Background Information about
Afghanistan & Muslim Fundamentalists

© 2001 Dianne Durante

This report was compiled in September 2001,  as part of an intellectual ammunition campaign for members of the New York Objectivist Club.

This mass of information was compiled mostly without commentary and without heavy editing. The aim is to give some facts about Islamic militants (including bin Laden) and Afghanistan, so you can better understand and more confidently and frequently comment on the September 11 attacks on the U.S. and the U.S. response to them. It’s assumed that you know why reason is better than faith, why capitalism is better than communism or socialism, why life is better than death.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

General readings

1. Afghanistan

1a. Geography

1b. People

1c. Economy

1d. History

1e. The Taliban (1996 & later)

1f. Sharia (Islamic law)

1g. Jihad

1h. Terrorism, including Osama bin Laden, his Al Qaeda network, and the Afghan Arabs

2. Iran

3. Iraq

4. Syria

5. The Sudan

6. Libya

7. Pakistan

Some general readings                                        Back to table of contents

The Ayn Rand Institute’s Acts of War site (http://www.aynrand.org/medialink)  has excellent op-ed pieces on terrorism, going back several years.

On the Muslim mind, listen to Dr. Edwin Locke’s tape “Psycho-Epistemology of the Arab World,” available from the Ayn Rand Bookstore.

Esposito, John L. Islam: The Straight Path. 3rd ed., 1998. College text on Islamic religion and the history of the Muslim world, including recent radical trends, with some short discussions of jihad (several paragraphs quoted below). Noncommital. Moderately easy to read, but if you only need an overview, each chapter has a useful summary.

Cooley, John K. Unholy Wars: Afghanistan, America and  International Terrorism. New ed., 2000. Many extraordinarily interesting details on the U.S. sponsorship of the mujahedin  against the Soviets, including interviews with important politicians and diplomats. Unfortunately so badly organized that it's very difficult to read straight through.

Salsman, Richard. “Terrorism and Its Appeasement.” The Capitalist Advisor (newletter of InterMarket Forecasting, an investment research firm, http://www.intermarketforecasting.com/) 9/17/01. 17 pp., with extensive bibliographic references, including online sites. For a free copy, e-mail rmsalsman@intermarketforecasting.com.

For economic and population statistics, recent history, and geographical information  on any sovereign nation see the CIA World Factbook, online at www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/af.html.

The New York Times online archives are useful for recent years (back to ca. 1990), but there is a charge for articles more than 30 days old, and the brief info given before purchase is often not enough to determine whether the article is substantial or a brief follow-up. As always, the more specific you can be in your search, the better. An excellent 3-part series, “Holy Warriors,” was published 1/14/01, 1/15/01 and 1/16/01, the first part by Stephen Engelberg, the second two by Judith Miller.

Well researched historical analysis is still easier to find in books than on the Net. The Barnes & Noble Bookstore at Fifth Ave. & 17th St. in New York (specializing in college texts) has a large selection of books on the Middle East, Africa, etc. The B&N at Union Square also has a respectable number. It's useful to have a "litmus test" question in mind to check the author's bias: e.g., look up "jihad" in the index and see what the author says about it.

1. Afghanistan

1a. Geography                                        Back to table of contents

Landlocked country in Southern Asia, north and west of Pakistan, east of Iran, south of the former Soviet republics of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. Shares a 76-km. border with China, which says Islamic militants are aiding rebels in its western province of Xinjiang, where Muslims comprise about half the population. Through Afghanistan pass the major routes linking the Middle East and India, and those two with China and Central Asia. The famous Khyber Pass links Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Capital: Kabul. Area: slightly smaller than Texas, at 652,000 sq. km. Some plains in the north and SW, but mostly rugged mountains (the Hindu Kush, west of the Himalayas), with deep gorges and lots of caves. The highest peak is  24,557 ft. / 7,485 m., vs. the highest  highest mountain in the continental U.S., Mt. Whitney at 14,494 ft. Think Bosnia and Vietnam, where the natives are familiar with and helped by every valley and outcropping, and strangers are in danger of their lives. In Afghanistan, controlling the cities does not mean control of the whole country.

And then there are the landmines planted during from the Soviet invasion. By one estimate, 5 to 7 million live mines remain in Afghanistan. Children play with them and have limbs blown off. One mine can kill as many as dozen people, and every year hundreds are maimed or killed by them. The U.S. State Department has been warning visitors of this threat for years. Think what it would mean for soldiers carrying on a land battle.

