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Originally posted by Apoc
Because you use all caps in the title your post must be viable...
Originally posted by bodrul
the US also had plenty of chances to netrulize al-qauda
but their foreign policy was ***** so they just waked away or turned a blind eye.
an intresting artical
bbc
BBC Four: What were the reactions of the Americans you interviewed on looking back on the 1980s and 90s?
MB: Some of them regret the actions that have not taken place since the end of Soviet-Afghan War. They think further action should have been taken. The Clinton administration withdrew and effectively put on a blindfold between 1991 and 1998. As Robert McFarlane says in the film: "To ignore South Asia was a historic error. Not to leave enough people around from the CIA or the State Department to keep us informed about what was going on during the Clinton years was an appalling failure... It's clearly evident that by end of 1996 and early 1997 that al-Qaeda was putting down roots there that this would represent to us and to others a real threat."
Abdul Haq is the one man who said, "I won't be your puppet but you actually need to join with us to make this work, otherwise the US policy is going to backfire in the longer term". Many former officials tried to persuade people to act before the horrific events of 9/11 - but the CIA made it clear that it had no intention of doing so. There was no interest. But to make matters worse, after 9/11 they played a double game. The Americans actually went on record saying that Abdul Haq was one of the chosen people they were going to back in their efforts to topple the Taleban.
"Al-Qaida,(sic) literally 'the database,' was originally the computer file of the thousands of mujahideen who were recruited and trained with help from the CIA to defeat the Russians," admits former British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, whose Foreign Office portfolio included control of British Intelligence Agency MI-6 and the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), in a column published by the UK Guardian newspaper.
Although "al-Qaeda" is the name of the organization used in popular culture, the organization rarely uses the name to refer to itself. In formal communications Bin Laden has called the organization the International Front for Jihad against the Jews and Crusaders. Indeed the use of the name "al-Qaeda" dates from early 2001, when the American government decided to prosecute Bin Laden in his absence and had to use anti-Mafia laws that required the existence of a named criminal organisation. Bin Laden himself said in 2001, "We used to call the training camp al-Qaeda ["the base"]. And the name stayed." [2].
Toward the end of the Soviet occupation, some Mujahidin wanted to expand their operations to include Islamist struggles in other parts of the world. A number of overlapping and interrelated organizations were formed to further those aspirations.[
One of these was the organization that would eventually be called al-Qaeda, which was formed by Osama bin Laden in 1988. Bin Laden wished to extend the conflict to nonmilitary operations in other parts of the world; Azzam, in contrast, wanted to remain focused on military campaigns. After Azzam was assassinated in 1989, the MAK split, with a significant number joining bin Laden's organization.
Since other parts of the world were often not in such open warfare as Afghanistan under the Soviet occupation, the move from MAK to al-Qaeda involved more training in terrorist tactics. Other organizations were formed, including others by Osama bin Laden, to carry out different types of terrorism in different countries.
Originally posted by Implosion
As a side point. I don't agree with using Wikipedia as a definitive source, as it is updated by the users. The public at large. IMO not the best place to go looking for absolute fact.