Enemy Combatant
Friday, April 30, 2004
Lately I've been reading books about Osama bin Laden and the Taliban that were written pre-9-11, looking for "clues" that might have telegraphed the attacks. This book, Dollars for Terror: The United States and Islam, was written by Swiss journalist Richard LabÈviËre and originally published in 1999, with a translation into English the following year. What it has to say about bin Laden (particularly his ties to the CIA) has me donning my tinfoil hat once again, and in despair of the 9-11 Commission ever getting to the bottom of the whole mess.
Here's the opening paragraph of Chapter VI, which is entitled "Osama Bin Laden, Our Man In Kandahar":
Who is this man with the enigmatic smile? Abruptly elevated to the rank of "planetary public enemy number one," the federal court of New York has issued an international warrant for his arrest. This 43 year old Saudi, a veteran of the first Afghanistan war, is the son of a billionaire and is a billionaire himself. Leading an army of 7,000 men and an international financial empire, he is more powerful than a head of state. He invented a form of terrorism that is privatized and practically quoted on the stock exchange. For him, it all began in Afghanistan, with the "holy war" against the Red Army. First, he was a recruiter of "Arab volunteers," then a front-line soldier. At that time he sealed a secret agreement with the CIA. This "public enemy number one" enjoys the protection of the American agency, and has close relations with the Saudi special services as well. Their chief, Prince Turki Ibn FayÁal, continues to "handle" Osama bin Laden, despite his having been deprived of Saudi nationality in 1994. The billionaire also maintains close relations with his family, even if he had to wage a war for control of the bin Laden financial empire. After several sojourns in Sudan and Yemen, he is back in Afghanistan. He took refuge with his Taleban friends, from whom he acquired control of a whole province producing opium. This "man who wanted to be king" has thrown all his weight into the process of arranging the succession to the throne of Saudi Arabia. Is he still the CIA's joker in the game for the future of the monarchy, which is a matter of such great concern to the United States?