Climate: very dry, very windy, subject to extreme temperature changes. About 12% of the land is arable, 46% in permanent pastures. Subject to earthquakes and flooding. Suffering soil degradation, overgrazing, deforestation, desertification. (Knowing that productivity in agriculture as elsewhere depends on thought and freedom, this is not a surprise: see History and the Taliban sections below.)

For the facts and statistics above, see the CIA World Factbook online and the Encyclopedia Britannica.

1b. People                                                                                    Back to table of contents

Population (7/00 est.): 25.8 million. Only 2.7% are 65 years or older: the life expectancy is 42 years for men, 40 for women.

Literacy in total population: 31.5%. Among men, 47.2%; among women, 15%, and certain to sink further, given that the Taliban prohibits girls from attending school.

During the Soviet invasion of 1979-1989, nearly a third of the population fled to neighboring Pakistan and Iran. Not all of them returned. Recently, nearly 1 million Afghans (4-5% of the population) have fled the country due to the ongoing drought. The neighbors are becoming less welcoming. The U.N. says about 1 million Afghans are at risk of starvation.

Afghanistan has never been a united country and has never had an effective central government. The tribes within it are constantly at war with each other and with the tribes just across the (present) borders. Mohsen Makhmalbaf, an Iranian filmmaker who recently traveled in Afghanistan, commented that “An Afghan does not regard himself as an Afghan until he leaves his homeland . . . In Afghanistan each Afghan is a Pashtoon, Hazareh, Uzbek or Tajik . . . All are primarily members of a tribe.” He goes on to say that there are no inter-tribal marriages and no business dealings between tribes. Each tribe considers the others (not foreigners) its worst enemies. Even within tribes, there are such severe class distinctions that many people cannot associate with each other. (http://www.iranian.com/Opinion/2001/June/Afghan/index.html)

1c. Economy                                                                                      Back to table of contents

The Afghan economy depends heavily on agriculture and livestock raising. It's currently in the fourth year of a severe drought, the worst in 30 years. See comments under Geography.

Inflation remains a serious problem, although due to the continued civil war, numbers are impossible to come by.

Afghanistan is the leading world producer of opium poppies, and narcotics trafficking is a major source of revenue. Numbers, of course, unknown. The major political factions make considerable profits from the drug trade. One of the Taliban’s major sources of revenue, acc. to the NYTimes 12/17/00, is the tax on processing opium into heroin.

Exports, not including opium: $80 million (1996 est.). Imports (also 1996 estimate): $150 million. Difference probably made up in U.S. aid (about $100 million last year) and assistance through the U.N. (largely funded, of course, by the U.S.).

Per capita GDP, 1999 estimate (before the last 2 years of drought and war): $800. Comparisons: Turkey at $3,600, Greece at $8,600, U.S. at $23,000.

No Internet Service Providers. But then, there’s no electricity over much of the country, and very little telephone service.

Makhmalbaf (see URL above) says the Afghan people support themselves through construction work across the border in Iran, or by becoming mujahedin, or by going to the Taliban’s religious schools, where they are fed while being indoctrinated in radical Islamic doctrine. Any of these are easier than farming Afghanistan’s arid land.

1d. History                                                                                   Back to table of contents

Since the time when Afghanistan appears in written history, ca. 500 B.C., there have apparently been no cultural innovations of worldwide importance from the area. Afghanistan is important not for the ideas or the people who come from it, or for its natural resources, but as a crossroads between Asia, the Middle East and India. From its earliest known history, it has been invaded and has constantly rebelled, then had civil wars until the next invasion. A partial list of invaders: Persians, Alexander the Great, Persians again, Genghis Khan, Tamerlane, the Moghul dynasty, Persians again, British, British, British, Soviets.

The people of the area were Buddhists by the 2nd c. A.D., and Muslims by the 9th-10th c.

The British invaded Afghanistan in 1837, fearing that the Russians were becoming too influential in the area. By 1919 the Brits fought 3 Anglo-Afghan wars. In 1842, during the second war, 4,500 British and Indian troops plus 12,000 camp followers retreated from Kabul toward British India, and were slaughtered almost to a man. Thousands more British soldiers were lost there over the years.

