You have not demonstrated a relationship that warranted an invasion of Iraq, especially before OBL is taken out.
That was not the original question. Read it again. You added that in an attempt at evasion.
I agree with you that china should have been offered free trade only after hey made significan't reforms.
And we'd still be waiting. Which very well might not be a bad thing.
there is no comparison between the brutality of the Taliban Regime and those of china and cuba.
So who do you think was more brutal? Mao's China was no pussycat.
your not even going to get cheap labor to outsource to with the Taliban.
So? BFD.
I don't think its a good idea to court a regime in the white house that is harboring an organization that was planning the 911 attacks on our country like the Taliban were.
This has to do with connections between SH and al Qaeda how? Or are you once again simply trying to throw in more dirt to muddy the waters for your own benefit?
I thank Moore for allowing us to see that.
Apparently you favor liars. Why do I not find this surprising?
ou may find this of interest.
In a past editorial, I said I would come back and explain why is was that the Clinton Administration never put Afghanistan on the list of countries harboring terrorists and thus, making all American business dealing with them, illegal.
One Clinton advisor said they were holding that threat as their ace in the hole to force the Taliban to turn Osama bin Laden over to them. It was a hollow threat, as the California based oil company UNOCAL was actually wining and dining Taliban officials here in the states as late as January of 1998 with the blessing of the Clinton Administration.
Clinton was just simply not interested in any domestic problems in Afghanistan and from 1993 to 1997 just deferred their fate to what Pakistan decided it would be. Elie D. Krakowski, former special assistant to the secretary of defense stated, “The U.S. had what I call a derivative policy toward Afghanistan. That is, it had no policy on Afghanistan on its own, and whatever Pakistan said, we bought.”
The U.S. State Department did pressure Sudan to evict bin Laden from their country for terrorists activities and in August of 1996, labeled bin Laden one of the “most significant sponsors of terrorism today.” Remember, bin Laden was an “unindicted” co-conspirator in the first WTC bombing.
When bin Laden and company moved from the Sudan to Afghanistan in 1996, the pressure to turn over bin Laden ceased when the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, welcomed him as a guest. The Sudan had nothing to offer, but Afghanistan had a lot to offer. Enough to make any greedy administration look the other way...not once, but several times.
A California based oil company called UNOCAL wanted the rights to build a pipeline across Afghanistan from Turkmenistan to the plants and ports of Pakistan. There were huge profits to be made in oil and natural gas and UNOCAL was willing to ignore any and all human rights violations that the still unorganized Taliban government was inflicting on its people.
There was a huge stumbling block in their way however. The United States Government still did not officially recognize the Taliban as the legal government of Afghanistan. Without that, all wheeling and dealing would be for naught.
In fiscal year 1997/98, UNOCAL spent 2.3 million on lobbying the State Department to accept the Taliban as the rightful government. They hired such high powered names as Henry Kissinger, John Maresca and Robert Oakley. They hired an Afghan born former Reagan State Department advisor on Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad. This man and Mr. Oakley were particularly important because they both were presently advising the Clinton Administration.
With the Clinton State Department being wooed by such high powered names, UNOCAL spent their time lavishing gifts and promises of great wealth on the Taliban. They gave them fax machines. They worked out a job training program connected with the University of Nebraska, set up in Kandahar. The money and favors given by UNOCAL gave the Taliban the edge they needed to withstand any revolts from within and put them solidly in power. Before UNOCAL, the Taliban were viewed as a bunch of “wild Jihadists”, says University of California’s terrorism specialist, Richard Dekmejian.
In 1997, UNOCAL brought members of the Taliban here to the States to wine and dine them, take them to beach, show them their U.S. offices AND take them to Washington to meet with the State Department. They were there to plead their case to be recognized as the true government of Afghanistan.
There was a huge stumbling block in their way however. Women's rights groups here in the States were outraged by the treatment of women under the Taliban. Even though the State Department had been following human rights violations in Afghanistan, including stonings, amputations and public executions; these violations were pretty much ignored until Ms. Albright became Secretary of State. Ms. Albright went to Afghanistan to see for herself and called the treatment of women there “despicable.”
Even that report from the Secretary of State, at first, fell on deaf ears. Eleanor Smeal, then President of the Feminist Majority Foundation and State Department old timer said, “There was a lot of putting down, {of women’s groups} like these women didn’t know what they were talking about.” But they had a powerful ally in the White House: Hillary Rodham Clinton. Women's groups began to protest UNOCAL directly and the domestic toll was beginning to show. The publicity now going nationwide, it became apparent that the U.S. Government could never give the needed recognition to the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. It would have been political suicide. Keep in mind, it was not the fact that they were harboring and assisting a known, wanted terrorist, but pressure from women's rights groups that finally put the nails in coffin of UNOCAL's dealings with Afghanistan.
People began to wonder why Afghanistan, who now harbored the man we pointed the finger at in several attacks on American interests and Embassies as well as the World Trade Center in 1993, was not added to the list of terror-sponsoring states. The Administrations excuse: To add Afghanistan to the list would give the Taliban the recognition they wanted. It might also have to expand to include Pakistan, who was helping the Taliban stay in power. Instead, the Clinton administration spent millions to try and convince Pakistan that the Taliban should turn over bin Laden to the U. S. A waste of time and money, since the Pakistan Government at the time, supported him in the first place.
