But Bergen and others argue that there was no need to recruit foreigners unfamiliar with the local language, customs or lay of the land since there were a quarter of a million local Afghans willing to fight; that Arab Afghans themselves had no need for American funds since they received several hundred million dollars a year from non-American, Muslim sources; that Americans could not have trained mujahideen because Pakistani officials would not allow more than a handful of them to operate in Pakistan and none in Afghanistan; and that the Afghan Arabs were almost invariably militant Islamists reflexively hostile to Westerners whether or not the Westerners were helping the Muslim Afghans."

"According to Peter Bergen, known for conducting the first television interview with Osama bin Laden in 1997, the idea that "the CIA funded bin Laden or trained bin Laden ... a folk myth. There's no evidence of this. ... Bin Laden had his own money, he was anti-American and he was operating secretly and independently. ... The real story here is the CIA didn't really have a clue about who this guy was until 1996 when they set up a unit to really start tracking him."

Osama was of the ARAB-Afghans. ie. Of the foreign Arabs who showed up in Afghan to help out the local Muslim Afghans fighting against the USSR. This conflict is not over either. It now continues in Chechnya for offensive jihad-build-up purposes."


We did not train, fund, or materielize a young Osama bin laden. - Reader comments for The Investigative Project on Terrorism

Um, your proof and evidence to call somebody a lying **** is just a comment made by a person making a comment at another site. Just like we do here. And if you read the whole page you will find some pretty harsh and negative stuff about Reagan.

 

[JoeB131]

Liberals hate Reagan for liberating Eastern Europe from Soviet Communism which to them is their Mecca Oz and Nirvana all at once. Think of it, a life where you have no freedom and the government tells you who you are and what you'll do 24/7/365

Sent from my Chinese Supercomputer made from XBox parts Bush sent to China

Right.

Reagan gave a speech to the Berlin Wall and all the Eastern Europeans slapped themselves on the forehead and said, "Damn, what were we thinking?"

Right Wing Fairy Tales for people who get their news from Hate Radio.

Reality, Reagan had very little to do with the fall of the USSR. It had a lot more to do with the nationalism of the hundreds of people within the USSR and Warsaw pact.

The fall of the USSR was no more a "failure" of Communism than the fall of the British Empire was a failure of Capitalism.

 

[JoeB131]

[]We understand that you're upset, especially with Reagan, about your defeat in the Cold War, but have you ever thought to consider the plight of the Poles, Czechs and the host of others who were oppressed by your comrades?

I thought not.

I'm upset that 3000 Americans were killed on 9/11 by people that Reagan armed and aided.


And, no, I don't give a **** about Poles, Czechs or anyone else, most of whom brought their misery on themselves. If they couldn't free themselves, it certainly wasn't our problem. And the eventual fall of the USSR had nothing to do with the assholes we armed in Afghanistan. The Communist puppet regime in Kabul outlasted the Berlin Wall and even the USSR.

I care about AMERICANS.

You care about nothing but yourself. If you believe that these peoples who had the misfortune of living adjacent to the Soviet Union brought the oppression you wish for your own country on themselves, then you are obviously a low-life scumbag with serious intellectual and mental issues.

But then we already knew that.

Of the countries in the Warsaw Pact, all of them EXCEPT Poland were members of the Axis during the war. Even Czechoslovakia after it was dismembered, the rump states all threw in with the Axis.

And before you break out the hankies for Poland, Poland pulled a lot of really underhanded shit during the Russian Polish war of 1919-1921.

Here was the point I was trying to make, that goes right over your head. We armed some VERY DANGEROUS PEOPLE in an attempt to irritate the USSR in Afghanistan. No one really thought arming the Mujahadeen would bring down the USSR (and for those paying attention, it didn't.) in fact, I was in the Army in 1989, and guess what, the Army was still publishing those monthly threat assessment reports pretty much all the way up to the day the Berlin Wall fell.

NO one saw it coming.