In 1893, in an attempt to stop tribal warfare, the British drew the Durand line between Afghanistan and British India. After 100 years a part of Pashtoonestan assigned to India, and later controlled by Pakistan, was to revert to Afghanistan. Independent Afghanistan rejected the Durand Line in 1949. Around the time the Pakistanis should have been handing over their part of Pashtoonestan, the Pakistani-supported Taliban took over the Afghan government.

Attempts to modernize Afghanistan - giving women the vote, opening it up to Western influence - were made several times in the 20th century. The efforts were halted and reversed by subsequent governments.

In 1955, when Afghanistan developed close ties with the Soviet Union, modernization began to occur again. For a short time the country even produced enough food for its own population. The Communist Party came to power by a coup in 1973, which was followed by (surprise) constant rebellions. The USSR invaded in 1979. The Islamic militants (or holy warriors, mujahedin) who rebelled against the Soviets were soon funded, trained and supplied by Americans, Saudis and Pakistanis. About 1 million Afghans and 15,000 Soviets died in the fighting. Aleksandr Golts, a Russian military analyst, said, “The culture, the geographical environment – everything gives a lot of opportunities for guerilla war in which modern army methods are more or less useless. Our armed forces came prepared for the Cold War, for general battle. They were completely ineffective.” (Quoted in the Washington Post 9/18/01, “Soviet Generals Warn of ‘Sea of Bloodshed’.”)

Following the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, the mujahedin fought among themselves. The next two years saw more devastation than the ten years of fighting with the Soviets had; Kabul was reduced to rubble.

 In 1996 the Taliban movement seized most of the country. (See below.)

As of 2001, Afghanistan has been at war for 22 years running.

A detailed chronology of Afghan history is at http://www.nationbynation.com, but this site is sometimes sloppy on details and this particular timeline seems to have been written by an Afghan nationalist with a shaky grasp of geography and history. Don’t rely on it too heavily.

1e. The Taliban (1996 & later)                                                                     Back to table of contents

The Taliban (“those who seek”) was originally a group of refugee Afghan mujahedins (read: Islamic fundamentalist militants) trained in Pakistani religious schools, who in 1994 were appointed by the Pakistanis to protect a convoy traveling from Pakistan to Central Asia. The group successfully repelled other mujahedin who were in the habit of pillaging convoys. Soon the Taliban captured the city of Kandahar. By 1996, with at least occasional assistance from the Pakistan army and intelligence service, the Taliban captured Kabul. The Taliban has declared itself the legitimate government of Afghanistan, but is only recognized as such by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Since 1996 the Taliban has engaged in a vicious civil war with American-backed  mujahedin who currently hold about 5% of Afghan territory, mostly in the north. The American-backed mujahedin are an assortment of groups that fought each other from 1992 until 1996, when the Taliban wrenched control out of their hands. Afghanistan’s seat in the United Nations is occupied by a representative of these dissenting factions. The rivalry between the Taliban and the mujahedin is ethnic as well as ideological, with the southern part of Afghanistan predominantly Pashtun and the north more diverse. (See People, 1b.)

There is no secular authority in Afghanistan at this time: it is run by mullahs (clerics) as a theocratic state. There is no constitution. There is no legislative branch. There are no elections. There is no legal system, although the factions have tacitly agreed they will follow Islamic law. (See Sharia, below.) There is no organized military, although some members of the old military are scattered among the factions.

The Taliban's aim was to create the world's most pure Islamic state. One of the its first acts was to outlaw television, a pernicious Westernizing influence. Lack of electricity keeps most people from listening to the radio. Women are required to wear head-to-toe gowns (burqas), and are forbidden to wear white socks. (Go figure.) They are not allowed in schools or the workplace. If a woman wishes to consult a physician, she has to bring a son, husband or father and speak through him. Men who trim their beards are sent to jail. On the forbidden list: blasphemy, photographs, musical instruments, chessboards, playing cards, nail polish, neckties, and any cheering at soccer matches except “Allah-u-akbar,” “God is great.” The Taliban has forbidden the Afghans' favorite sport, buzkashi, which involves hundreds of men on horseback trying to retrieve the body of a decapitated calf from a ditch and carry it to the goal. Freedom of speech: nil. The media consists of a few two-page newspapers. Public executions are by stoning. The punishment for theft is amputation of a hand.

The Taliban was welcomed because it promised peace. It is often credited with saving lives by disarming the public (presumably that means less inter-tribal warfare) and ending the reign of bands of thieves - some shopkeepers had been robbed daily by gangs of armed and hungry men. The Taliban refused to deal with warlords and fought corruption. Apparently even those who dislike the Taliban like the sense of security it brought. Commerce, haltingly, began to be carried on in Afghanistan.

