Nope. We gave the Mujahadeen money and weapons, especially the Stinger missiles that kept the Soviet airpower off their backs. They won, the Soviets left and THEN we stopped supplying them. Remember bin Ladin is not an Afghan mujahadeen, he was a Saudi financier of the Mujahadeen. The Taliban wasn't formed until after the Soviets left. It wasn't until the invasion of Kuwait that bin Ladin publicly denounced the Saudis for bringing non-Arabs into the fight and especially of US troops on the ground in the land of Mecca and Medina. This is all on the record, look it up.
But you said, "The Taliban knew whatever the Haquanis knew, the two are like the US and Britain. Come on." So are the US and Britain allies of convenience? In the mold of? The State Department has a list as do other federal government entities including factions within the White House. Do they form the list based on a comparison of an organization as they are "in the mold" of al qaeda? Even al qaeda isn't in the mold compared to ISIS. The State Dep't hedges on the Taliban and officially recognizing them as a terror group because we still do deals with them and they can prove to be useful. It's hardly about the Taliban...it's more about what America wants or needs The Taliban regularly engages in car bombing activity that kills women and children. They don't have the means to attack America but I have no doubt they would do so if and when they have nobody left to kill or conquer. Who did attack America? Al Qaeda/bin laden....he whose family was safely moved to Saudi Arabia and he who has long and close ties to the Saudi royal family. The same Saudi Arabia that you believe to be our ally. "The relationship between the bin Ladens and the Saudi royal family is quite exceptional in that it not simply one of business ties: it is also a relationship of trust, of friendship and of shared secrets. This is particularly the case with regard to the group's present-day leaders and the Soudairi clan. Thanks to the renovation of Mecca, Sheik Mohammed bin Laden did not become merely Kin Abdul Aziz' official contractor, but his friend and confidant as well. This friendship has been handed down to their children. The bin Laden sons went to the same schools as the numerous offspring of King Abdul Aziz and they all followed the same path....the ties of friendship binding bin Laden family members to King Fahd and his brothers make them prime confidantes and advisors. They play an obvious advisory role in Saudi-Yemeni relations. Still, they hold very few economic or financial interests in their ancestral homeland and certainly do not flaunt their family origins. King Fahd's two closest friends were: Prince Mohammed Ben Abdullah (son of Abdul Aziz' youngest brother), who died in the early '80s and whose brother, Khaled Ben Abdullah (an associate of Suleiman Olayan), still has free access to the king; and Salem bin Laden, who died in 1988..... the bin Ladens are still part of the small group of friends surrounding the king which includes, in particular, Prince Khaled Turki Al Soudairi (married to one of Fahd's sisters), Prince Faisal Ben Turki Al Abdullah (married to another sister and father of Prince Abdullah Ben Faisal, head of the Royal Jubail Commission) and the family of Moona (Fahd's wife), the Ibrahims. As trusted servants of the royal family, the bin Ladens have also often acted as chaperones to the king's sons, helping them get their start in business. This was the case with both Prince Mohammed Ben Fahd and Prince Daud Ben Nayef, two of the most active second-generation princes and both at the head of financial empires during the '80s. Both princes were often encountered along with one or another of the bin Laden sons at the head of international companies." It's all about the money. Follow the money. Every single dictator or royal leader is available for purchase. They will all turn on each other. The only thing they all agree on is their hatred of Israel.
Thats it, that is what I was looking for. This pissed him off and so began his hatred, yeah sure the whole Saudi thing may have pushed him over the edge but this was the seed.
Allies are allies. They share intelligence. Does USA = Britain? Nope. We are quite separate as are they. But we share intel. "Nobody left to kill or conquer" never happens in Afghanistan, at least not in the last 1,000 years. When the Taliban attack the United States, let me know. 1. Al Qaeda attacked America, not Saudi Arabia. 2. The rest of the bin Ladin family is not radicalized and we have no issues with them. 3. Saudi Arabia is an ally and I have demonstrated this to you before. Your dislike of them means nothing in terms of our military, diplomatic, and economic alliance with Saudi Arabia. facts are facts. Osama bin Ladin is estranged from the rest of his family and ostracized by the Saudi Government. Your attempts at guilt by association are meaningless. There is nothing wrong with sharing a name with a terrorist. So are most democratic countries. So what? We buy allies all of the time. We learned that from the British. It's far cheaper than invading and occupying them. In fact, the largest Arab country (Egypt) has had a peace treaty with Israel for 30 years. So has Jordan. Syria is the only other Arab country that has actually gone to war with Israel.
I don't think so. You are correct as far as the Mujahadeen. They might have benefitted from some US assistance after the Soviet War and not joined the Taliban. But bin Ladin himself was in competition with us in supplying them with arms and money. He believed that it was an Arab fight only and always despised the US.
You shift lines pretty quickly. So they aren't terrorists unless they are attacking the US? Saudi money. What is a stronger bond is one formed over decades with radicals. The Saudi's can talk all day long at the table but they are still funding terrorist groups who kill Americans. bin laden is dead. His family received safe haven. It has nothing to do with guilt by association. The bonds formed over there are far stronger than any diplomatic b.s. they do with America. We buy anyone. Allies, terrorists, whatever works. So now they love Israel? Come on.
I'm good, ain't I? They aren't terrorists that are our problem. We are not the world's policeman. They have been killing each other over there for millennia. Not Saudi government money. You confuse individuals with governments a lot. Name one. So what? His family did nothing wrong. What did you want to do? Execute them for having a black sheep in the family? Damn straight we do. What the hell is wrong with that? Nobody loves Israel, including us. The point is that they are not making war on Israel.
After Afghanistan (1989), OBL went back home to Saudia Arabia. When US troops showed up in Saudia Arabia because of the Iraq/Kuwait issue that was brewing, he lobbied Fahd personally to not allow non-muslim forces into the country and allow him to use his troops that defeated the Soviets. He was so outspoken and extreme with his views the Saudis kicked him out and he moved to Sudan. It wasn't until after this that there is any evidence of OBL's displeasure with America. OBL had no ties to Afghanistan's people or the Taliban until he was run out of Sudan. I could recommend a couple books. He is very interesting to read about and there is a lot of stuff that's not well known.