 

[JoeB131]

the mujahideen was waging war; BACKED BY US BEFORE REAGAN TOOK OFFICE; and the Taliban DIDNT EXIST UNTIL THE CLINTON YEARS.

libs are losers who lie to themselves

It doesn't matter what they called their little clubs.

Bin Laden and Mullah Omar and the rest of the leaders of the Taliban and Al Qaeda were the guys getting teh boxes of Stinger Missiles marked "Love, Ronnie".

 

[thanatos144]

Joe get over it. Reagan showed that communists like you are failures

tapatalk post

 

[Indeependent]

Joe get over it. Reagan showed that communists like you are failures

tapatalk post

Reagan put the Maytag Man on the unemployment line.

 

[thanatos144]

Joe get over it. Reagan showed that communists like you are failures

tapatalk post

Reagan put the Maytag Man on the unemployment line.

No that would be Maytag that did that

tapatalk post

 

[Dante]

Reagan Legacy Project
Monday, Feb 2, 2009 03:28 AM PST
How Republicans created the myth of Ronald Reagan
With the Gipper's reputation flagging after Clinton, neoconservatives launched a stealthy campaign to remake him as a "great" president.

George Will

1988: Reagan Abandoned, Mocked by Hardline Conservatives
Edit event

As the end of President Reagan’s final term approaches, conservatives and hardliners have radically changed their view of him. They originally saw him as one of their own—a crusader for good against evil, obstinately opposed to communism in general and to any sort of arms reduction agreement with the Soviet Union in specific. But recent events—Reagan’s recent moderation in rhetoric towards the Soviets (see December 1983 and After), the summits with Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev (see November 16-19, 1985 and October 11-12, 1986), and the recent arms treaties with the Soviets (see Early 1985 and December 7-8, 1987) have soured them on Reagan.

Hardliners had once held considerable power in the Reagan administration (see January 1981 and After and Early 1981 and After), but their influence has steadily waned, and their attempts to sabotage and undermine arms control negotiations...Attempts by administration hardliners to get “soft” officials such as Secretary of State George Shultz fired do not succeed. Conservative pundits such as George Will and William Safire lambast Reagan, with Will accusing him of “moral disarmament” and Safire mocking Reagan’s rapport with Gorbachev: “He professed to see in Mr. Gorbachev’s eyes an end to the Soviet goal of world domination.”

It will not be until after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the tearing down of the Berlin Wall (see November 9, 1989 and After) that conservatives will revise their opinion of Reagan, in the process revising much of history in the process. [Scoblic, 2008, pp. 143-145]

December 7-8, 1987: Reagan, Gorbachev Sign Arms Reduction Treaty
Edit event

Gorbachev and Reagan sign the INF treaty...Altogether, some 80 percent of Americans support the treaty.

Unable to Continue Longer-Range Negotiations - Reagan wants to build on the INF agreement to reopen the similarly moribund START negotiations (see May 1982 and After), but recognizes that there is not enough time left in his administration to accomplish such a long-term goal. Instead, he celebrates his status as the first American president to begin reducing nuclear arms by scheduling a visit to the Soviet Union.

Conservative Opposition - Hardline conservatives protest Gorbachev’s visit to Washington, and the signing of the treaty, in the strongest possible terms. When Reagan suggests that Gorbachev address a joint session of Congress, Congressional Republicans, led by House member Dick Cheney (R-WY—see 1983), rebel. Cheney says: “Addressing a joint meeting of Congress is a high honor, one of the highest honors we can accord anyone. Given the fact of continuing Soviet aggression in Afghanistan, Soviet repression in Eastern Europe, and Soviet actions in Africa and Central America, it is totally inappropriate to confer this honor upon Gorbachev. He is an adversary, not an ally.”

Conservative Paul Weyrich of the Free Congress Committee is more blunt in his assessment of the treaty agreement: “Reagan is a weakened president, weakened in spirit as well as in clout, and not in a position to make judgments about Gorbachev at this time.” Conservative pundit William F. Buckley calls the treaty a “suicide pact.”