The Russians have become concerned that the Taliban will spread the influence of militant Islam into the neighboring territories of the former U.S.S.R., and accuses the Taliban of involvement in the war in Chechnya. Before 9/11/01, the U.S. wanted the extradition of bin Laden, already indicted in the bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and wanted the Afghan government to shut down terrorist training camps on Afghan soil. In a rare moment of accord, Russia and the U.S. agreed in late 2000 that sanctions should be imposed on Afghanistan, including worldwide closing of all Taliban diplomatic offices and cancellation of all flights to and from Afghanistan . . . except relief missions and religious pilgrimages. “The U.S. and the U.N. are claiming championship of human rights all over the world, and at the same time they are killing our people with hunger,” responded the NY representative of the Taliban (NYTimes report of 12/8/00).

At nearly the same time as terrorists attacked Washington, D.C. and New York City, the Taliban sent suicide bombers against the leader of opposition forces in northern Afghanistan, Ahmed Shah Massoud. In retaliation for this attack the opposition forces bombed Taliban territories, which was briefly mistaken by the media for a U.S. retaliatory attack on Afghanistan. Massoud later died of his wounds.

"If there are Americans clamoring to bomb Afghanistan back to the Stone Age,” began an article in the NYTimes 9/13/01, “They ought to know that this nation does not have so far to go. This is a post-apocalyptic place of felled cities, parched land and downtrodden people.” (“Taliban Plead for Mercy to the Miserable in a Land of Nothing,” by Barry Bearak.) The Taliban’s senior spokesman in Kandahar said, “Killing our leaders will not help our people any. There is no factory in Afghanistan that is worth the price of a single missile fired at us.” (Yes, but there ARE buildings and lives at stake in the United States that are worth quite a few missiles.)

1f. Sharia (Islamic law)                                                                               Back to table of contents

From Esposito (see General Readings):

Law is the primary religious science in Islam. Once committed to Islam, the believer’s overriding concern and question is "What do I do; what is God’s will/law?" Law is essentially religious, the concrete expression of God’s guidance (sharia, path or way) for humanity. Throughout history, Islamic law has remained central to Muslim identity and practice, for it constitutes the ideal social blueprint for the “good society.” The Sharia has been a source of law and moral guidance, the basis for both law and ethics. Despite vast cultural differences, Islamic law has provided an underlying sense of identity, a common code of behavior, for Muslim societies. (pp. 74-75)

The four official sources of law are the Koran, the Sunna of the Prophet (records of Mohammed’s actions and sayings), analogical reasoning (looking for parallel situations when no law directly applies) and consensus of the community. Fundamental to Islamic law are the Five Pillars of Islam, which one must perform in order to be a good Muslim: proclaim the faith (“There is no god but Allah, and Mohammed is the messenger of God”), pray five times a day, give alms, fast during Ramadan, and make a pilgrimage to Mecca (Esposito pp. 78-88).

Penalties under Islamic law include caning, stoning to death, and amputation. For more details on crimes and punishments, see the section on the Taliban (1e).

1g. Jihad                                                                                   Back to table of contents

According to the glossary of Esposito’s textbook on Islam (see General Readings), “jihad is ‘strive, effort, struggle’ to follow Islam; can include defense of the faith, armed struggle, holy war” (p. 254).

Here is Esposito’s discussion at greater length, in the main text:

Muslims were permitted, indeed exhorted, to struggle against the forces of evil and unbelief, and if necessary sacrifice their lives, in order to establish God’s rule: [quoting from the Koran] So let them fight in the way of God who sell the present life for the world to come; and whosoever fights in the way of God and is slain, or conquers, We shall bring him a mighty wage. (4:74) [end Koran quote]. God’s preference is made even clearer a few verses later: “God has preferred in rank those who struggle with their possessions and their selves over the ones who sit at home” (4:95).

