The Afghan War
September 21st 2009 19:09
On August 7, 1998, the U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya were simultaneously attacked with truck bombs by the Islamic Jihad led by Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri. It was bin Laden’s intention to lure the United States into a war in Afghanistan, the so called “Graveyard of Empires.” Bin Laden was pissed off at eight years of U.S. military occupation of Saudi Arabia since the first Gulf War, and at supposed Taliban negotiations with the U.S. gas pipeline consortium CentGas.
On August 20, 1998, President Bill Clinton ordered Operation Infinite Reach, a cruise missile strike on a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan where half of Sudan’s medicines for humans and animals were manufactured. The U.S. claimed the factory was a cover for the manufacture of chemical weapons, but that claim was later refuted. Seventy-five cruise missiles were launched against four terrorist training camps in Afghanistan situated around Khost and Jalalabad. One of the training camps was used to train fighters against India in Kashmir, not against the U.S., one of the training camps was used as a meeting place for bin Laden and other senior al Qaida officials, and the other camps were for training Afghan Arabs. Bin Laden later said the attack was a diversion by Bill Clinton to draw attention from the Monica Lewinski scandal; Clinton had publicly announced his involvement with Monica on August 17. Bin Laden was in one of the attacked camps, but he was gone before the attack began because he was given notice that Mohammed Sadeeq Odeh, one of the embassy bombers, was arrested after the attacks. The FBI, the CIA, and the NSA weren’t communicating.
UN Security Council Resolutions 1267 in 1999 and 1333 in 2000 authorized financial and military hardware sanctions against the Taliban to encourage them to turn over bin Laden for trial as a result of the embassy bombings and to close all terrorist training camps. There was no authorization for use of force.
On September 9, 2001, a National Security Presidential Directive outlined all means to deal with al Qaida, from diplomacy to all out war in Afghanistan, from persuading the Taliban to turn over bin Laden to invasion of Afghanistan and overthrow of the Taliban if they refused. This was two days before the attack on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the plane crash in the Pennsylvania field.
On September 10, 2001, the Bush administration and its top military and security advisors agreed to a plan to issue an ultimatum to the Taliban to hand over bin Laden or face expulsion from Afghanistan; they planned to use aid to anti-Taliban war lords, and if that failed, direct invasion by U.S. troops. This was one day before the 9/11 attack.
On September 20, 2001, at a joint session of Congress, President Bush issued an ultimatum to the Taliban; they had to deliver all al Qaida leaders in Afghanistan to the U.S., release all jailed foreigners, including Americans immediately, offer immediate protection to all foreign journalists, aid workers and diplomats, all terrorist camps were to be closed and all terrorists were to be turned over to the U.S., and the U.S. was to have full access to all terrorist camps to verify their closure. The response of the Taliban was that there was no evidence linking bin Laden with the 9/11 attacks, and it was Pashtun and Taliban custom that all guests be granted asylum.
On October 7, the Taliban offered to try bin Laden in an Islamic court, but this was rejected, and the U.S. and Britain began bombing Afghanistan that same day. On October 14, the Taliban offered to surrender bin Laden to a third country if they were shown evidence of his involvement in the 9/11 attacks, but this offer was rejected by President Bush who said, “There's no need to discuss innocence or guilt. We know he's guilty.”
The Afghan war could have ended then.
On August 20, 1998, President Bill Clinton ordered Operation Infinite Reach, a cruise missile strike on a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan where half of Sudan’s medicines for humans and animals were manufactured. The U.S. claimed the factory was a cover for the manufacture of chemical weapons, but that claim was later refuted. Seventy-five cruise missiles were launched against four terrorist training camps in Afghanistan situated around Khost and Jalalabad. One of the training camps was used to train fighters against India in Kashmir, not against the U.S., one of the training camps was used as a meeting place for bin Laden and other senior al Qaida officials, and the other camps were for training Afghan Arabs. Bin Laden later said the attack was a diversion by Bill Clinton to draw attention from the Monica Lewinski scandal; Clinton had publicly announced his involvement with Monica on August 17. Bin Laden was in one of the attacked camps, but he was gone before the attack began because he was given notice that Mohammed Sadeeq Odeh, one of the embassy bombers, was arrested after the attacks. The FBI, the CIA, and the NSA weren’t communicating.
UN Security Council Resolutions 1267 in 1999 and 1333 in 2000 authorized financial and military hardware sanctions against the Taliban to encourage them to turn over bin Laden for trial as a result of the embassy bombings and to close all terrorist training camps. There was no authorization for use of force.
On September 9, 2001, a National Security Presidential Directive outlined all means to deal with al Qaida, from diplomacy to all out war in Afghanistan, from persuading the Taliban to turn over bin Laden to invasion of Afghanistan and overthrow of the Taliban if they refused. This was two days before the attack on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the plane crash in the Pennsylvania field.
On September 10, 2001, the Bush administration and its top military and security advisors agreed to a plan to issue an ultimatum to the Taliban to hand over bin Laden or face expulsion from Afghanistan; they planned to use aid to anti-Taliban war lords, and if that failed, direct invasion by U.S. troops. This was one day before the 9/11 attack.
On September 20, 2001, at a joint session of Congress, President Bush issued an ultimatum to the Taliban; they had to deliver all al Qaida leaders in Afghanistan to the U.S., release all jailed foreigners, including Americans immediately, offer immediate protection to all foreign journalists, aid workers and diplomats, all terrorist camps were to be closed and all terrorists were to be turned over to the U.S., and the U.S. was to have full access to all terrorist camps to verify their closure. The response of the Taliban was that there was no evidence linking bin Laden with the 9/11 attacks, and it was Pashtun and Taliban custom that all guests be granted asylum.
On October 7, the Taliban offered to try bin Laden in an Islamic court, but this was rejected, and the U.S. and Britain began bombing Afghanistan that same day. On October 14, the Taliban offered to surrender bin Laden to a third country if they were shown evidence of his involvement in the 9/11 attacks, but this offer was rejected by President Bush who said, “There's no need to discuss innocence or guilt. We know he's guilty.”
The Afghan war could have ended then.
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Comment by Howard
Real Crash