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
>>, the jihadi soldiers of fortune started looking for new job opportunities to fight infidels
Yes, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kashmir, Algeria, Chechnya, Yugoslavia, America, Phillipines, Sudan, Egypt.....
Bodansky does write about an Islamist Internationale - Conferences in Khartoum etc, which is basically what Osama calls AQ - The International Front.
Yes, not many people know we supported Saddam and the Baathis in their coup. He's our boy, like so, so many.