Those who wage war (jihad) for God engage in a religiopolitical act, a holy war. The God who commands this struggle against oppression and unbelief will assist His Muslim holy warriors as He did at the Battle of Badr, where, the Quran states, an unseen army of angels aided the Muslim army. These holy warriors (mujahidin) will be rewarded in this life with victory and the spoils of war. Those who fall in battle will be rewarded with eternal life as martyrs (shahid, witness) for the faith. The Arabic term for martyr comes from the same root ('witness') as the word for the confession or profession of faith, indicating that willingness to sacrifice all, even life itself, is the ultimate profession or eternal witness of faith. In this way, early Islamic history provides Muslims with a model and ideology for protest, resistance, and revolutionary change. (pp. 13-14)

And this is Esposito’s discussion of jihad immediately after he’s discussed the Five Pillars of Islam (see Sharia, above):

Jihad, “to strive or struggle” in the way of God, is sometimes referred to as the sixth pillar of Islam, although it has no such official status. In its most general meaning, it refers  to the obligation incumbent on all Muslims, as individuals and as a community, to exert themselves to realize God’s will, to lead virtuous lives, and to extend the Islamic community through preaching, education, and so on. As discussed earlier, a related meaning is the struggle for or defense of Islam, holy war. Despite the fact that jihad is not supposed to include aggressive warfare, this has occurred, as exemplified by early extremists like the Kharijites and contemporary groups like Egypt’s Jihad Organization (which assassinated Anwar Sadat) as well as Jihad organizations in Lebanon, the Gulf States, and Indonesia. (p. 93)

According to B. Lewis, for many moderate Muslims the idea of a jihad against Americans is grotesque, one among many interpretations of the Koran. Standard treatises on Islamic law normally include a chapter on jihad as regular military warfare against infidels and apostates, prescribing correct behavior in opening hostilities, treating prisoners, etc. At no point do the basic texts of Islam enjoin terrorism and murder, or advocate the random slaughter of bystanders. (See Bernard Lewis, “License to Kill,” Nov./Dec. 1998 issue of Foreign Affairs (issued by the Council on Foreign Relations).

On the other hand, jihad IS in the Koran, even though it isn't one of the "Five Pillars.” That means if a Muslim accepts every word of the Koran as the word of God, then he cannot condemn the idea of jihad – only argue about its precise meaning and application.

Quotes from Khadar Abu Hoshar, accused, tried, and executed for planning to bomb tourist sites in Jordan during the year 2000 celebrations: “Our religion says that if someone slaps you on the right cheek, you shouldn’t turn the other cheek. You should slap him on the right cheek.” Jihad is a Muslim’s “most important religious duty,” warranted “whenever and wherever our rights as Arabs and Muslims are being denied.” “I became converted to the belief that jihad is fundamental in Afghanistan [where he fought the Soviets in the 1980s]. There are 500 verses in the Koran alone about the need to wage jihad.” (Quoted in Judith Miller, “On Jordan’s Death Row, Convicted Terrorist Says He Has No Regrets,” NYT 1/15/01).

According to one source, the revival of the jihad movement in 20th c. was spurred by the writings of Abdullah Azzam, who was still alive in 1990s. I haven’t done any further research on him.

On jihad, see also the quotes from bin Laden and others at the end of the Terrorism section, immediately below.

1h. Terrorism, including Osama bin Laden, his Al Qaeda network, and the Afghan Arabs

                                                                                                     Back to table of contents

The enormous growth of Muslim terrorism can be dated quite precisely to the 1980s, when the U.S. and others funded the military training of holy warriors (mujahedin) to fight the Soviets who had invaded Afghanistan. Arabs from throughout the Middle East and North Africa eventually came to fight in Afghanistan, becoming known as "Afghan Arabs." They believed the victory of militant Islam in Afghanistan could be replicated throughout the world, and went home to foment rebellion and spread terror in their own countries after the Soviets retreated in 1989.

Here's a brief bio of bin Laden, which is also a timeline for militant Islamic terrorists. For a more complete list of terrorist attacks, see R. Salman's list (General Readings). NOTE: The events below are what most of the U.S. media and Cooley, author of a book on bin Laden, agree on. For more on bin Laden and Al Qaeda, see the Elgin OSI [Office of Special Investigations] Newsletter, v. 6 (9/01, before the attacks on NY and DC).

- Ca. 1954-1957 born in Saudi Arabia, son of a man who became very wealthy in the construction industry. Has a degree in civil engineering, or public administration? (Unclear from the sources.)

- Ca. 1967-70 (when he was 13), received his inheritance from his father: possibly $80 million later expanded to $250 million; possibly $300 million. There’s a lot of debate about these numbers. He probably likes it that way.

- Spent the years immediately following 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in raising money for the jihad against the Soviets.

