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>>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.

I agree. I doubt we ever gave him money personally. He had tens of millions of dollars of his own. But he was definitely on "our side" of the Afghan War before he went over to the dark side. After the war was over in 1989, the jihadi soldiers of fortune started looking for new job opportunities to fight infidels. As CIA and ISI ran that war, that was also where he became friends with a lot of bad folks in Pakistan.

Qaeda's formation was about the time when Bin Laden developed his relationship with Iraqi intelligence. (The details of his relations with Iran are murkier, but they were evident by 1993 when Iran backed his operations in Somalia against our forces and resulted in "Black Hawk Down".)

But of course "Uncle Joe" was our buddy when fighting Hitler.

Saddam himself has a "complicated" history with us going back to Egypt.

I am sure that will come out in the war crimes trial.
Noriega pulled the same stunt.

War makes strange bedfellows.
And it makes for a most unpleasant "morning after".

http://www.msnbc.com/news/190144.asp

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/155236.stm