In 1998, the bombings of the U. S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania complicated the matter even further. It was also in 1998 that bin Laden issued his “fatwa” urging his followers to target the U. S. and all Americans. The attacks were linked to bin Laden and Clinton was finally forced to take some action. He froze bin Laden’s assets and forbid any companies from doing business with him. The timing of the attacks worked out well for the embattled President. He was able to use these attacks, though he had pretty much ignored all those that had come before, to lob some missiles at bin Laden, in the hopes of taking his scandals off the front page for a day or two.
On December 4, 1998, UNOCAL gave up all hope of a pipeline across Afghanistan and pulled out.
Again the debate surfaced about adding Afghanistan to the list of terror-sponsoring states. In 1999, the U.N. imposed sanctions to cut off funds for Taliban arms. Also in 1999, the U.S. finally added bin Laden and his al Qaeda organization to its list of “foreign terrorist organizations”. Still, they did not single out Afghanistan or the Taliban. The “ that will give the Taliban recognition” excuse defied logic. The U.N. sanctions and the U.S. orders forbidding any business dealings with them already did that.
Osama bin Laden must have become quite frustrated by the apparent snubs he was getting for all his attacks on the U.S. He was totally ignored as a suspect in two major attacks, the Oklahoma City Bombing and TWA Flight 800. What would he have to do to get the attention he wanted? He got it on September 11, 2001. Fortunately, for us, there was now a different administration in the White House.
An active FBI agent has filed a complaint with “Judicial Watch” claiming he was retaliated against for pushing for and pursuing terrorist investigations over the objections of his FBI and Justice Department supervisors. It is his belief, that had he been able to pursue his leads, the September attack may have been diverted. The agent claims, “the FBI could have stopped bin Laden years ago.” One can only surmise that he is referring not only to the known attacks, but the Oklahoma City bombing and the downing of TWA flight 800. Judicial Watch is also representing David Schippers and Jayna Davis. Ms. Davis has evidence pointing at Middle Eastern involvement in the Oklahoma Bombing she tried to turn over to the Justice Department to review years ago. The Clinton/Reno JD refused to accept it or even look at it.
According to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, (R-Cal), President Clinton was handling the Taliban with kid gloves for at least three years, despite the fact they were harboring bin Laden. He states he was stonewalled and “belittled” for years for trying to bring the dangers of bin Laden and the Taliban out in the open. He also blames Saudi Arabia and Pakistan for sponsoring the Taliban and GHW Bush for ignoring Afghanistan's’ plight after the Russians pulled out.
But it was the Clinton Administration that bailed the Taliban out in 1997. The Northern Alliance was threatening to overrun the Taliban and could have removed them from power then, but the Clinton Administration imposed a cease fire that both sides agreed to. But Saudi Arabia and Pakistan used this opportunity to re-arm the Taliban army. Clinton knew this was happening, but withheld that information from the Northern Alliance and Congress.
Two years ago, Rohrabacher, who has spent time in Afghanistan fighting with the Northern Alliance, received credible information as to the whereabouts of bin Laden in Afghanistan. He immediately contacted the CIA with this information. A month went by and despite repeated pleas, his friend in Afghanistan was not contacted. By the time he was, bin Laden had moved. It was apparent that the Clinton White House had no real desire to rid the world of bin Laden.
During the Clinton Administration the Voice of America became known, within Afghanistan, as the Voice of the Taliban. “People go berserk when I say that Clinton supported the Taliban, but that is the truth.” says Rohrabacher.
The reasons for Clinton ignoring the danger of middle eastern terror and in some cases perhaps even covering up their involvement are many and complicated. Huge donations from the Airline industry to keep new, expensive safety regulations from becoming law....profitable pipelines across Afghanistan...unknown donations from UNOCAL to be allowed to build that pipeline...the messy business of having to deal with the terrorist problem when he had his own “domestic” problems of impeachment all contributed to the mess that became our policy....or non-policy on international terrorism. It was easier to point the finger at the Christian right and domestic terrorists threats than to face the reality of the situation. It was easier to blame “conservative right-wing radio” for inciting terror here, rather than admit to all the failings of his administration to deal with the real problem.
On September 11th, we had to deal with the real problem. Thousands of innocent people lost their lives because bin Laden decided he had to do something so big that no one could ignore it. I’m sure that Bill Clinton would have found some way though to blame it on someone else, some domestic, right wing group here in the states. For once you weave a lie, you have to maintain that lie and more and more lies pile up. Clinton made his decision when he diverted the FBI and CIA from foreign terror investigations to “home grown” terrorists. He ignored the fact that some of those home grown terrorists were being aided by middle eastern money, agents and supplies. He could not have the truth come out. If it had, his house of cards would have collapsed. Bill Clinton did what he has always done best...protect himself.
We now have to clean up his mess. How many more are out there for us to find? How many more have to die? You can run from your past actions, but you can’t hide from them. As they say on the X-Files....the Truth is out there...and it will come out, sooner or later. Bill has no power any longer to stop it from coming out.
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