- 1984 Moved closer to the frontline: Peshawar, in Pakistan near the Afghan border. Gained reputation as courageous and resourceful commander in the war. Met Egyptian radicals (members of the Islamic Jihad) responsible for assassination of Anwar Sadat, who persuaded bin Laden that jihad must be extended to freeing all Muslims who were living under “infidel” regimes.

- 1986 set up first of a dozen or more terrorist training camps in Afghanistan, initially to train Persian Gulf Arabs for the Afghan war. These and the other young men from across the Middle East and North Africa who came to fight the Soviets became known as the "Afghan Arabs." Today, camp subjects include indoctrination, making of explosives, commando operations, weapons, communications, infiltration, sabotage, urban warfare, map reading, use of scale models to plan attacks, preparation of false identity papers, credit card scams, and organization of compartmentalized “cells” to protect the ID of other terrorists. While the Russians were still in Afghanistan, bin Laden worked with the Americans to oust them.

- ca. 1986 With the cooperation of Egyptian fundamentalists, bin Laden set up Al Qaeda (“The Base” - i.e., the base for a global crusade of Muslim fundamentalists; in modern Arabic, “military headquarters.”Bin Laden became the group's chief financier and a major recruiter of the “Afghan Arabs”. Al Qaeda's role in terrorist attacks now varies from education (e.g., how to prepare explosives) to sending operatives, to providing inspiration for local terrorists. Its members and operations are international, but nearly all its members have at one time or another trained in Afghanistan's camps. The CIA estimates that as many as 50,000 too 70,000 militants have trained in the camps in recent years. The NYTimes 9/23/01 gave the number as 3,000 hardcore terrorists and 8,000 trained in logistics, like transferring funds and planning attacks. Neither report gave a time frame.

- 1989 After Soviets were expelled from Afghanistan, bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia, where he was much in demand as a speaker; known for condemning the U.S. for its support of Israel.

- 1990 Bin Laden turned violently anti-American when King Fahd of Saudi Arabia invited U.S. to station troops in S.A., to protect kingdom against invasion by Iraq. Bin Laden's offer to bring the Afghan Arabs to S.A. to protect the Saudis was rejected. Muslim fundamentalists claimed to be outraged that American infidels were allowed into the holy lands around Mecca and Medina, where non-Muslims were forbidden to set foot.

- 1991 Saudis caught bin Laden smuggling weapons in from Yemen, encouraged him to leave S.A., froze his bank accounts and his $300-350 million (?) share of the family business. Bin Laden moved briefly to Afghanistan, then to the Sudan (just south of Egypt), where a militant Islamic government had taken power.

- 1993 Bin Laden was implicated in the first WTC bombings (6 dead, 1,000 or so wounded). Later in 1993, a plot possibly sponsored by bin Laden was foiled: targets were the U.N., the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels, and the Federal Building in lower Manhattan (which houses the FBI).

- 1993 (still) Bin Laden hinted that his men killed 18 Army Rangers and several hundred Somalis in a firefight in the Somali capital of Mogadishu during U.S. operations there - no firm evidence for this. The U.S. pulled its troops out of Somalia within 6 months. Bin Laden said in interviews that he expected U.S. forces to be tough like the Soviets, but found out from the Somalia incident that they were “paper tigers” who “after a few blows ran in defeat.”

- 1993 (still) Bin Laden's agents tried but failed to buy chemical and nuclear weapons. His followers went on to experiment with nerve gas (evidence from satellite photos of scattered dead animals).

- 1996 after 2 terrorist attacks on Americans in Saudi Arabia, the U.S. put pressure on the Sudan, which expelled bin Laden. He lost another $150 million or so in investments and moved to Afghanistan.

- ca. 1996 Al Qaeda formed an international coalition with about 2 dozen other fanatical Muslim organizations worldwide. According to the U.S. indictment of bin Laden (issued in 1996?), the groups came from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bosnia, Croatia, Albania, Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon, the Philippines, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Chechnya and Kashmir. The network is now thought to have cells in 50 countries, including the U.S. It is believed to have been responsible for at least a dozen successful or unsuccessful attacks to date. Also according to the indictment, bin Laden had a “working agreement” with Iran and the National Islamic Front of Sudan to “work together against the United States, Israel and the West.” (Indictment summarized in NYT 9/16/01, under “Old War Escalates on a New Front: The Trail of Relentless Martyrs,” p. A18.)

