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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Hamid Mir on Iran's role in Afghanistan |
| 2004-07-19 |
| Ayman al-Zawahiri was released in the summer of 1997. He joined Osama bin Laden in Jalalabad and re-established his links with the Iranians secretly. By this time the Iranians had started denouncing not only the Taliban but also Al Qaeda because Arab fighters played an important role in all the major battles in northern Afghanistan. An old friend of bin Laden and Zawahiri was, however, still getting help from the Iranians. His name: Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. This Pashtun leader and ex-prime minister of Afghanistan had deadly differences with both Ahmed Shah Masood and the Taliban. He was living in Tehran under official security. He advised the Iranians not to speak against bin Laden because the Saudi dissident was also speaking against America. I met Osama bin Laden again in May 1998. By this time he was under a lot of restriction from the Taliban and he did not speak for an alliance between the Taliban and Iran. Then, in April 2001, an international conference on the Palestinian dispute was arranged in Tehran by the government of Iran. Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah, Hamas leader Khalid Mashaal, and other militant leaders participated in that conference. I learnt during this conference that many Al Qaeda leaders of Arab origin were living in Tehran. I found it hard to believe because the Iranians were condemning the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the international press. But they were also secretly in contact with them. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #6 Katie Couric: Did We Attack the Wrong Country? |
| Posted by: Dragon Fly 2004-07-19 12:51:57 PM |
| #5 Could this be a classic Bush rope-a-dope ploy? Get the LLL practically begging for an Iranian invasion? "Oh please, don't throw me in dat bria' patch" |
| Posted by: eLarson 2004-07-19 11:21:03 AM |
| #4 Bush should come on TV and say: 'My fellow Americans. Our esteemed media has pointed out that invading Iraq was a mistake. They tell us that Iran has solid ties to Al Qaeda. I'm sad to say, they are right. So, since they are obviously right and to make it up to you, I've ordered our forces currently in Iraq to withdraw from Iraq immediately and to invade Iran. God bless America.' Then when they bitch and moan about that he could say, 'but the media told me to do it.' |
| Posted by: AllahHateMe 2004-07-19 11:08:38 AM |
| #3 LH-The local news put the same spin on this report as NPR. "Haha, see we missed the bad guys by one country. How is this going to play, blah, blah" (/paraphrase). It appears the partisan media has received the talking points. If thought at all like me they would say: "And the reports seem to indicate that Iran is next." |
| Posted by: Dragon Fly 2004-07-19 9:37:07 AM |
| #2 Faster please. |
| Posted by: Dan Darling 2004-07-19 9:36:02 AM |
| #1 NPR this AM reports on the 9/11 commitee's report that 9/11 hijackers traveled through Iran (on their way from Afghan to KSA), but with no Iranian marks on their passports. NPR of course spins this as "see Iran more implicated than Iraq - nanana" but it strikes me as the beginning of open discussion about Iran support for AQ. Will we see more? |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-07-19 9:33:50 AM |