Fellow conservative pundit George Will calls Reagan “wildly wrong” in his dealings with the Soviets. Conservatives gather to bemoan what they call “summit fever,” accusing Reagan of “appeasement” both of communists and of Congressional liberals, and protesting Reagan’s “cutting deals with the evil empire” (see March 8, 1983). They mount a letter-writing campaign, generating some 300,000 letters, and launch a newspaper ad campaign that compares Reagan to former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. Senators Jesse Helms (R-NC) and Steven Symms (R-ID) try to undercut the treaty by attempting to add amendments that would make the treaty untenable; Helms will lead a filibuster against the treaty as well.


Senate Ratification and a Presidential Rebuke - All the protests from hardline opponents of the treaty...

...
[Scoblic, 2008, pp. 142-145]

[MENTION=18909]thanatos144[/MENTION] [MENTION=31057]JoeB131[/MENTION] [MENTION=46133]Indeependent[/MENTION] [MENTION=47248]bedowin62[/MENTION] [MENTION=34777]Meathead[/MENTION] [MENTION=19448]CrusaderFrank[/MENTION] [MENTION=42934]hunarcy[/MENTION] [MENTION=44680]Camp[/MENTION] [MENTION=46604]longly[/MENTION] [MENTION=27234]natstew[/MENTION] [MENTION=11278]editec[/MENTION] [MENTION=2926]Toro[/MENTION] ​

 

[hunarcy]

We understand that you're upset, especially with Reagan, about your defeat in the Cold War, but have you ever thought to consider the plight of the Poles, Czechs and the host of others who were oppressed by your comrades?

I thought not.

That troll constantly says that Reagan funded Al Qaeda. He's just a liar.

Osama bin Laden explained the origin of the term in a videotaped interview with Al Jazeera (journalist) Tayseer Alouni in October 2001: "The name 'al-Qaeda' was established a long time ago by mere chance. The late Abu Ebeida El-Banashiri established the training camps for our mujahedeen against Russia's terrorism. We used to call the training camp al-Qaeda. The name stayed."

"A variety of sources — CNN journalist Peter Bergen, Pakistani ISI Brigadier Mohammad Yousaf, and CIA operatives involved in the Afghan program, such as Vincent Cannistraro — deny that the CIA or other American officials had contact with the Afghan Arabs (foreign mujahideen) or Bin Laden, let alone armed, trained, coached or indoctrinated them."

"But Bergen and others argue that there was no need to recruit foreigners unfamiliar with the local language, customs or lay of the land since there were a quarter of a million local Afghans willing to fight; that Arab Afghans themselves had no need for American funds since they received several hundred million dollars a year from non-American, Muslim sources; that Americans could not have trained mujahideen because Pakistani officials would not allow more than a handful of them to operate in Pakistan and none in Afghanistan; and that the Afghan Arabs were almost invariably militant Islamists reflexively hostile to Westerners whether or not the Westerners were helping the Muslim Afghans."

"According to Peter Bergen, known for conducting the first television interview with Osama bin Laden in 1997, the idea that "the CIA funded bin Laden or trained bin Laden ... a folk myth. There's no evidence of this. ... Bin Laden had his own money, he was anti-American and he was operating secretly and independently. ... The real story here is the CIA didn't really have a clue about who this guy was until 1996 when they set up a unit to really start tracking him."

Osama was of the ARAB-Afghans. ie. Of the foreign Arabs who showed up in Afghan to help out the local Muslim Afghans fighting against the USSR. This conflict is not over either. It now continues in Chechnya for offensive jihad-build-up purposes."


We did not train, fund, or materielize a young Osama bin laden. - Reader comments for The Investigative Project on Terrorism

Um, your proof and evidence to call somebody a lying **** is just a comment made by a person making a comment at another site. Just like we do here. And if you read the whole page you will find some pretty harsh and negative stuff about Reagan.