- 1996 bin Laden issued a “Declaration of Jihad” stating his intention to overthrow the Saudi ruler and drive U.S. forces out of S.A.

- 1996 Truck bombs used to destroy U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224, wounding about 5,000, mostly Africans. U.S. retaliated with cruise-missile attack on the al-Qaeda base in Afghanistan, but bin Laden wasn’t in residence. No further air attacks were made.

- 1998 issued the notorious fatwa (religious proclamation) on the need to kill Americans. See bin Laden quotes below.

- 1999 Bin Laden placed on FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List, with a $5 million reward for his capture.

- 1999 several plots timed for the millennium celebrations were foiled, including a plan to blow up the fully booked Radisson Hotel in Jordan, a U.S. target (Los Angeles airport?), and at an unidentified U.S. ship.

- 2000 An attack on the USS Cole in the harbor of Aden, Yemen, by a small boat filled with explosives, left 17 dead, 39 wounded. Several of Clinton's top national security advisors oppose military action on the ground "that it would achieve little and would make Americans targets of further terrorist attacks." (NY Times 1/16/01).

- 2000 In the NYTimes 12/8/00, a minister of the Taliban called bin Laden “a guest and the upholder of the Afghan holy war” (“U.S. and Russia Ask Harsh Sanctions on Afghanistan”).

- 2001, soon after 9/11: Foreign Minister of the Taliban says bin Laden "was a friend in time of need. It would be very much cowardly to leave him at this stage in his life." (TIME 9/24/01 p. 59)

- Bin Laden is usually accompanied by Ayman Al-Zawari, convicted in absentia and sentenced to death for the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. It has been suggested that bin Laden is not a brilliant tactician, and may be a figurehead for Ayman al Zawahiri and Mohamed Atef, al Qaeda’s military commander. If true, this would make it even more useless to capture and try bin Laden personally: it wouldn’t stop operations for even a day. It has also been suggested recently that many of Al Qaeda's operations are probably run by a senior lieutenant somewhere in Europe, where access to phones, transportation and banks is much easier than from Afghanistan.

Some bin Laden quotes:

1997, in a CNN interview: “Being killed for Allah’s cause is a great honor achieved by only those who are the elite of the nation. We love this kind of death for Allah’s cause as much as you like to live. We have nothing to fear for. It is something we wish for.” (TIME magazine 9/24/01, p. 58)

1998 fatwa (religious decree): "To kill Americans and their allies, both civil and military, is an individual duty of every Muslim who is able, in any country where this is possible. . . . By God’s leave, we call on every Muslim who believes in God and hopes for reward to obey God’s command to kill the Americans and plunder their possessions wherever he finds them and whenever he can.” For a discussion of the complete fatwa, see Bernard Lewis, “License to Kill,” Nov./Dec. 1998 issue of Foreign Affairs (issued by the Council on Foreign Relations), at http://www.foreignaffairs.org/19981101facomment1428/bernard-lewis/license-to-kill-usama-bin-ladin-s-declaration-of-jihad.html . The fatwa also argued that since Americans had declared war by invading Saudi Arabia (see 1990, above), authorities on Islamic law throughout the centuries agreed that jihad became every Muslim’s personal duty: in offensive wars (bin Laden’s fatwa said) the duty of jihad is collective and can be discharged by volunteers or professionals, but when the community is defending itself, jihad is an individual obligation.

1998, to journalist John Miller: “Terrorism can be commendable, and it can be reprehensible. The terrorism we practice is of the commendable kind for it is directed at the tyrants and the aggressors and the enemies of Allah.” (quoted in TIME magazine 9/24/01, p. 58)

1998, to ABC News: “In today’s wars there are no morals. We believe the worst thieves and the worst terrorists are the Americans. We do not have to differentiate between military or civilian. As far as we are concerned, they are all targets.” (TIME 9/24/01, p. 59)

2000 From an ode written by bin Laden for his son’s wedding last January, describing the attack on the USS Cole: “The pieces of the bodies of the infidels were flying like dust particles. If you had seen it with your own eyes, your heart would have been filled with joy.” (TIME 9/24/01, p. 59)

2001 Bin Laden denied responsibility for the 9/11/01 attacks, but “thanked almighty Allah and bowed before him when he heard this news.”

