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Haqqania Madrassa, North West Frontier Province, Pakistan
October 2003:

This rugged Talib was one of many who met me when I entered their sacred compound at Haqqania madrassa. The long motorbike ride from Peshawar found me in the heart of the jihadist movement in Pakistan. It was here that Osama bin Laden funded and recruited many of his willing warriors to fight against the so-called Northern Alliance and later the US troops after invading their homeland of Afghanistan. It is important to recognize that the CIA funded and trained the predecessors to the Taliban during the war with the Soviets from 1979 through 1989. A particular senator from Texas named Charlie Wilson was passionate about propping up the radical Islamist fighters in an effort to overthrow the "evil empire" USSR, as named by President Ronald Reagan.

Later in the war effort, notables such as Osama bin Laden joined the crusade to rid Afghanistan of the democratically-elected People's Democratic Party, which was a socialist entity which brought healthcare, education and employment to the men and women of the country and embraced modernism and a secular state. There is speculation as to whether or not bin Laden was directly affiliated with the CIA, but what is known is that a cooperation between the US, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia created, funded, armed and trained what would become the ultraist regime known as the Taliban or "the Students".

The Mullahs Front were a group of mujahideen fighters and clerics who later evolved into the Taliban. It was during the origins of the Taliban that now president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, supported the infamous group and secured funding for them. He continued to pledge his support for the group up into the mid-ninties when a power struggle ensued. Karzai was the heir of the Pashtun's most powerful tribe, the Popolzai, and poltical wrangling proved to make Karzai's promotion to leader of his country impossible with the newly-controlling Taliban regime installed to power. He accused the fundamentalists of being a tool of the ISS (Inter Service Intelligence, Pakistan's CIA) and broke away from them. Later his father was murdered and he blamed the Taliban for the crime, which only fueled the animosity further. It is important to note that Karzai worked for Unocal, an American oil giant who was hungry to secure petroleum pipeline rights through Afghanistan during the Taliban's reign. The Taliban never agreed to allow the US to run its corporate operations all across their land and decided to negotiate with a South American company instead.

Months later September 11...carte blanche with US military justification and DoD super funding to invade the sovereign nation of Afghanistan to eradicate the Taliban regime as "harborers of terrorist-suspect" Osama bin Laden. Karzai was fully primed and poised to accept leadership of "his" country and dispense US orders as given. It would seem that in his case, "good things come to those who wait"!

Description
Haqqania Madrassa, North West Frontier Province, Pakistan
October 2003:

This rugged Talib was one of many who met me when I entered their sacred compound at Haqqania madrassa. The long motorbike ride from Peshawar found me in the heart of the jihadist movement in Pakistan. It was here that Osama bin Laden funded and recruited many of his willing warriors to fight against the so-called Northern Alliance and later the US troops after invading their homeland of Afghanistan. It is important to recognize that the CIA funded and trained the predecessors to the Taliban during the war with the Soviets from 1979 through 1989. A particular senator from Texas named Charlie Wilson was passionate about propping up the radical Islamist fighters in an effort to overthrow the "evil empire" USSR, as named by President Ronald Reagan.

Later in the war effort, notables such as Osama bin Laden joined the crusade to rid Afghanistan of the democratically-elected People's Democratic Party, which was a socialist entity which brought healthcare, education and employment to the men and women of the country and embraced modernism and a secular state. There is speculation as to whether or not bin Laden was directly affiliated with the CIA, but what is known is that a cooperation between the US, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia created, funded, armed and trained what would become the ultraist regime known as the Taliban or "the Students".

The Mullahs Front were a group of mujahideen fighters and clerics who later evolved into the Taliban. It was during the origins of the Taliban that now president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, supported the infamous group and secured funding for them. He continued to pledge his support for the group up into the mid-ninties when a power struggle ensued. Karzai was the heir of the Pashtun's most powerful tribe, the Popolzai, and poltical wrangling proved to make Karzai's promotion to leader of his country impossible with the newly-controlling Taliban regime installed to power. He accused the fundamentalists of being a tool of the ISS (Inter Service Intelligence, Pakistan's CIA) and broke away from them. Later his father was murdered and he blamed the Taliban for the crime, which only fueled the animosity further. It is important to note that Karzai worked for Unocal, an American oil giant who was hungry to secure petroleum pipeline rights through Afghanistan during the Taliban's reign. The Taliban never agreed to allow the US to run its corporate operations all across their land and decided to negotiate with a South American company instead.

Months later September 11...carte blanche with US military justification and DoD super funding to invade the sovereign nation of Afghanistan to eradicate the Taliban regime as "harborers of terrorist-suspect" Osama bin Laden. Karzai was fully primed and poised to accept leadership of "his" country and dispense US orders as given. It would seem that in his case, "good things come to those who wait"!