Time (once again) to dispel some myths about Afghanistan

Yesterday witnessed the opening of Charlie Wilson’s War, a film I have not seen and will not review here.  The film is a madcap, yet apparently inspiring, story of how Congressman Charles Wilson helped fund the Afghan resistance to the Soviet invasion, helped liberate the nation (temporarily) from the Soviets, and helped win the (first) Cold War.  Now, the film appears largely devoid of the CIA-funded-Osama-bin-Laden myth (Washington Times) – although that my not have been the original plan (Timesagain) – but it is practically certain that some will take this as the perfect time to start peddling it and some other myths about the Afghan theatre of the Wahhabist-Ba’athist-Khomeinist War.  So, without further ado, let’s stand ‘em up and knock ‘em down, one at a time.

Myth: Osama bin Laden was funded, trained, and/or in some way supported by American intelligence.

Fact: Osama bin Laden was indeed in Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion (1979-89), but he steered clear of the Americans (and most Afghans, for that matter), concentrating instead on recruiting Muslim outsiders (like himself) and getting Saudi money.  Here’s Peter Bergen (CNN) on the Osama and America during that time (emphasis added):

This is one of those things where you cannot put it out of its misery. 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.

Still not convinced?  Well, not even Bill Moyers (yes, that Bill Moyers) is willing to make the connection:

Son of a wealthy construction magnate, bin Ladin had taken to the religious sermons of Abdullah Azzam, a Palestinian and disciple of Sayyid Qutb. While he participated in few actual battles in Afghanistan, bin Laden became known for his generous funding of the jihad against the Soviets.

However, bin Laden’s ambitions extended beyond the boarders of Afghanistan, and he began to develop a complex international organization. He set up a financial support network known as the “Golden Chain,” comprised mainly of financiers from Saudi Arabia and Persian Gulf states.Using this immense new fund, bin Laden and Azzam created a “Bureau of Services,” which helped channel recruits for the jihad into Afghanistan. With Saudi Arabia and the United States pouring in billions of dollars worth of secret assistance to rebels in Afghanistan, the jihad against the Soviets was constantly gaining momentum.

Now, given that Moyers is one of the most partisan Democrats on Earth (he was the force behind the anti-Goldwater “Daisy” advertisement in 1964), odds are he would be shouting from the rooftops if he had anyevidence that Reagan Administration help went to bin Laden.  However, all he can do is use guilt by association.  The fact is, Osama had his own operation in Afghanistan, which brought in a few foreigners and spread his own money around – none of it coming from Washington.

What brought Osama to Afghanistan?  The Soviet Union, by invading the place.  Today, leftists around the world insist that George W. Bush “created” al Qaeda in Iraq by liberating that nation in 2003 and providing a theatre of operations for them (I don’t buy that – al Qaeda had a presence there during Saddam’s time), but they say nothingabout the Soviets creating a venue for Osama and what would become al Qaeda – because, of course, the left has had a hard time blaming the Soviets for anything.  But I digress.

Myth: The Taliban arose out of the mujahedin resistance to the Soviet invasion.

Fact: The Taliban did not exist until 1994 (MSN Encarta), two years after the Soviet-backed regime fell (ironically, the Afghan Communists outlasted their supposed protectors by a few months).  It’s chief benefactor was never the United States; it was Pakistan (BBC).

Myth: The Clinton Administration’s focus on al Qaeda was blurred by President Bush, leaving us less prepared than we could have been.

Fact: The following are the words of Steve Coll (Washington Post, emphasis added): 

Members of the Bush Cabinet met at the White House on Sept. 4 (2001). Before them was a draft copy of a National Security Presidential Directive, a classified memo outlining a new U.S. policy toward al Qaeda, Afghanistan and (anti-Taliban leader Ahmed Shah) Massoud.

It had been many months in the drafting. The Bush administration’s senior national security team had not begun to focus on al Qaeda until April, about three months after taking office. They did not forge a policy approach until July. Then they took still more weeks to schedule a meeting to ratify their plans.

Among other things, the draft document revived almost in its entirety the CIA plan to aid Massoud that had been forwarded to the lame-duck Clinton White House — and rejected — nine months earlier. The stated goal of the draft was to eliminate bin Laden and his organization. The plan called for the CIA to supply Massoud with a large but undetermined sum for covert action to support his war against the Taliban, as well as trucks, uniforms, ammunition, mortars, helicopters and other equipment. The Bush Cabinet approved this part of the draft document.

. . . the CIA was told that it could at least start the paperwork for a new covert policy — the first in a decade that sought to influence the course of the Afghan war.

In other words, the Bush Administration – in just under eight months and before9/11/01 – adopted a tougher policy on the Taliban and al Qaeda than its predecessor had in eight years.

There is a credible argument to be made that the United States dropped the ball on Afghanistan in 1992 as the country dissolved into civil war, or that several Administrations did not pay enough attention to the Wahabbization of Pakistan during the regime of General Muhammed Zia ul-Haq.  However, so many on the left have become so desperate to make the right look bad on national security that they have created and spread the three terrible myths above.  Now, dear reader, you know better.