Wow, are you REALLY so ignorant that you can't see the comment from Peter Bergin, an acknowledged expert on the subject? Why are you posting?

 

[Dante]

That troll constantly says that Reagan funded Al Qaeda. He's just a liar.

Osama bin Laden explained the origin of the term in a videotaped interview with Al Jazeera (journalist) Tayseer Alouni in October 2001: "The name 'al-Qaeda' was established a long time ago by mere chance. The late Abu Ebeida El-Banashiri established the training camps for our mujahedeen against Russia's terrorism. We used to call the training camp al-Qaeda. The name stayed."

"A variety of sources — CNN journalist Peter Bergen, Pakistani ISI Brigadier Mohammad Yousaf, and CIA operatives involved in the Afghan program, such as Vincent Cannistraro — deny that the CIA or other American officials had contact with the Afghan Arabs (foreign mujahideen) or Bin Laden, let alone armed, trained, coached or indoctrinated them."

"But Bergen and others argue that there was no need to recruit foreigners unfamiliar with the local language, customs or lay of the land since there were a quarter of a million local Afghans willing to fight; that Arab Afghans themselves had no need for American funds since they received several hundred million dollars a year from non-American, Muslim sources; that Americans could not have trained mujahideen because Pakistani officials would not allow more than a handful of them to operate in Pakistan and none in Afghanistan; and that the Afghan Arabs were almost invariably militant Islamists reflexively hostile to Westerners whether or not the Westerners were helping the Muslim Afghans."

"According to Peter Bergen, known for conducting the first television interview with Osama bin Laden in 1997, the idea that "the CIA funded bin Laden or trained bin Laden ... a folk myth. There's no evidence of this. ... Bin Laden had his own money, he was anti-American and he was operating secretly and independently. ... The real story here is the CIA didn't really have a clue about who this guy was until 1996 when they set up a unit to really start tracking him."

Osama was of the ARAB-Afghans. ie. Of the foreign Arabs who showed up in Afghan to help out the local Muslim Afghans fighting against the USSR. This conflict is not over either. It now continues in Chechnya for offensive jihad-build-up purposes."


We did not train, fund, or materielize a young Osama bin laden. - Reader comments for The Investigative Project on Terrorism

Um, your proof and evidence to call somebody a lying **** is just a comment made by a person making a comment at another site. Just like we do here. And if you read the whole page you will find some pretty harsh and negative stuff about Reagan.

Wow, are you REALLY so ignorant that you can't see the comment from Peter Bergin, an acknowledged expert on the subject? Why are you posting?

Many Muslims from other countries assisted the various mujahideen groups in Afghanistan. Some groups of these veterans became significant players in later conflicts in and around the Muslim world. Osama bin Laden, originally from a wealthy family in Saudi Arabia, was a prominent organizer and financier of an all-Arab Islamist group of foreign volunteers; his Maktab al-Khadamat funnelled money, arms, and Muslim fighters from around the Muslim world into Afghanistan, with the assistance and support of the Saudi and Pakistani governments.[39] These foreign fighters became known as "Afghan Arabs" and their efforts were coordinated by Abdullah Yusuf Azzam.

Mujahideen forces caused serious casualties to the Soviet forces, and made the war very costly for the Soviet Union. In 1989 the Soviet Union withdrew its forces from Afghanistan. Many districts and cities then fell to the mujahideen; in 1992 the DRA's last president, Mohammad Najibullah, was overthrown. - Mujahideen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On 3 July 1979, Carter signed a presidential finding authorizing funding for anticommunist guerrillas in Afghanistan.[2] Following the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in December Operation Storm-333 and installation of a more pro-Soviet president, Babrak Karmal, Carter announced, "The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan is the greatest threat to peace since the Second World War".[12]

President Reagan greatly expanded the program as part of the Reagan Doctrine of aiding anti-Soviet resistance movements abroad. To execute this policy, Reagan deployed CIA Special Activities Division paramilitary officers to equip the Mujihadeen forces against the Red Army. Although the CIA and Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson have received the most attention for their roles, the key architect of the strategy was Michael G. Vickers, a young CIA paramilitary officer working for Gust Avrakotos, the CIA's regional head who had a close relationship with Wilson. Vicker's strategy was to use a broad mix of weapons, tactics, logistics, along with training programs, to enhance the rebels' ability to fight a guerilla war against the Soviets.

