"What year was it we financed OBL? When did we stop?"
Was listening to Richard Miniter (author of Losing Bin Laden) last night on Fox.
He said it is incorrect that we ever funded ObL.
>>He said it is incorrect that we ever funded ObL.
That's sortof like a major fudge.
The Saudis matched us dollar for dollar in all those billions.
The Saudis used the money any way they wanted.
We were forced by the Pakistanis to go thru them. They chose the people Saudi wanted and the Paki favs, the most radical the most nutcase.
So technically, yes, we didn't fund him, because the money was handed to the Pakistanis, and they, after taking their cut, handed it to their faves, which prolly wasn't Osama but the Saudis.
So, technically, no, but why has all public discourse turned to such legalistic hair splitting. We were proud of supporting the muj in the 80's.
Sources: Charlie Wilson's War by George Crile
The Main Enemy - Milt Bearden. (Among others.
We did fund his operations against Rssia in Afghan