And for good measure, a quote soon after the 10/00 bombing of the USS Cole in Aden harbor, from a Muslim cleric in Yemen who was (according to the NYTimes, 12/31/00) willing to speak out against intolerant forms of Islam: “What do I think of Osama’s ‘holy war against Crusaders and Jews’? Well, I’ll tell you: I am against it, because it harms Yemen’s reputation more than it harms America. What I say is, if Osama wants to harm Americans, let him do it in America, not here in Yemen.”

And from a 21-year-old Yemeni trained in Afghanistan: "When you have a gun, you're free. You feel as if you can do anything."

Miscellaneous facts about terrorism in Afghanistan and elsewhere:

The report "Global Trends 2015," issued in mid-December 2000 after a 15-month study by the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, and State Dept.’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (http://www.cia.gov/cia/reports/globaltrends2015/index.html ) predicted that terrorists would begin to use “asymmetric warfare,” i.e., against adversaries like the U.S., which has the latest technology, they would use low-tech weapons such as the dingy full of explosives that tore a hole in the USS Cole in 10/00.

Assorted short recommendations for the other terrorist nations in the Middle East and Africa:

2. Iran                                                                                   Back to table of contents

Ch. 8 in Horwitz, Baghdad without a Map, on the war between Iran and Iraq, describes warfare in the Middle East. This man (a freelance journalist) writes well and chooses telling details - never the inventory-without-analysis style of travel writing. Chs. 15-16 are on Tehran.

According to the NYTimes 9/23/01 (“Who Hates the U.S.? Who Loves It?”),  “With its anti-Western slogans, Ayatollah Khomeini’s revolution swept aside a repressive king who had linked his country to the United States. But when it replaced him with a cleric whose version of Islam proved intolerant, the people turned out to yearn for – guess what? – more freedom and a better life. Today, Iran’s Islamic Republic endures only because it has adapted, because it has tolerated and even encouraged experimentation that seeks to reconcile the forces of Islam and some degree of democracy. … Iranians, living under a regime that has long demonized the United States as ‘the Great Satan’ and presented it as a scapegoat for all of Iran’s troubles, also call America ‘the Fortune Land.’ One of the main reasons Iran will not allow an American consular officer to process visas in Teheran is worry that the crowds would be overwhelming – and embarrassing. Today, American CD’s, videos and computer programs are pirated and sold on the streets of Teheran for a fraction of their price in the United States. In the holy city of Qom, a shop sells knock-offs of Wranglers blue jeans just down the street from the main mosque, one of  Iran’s holiest sites. At the Teheran airport, pirated copies of Danielle Steele novels are available. Clerics in Qom have a sophisticated Islamic computer center where Koranic teachings and interpretations are on the Internet.”

When discussing Saudi Arabia, the same article notes, “S.A. is America’s closest ally in the Persian Gulf, and its cooperation will be crucial for any coalition. But its king rules by accident of birth, with members of the royal family whom he appoints. Islam is the only religion that may be practiced. While America’s military presence is viewed by the royal family as crucial for the kingdom’s security, it is resented in some religious and political circles and a feeling is growing that its purpose is to help keep the royal family in power. As for Saudi women, unlike their Iranian sisters who are allowed to drive, vote, practice law and hold political office, those rights are denied.” [This is a very odd statement, and needs to be investigated.]

3. Iraq                                                                                   Back to table of contents

Ch. 7 in Horwitz (see above) describes a visit to Iraq.

Iraq is the only Muslim nation that did not offer sympathy and support after the 9/11 attacks.

4. Syria

???

5. The Sudan                                                                                   Back to table of contents

Chs. 11-12 in Horwitz describe Khartoum (pretty close to my concept of hell on earth) and the tribal warfare in southern Sudan.

6. Libya                                                                                   Back to table of contents

Horwitz describes a visit to Libya, which he visited as a journalist when Qaddafi was denying the presence of a factory producing nerve gas.

7. Pakistan

Pakistan helped put the Taliban in control of Afghanistan in 1996. In the city of Peshawar near the Afghanistan border is the Jamia Darul Uloom Haqqani, Pakistan’s leading Islamic institution, the cradle of the Taliban movement. More than 90% of the leadership of Islamic militias have graduated from the JDUH, and it is the prime recruiting ground for Pakistani militants fighting the Indians in Kashmir. Most of its 3,000 students are from Afghanistan and the former Soviet Central Asia. The head of the place, Maulana Samiul Haq, influential religious leader currently leading a campaign against American military action in Afghanistan, says, “Jihad is an essential part of Islam.”