[13][14] Reagan's program assisted in ending the Soviet's occupation in Afghanistan.[15][16] A Pentagon senior official, Michael Pillsbury, successfully advocated providing Stinger missiles to the Afghan resistance, according to recent books and academic articles.[17]

The program relied heavily on the Pakistani President Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, who had a close relationship with Wilson. His Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was an intermediary for funds distribution, passing of weapons, military training and financial support to Afghan resistance groups.[18] Along with funding from similar programs from Britain's MI6 and SAS, Saudi Arabia, and the People's Republic of China,[19] the ISI armed and trained over 100,000 insurgents between 1978 and 1992[citation needed]. They encouraged the volunteers from the Arab states to join the Afghan resistance in its struggle against the Soviet troops based in Afghanistan.[18]

According to Peter Bergen, writing in Holy War, Inc., no Americans trained or had direct contact with the mujahideen.[20] The skittish CIA had fewer than 10 operatives in the region because it "feared it would be blamed, like in Guatemala".[21] Civilian personnel from the U.S. Department of State and the CIA frequently visited the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area during this time, and the US contributed generously to aiding Afghan refugees.

The U.S.-built Stinger antiaircraft missile, supplied to the mujahideen in very large numbers beginning in 1986, struck a decisive blow to the Soviet war effort as it allowed the lightly armed Afghans to effectively defend against Soviet helicopter landings in strategic areas. The Stingers were so renowned and deadly that, in the 1990s, the U.S. conducted a "buy-back" program to keep unused missiles from falling into the hands of anti-American terrorists. This program may have been covertly renewed following the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan in late 2001, out of fear that remaining Stingers could be used against U.S. forces in the country.[22] - Operation Cyclone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"No Americans trained or had direct contact with the mujahideen"

Nothing is as black and white as you people try and portray it -- plausible deniability

 

[hunarcy]

Um, your proof and evidence to call somebody a lying **** is just a comment made by a person making a comment at another site. Just like we do here. And if you read the whole page you will find some pretty harsh and negative stuff about Reagan.

Wow, are you REALLY so ignorant that you can't see the comment from Peter Bergin, an acknowledged expert on the subject? Why are you posting?

Many Muslims from other countries assisted the various mujahideen groups in Afghanistan. Some groups of these veterans became significant players in later conflicts in and around the Muslim world. Osama bin Laden, originally from a wealthy family in Saudi Arabia, was a prominent organizer and financier of an all-Arab Islamist group of foreign volunteers; his Maktab al-Khadamat funnelled money, arms, and Muslim fighters from around the Muslim world into Afghanistan, with the assistance and support of the Saudi and Pakistani governments.[39] These foreign fighters became known as "Afghan Arabs" and their efforts were coordinated by Abdullah Yusuf Azzam.

Mujahideen forces caused serious casualties to the Soviet forces, and made the war very costly for the Soviet Union. In 1989 the Soviet Union withdrew its forces from Afghanistan. Many districts and cities then fell to the mujahideen; in 1992 the DRA's last president, Mohammad Najibullah, was overthrown. - Mujahideen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On 3 July 1979, Carter signed a presidential finding authorizing funding for anticommunist guerrillas in Afghanistan.[2] Following the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in December Operation Storm-333 and installation of a more pro-Soviet president, Babrak Karmal, Carter announced, "The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan is the greatest threat to peace since the Second World War".[12]

President Reagan greatly expanded the program as part of the Reagan Doctrine of aiding anti-Soviet resistance movements abroad. To execute this policy, Reagan deployed CIA Special Activities Division paramilitary officers to equip the Mujihadeen forces against the Red Army. Although the CIA and Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson have received the most attention for their roles, the key architect of the strategy was Michael G. Vickers, a young CIA paramilitary officer working for Gust Avrakotos, the CIA's regional head who had a close relationship with Wilson. Vicker's strategy was to use a broad mix of weapons, tactics, logistics, along with training programs, to enhance the rebels' ability to fight a guerilla war against the Soviets.

[13][14] Reagan's program assisted in ending the Soviet's occupation in Afghanistan.[15][16] A Pentagon senior official, Michael Pillsbury, successfully advocated providing Stinger missiles to the Afghan resistance, according to recent books and academic articles.[17]

The program relied heavily on the Pakistani President Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, who had a close relationship with Wilson. His Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was an intermediary for funds distribution, passing of weapons, military training and financial support to Afghan resistance groups.[18] Along with funding from similar programs from Britain's MI6 and SAS, Saudi Arabia, and the People's Republic of China,[19] the ISI armed and trained over 100,000 insurgents between 1978 and 1992[citation needed]. They encouraged the volunteers from the Arab states to join the Afghan resistance in its struggle against the Soviet troops based in Afghanistan.[18]

According to Peter Bergen, writing in Holy War, Inc., no Americans trained or had direct contact with the mujahideen.[20] The skittish CIA had fewer than 10 operatives in the region because it "feared it would be blamed, like in Guatemala".[21] Civilian personnel from the U.S. Department of State and the CIA frequently visited the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area during this time, and the US contributed generously to aiding Afghan refugees.

The U.S.-built Stinger antiaircraft missile, supplied to the mujahideen in very large numbers beginning in 1986, struck a decisive blow to the Soviet war effort as it allowed the lightly armed Afghans to effectively defend against Soviet helicopter landings in strategic areas. The Stingers were so renowned and deadly that, in the 1990s, the U.S. conducted a "buy-back" program to keep unused missiles from falling into the hands of anti-American terrorists. This program may have been covertly renewed following the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan in late 2001, out of fear that remaining Stingers could be used against U.S. forces in the country.[22] - Operation Cyclone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"No Americans trained or had direct contact with the mujahideen"

Nothing is as black and white as you people try and portray it -- plausible deniability

>>>The story about bin Laden and the CIA — that the CIA funded bin Laden or trained bin Laden — is simply a folk myth. There's no evidence of this. In fact, there are very few things that bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and the U.S. government agree on. They all agree that they didn't have a relationship in the 1980s. And they wouldn't have needed to. Bin Laden had his own money, he was anti-American and he was operating secretly and independently. The real story here is the CIA did not understand who Osama was until 1996, when they set up a unit to really start tracking him<<<<

CNN.com - Bergen: Bin Laden, CIA links hogwash - Aug 24, 2006

>>>The CIA was very reluctant to be involved at all. They thought it would end up with them being blamed, like in Guatemala." So the Agency tried to avoid direct involvement in the war, ... the skittish CIA, Cannistraro estimates, had less than ten operatives acting as America's eyes and ears in the region. Milton Bearden, the Agency's chief field operative in the war effort, has insisted that "[T]he CIA had nothing to do with" bin Laden. Cannistraro says that when he coordinated Afghan policy from Washington, he never once heard bin Laden's name<<<<

Dispelling the CIA-Bin Laden Myth | Fox News

It's sad that you insist on ignoring the truth. But, that doesn't make what you imagine true at all!

 

[JoeB131]

"Hey, BIn Laden brought his own guns. We weren't responsible for him at all, other than the fact we were arming all of his buddies and providing them intelligence as to where the Russians were."

But at least we kept them Dirty Stinking Commies from teaching Girls how to Read. That's the important thing.