The CIA Did Not Train Bin Laden

by John Hawkins | September 24, 2003 11:59 pm

There are a lot of “myths” that seem to float around on left-wing websites. Things like “Bush went AWOL from the National Guard,” “Bush was a cokehead,” “We gave Saddam permission to invade Kuwait,” yada, yada, yada. Usually there’s some grain of truth, highly disputed claim, questionable source, bogus article, etc, etc, that gets these rolling and then if they’re perceived as damaging enough to their target, they’re treated as undisputed fact no matter how questionable they may be.

One of these fables that has been oft cited, especially since 9/11 is that the CIA “made” Bin Laden. Many people on the left love that one because it fits their Noam Chomskyish “America is the root of evil in the world, so they deserve whatever happens to them” view of the world. The theory being that if we “created” Bin Laden and were the ones to make him so dangerous, then 9/11 is just deserts.

However, the assertion that the CIA provided training to Bin Laden, any training at all, has always been iffy as I pointed out before the war in Iraq[1]…

Did the CIA train Osama Bin Laden? The answer to this question is unclear. In the eighties, the CIA did train mujahideen and funneled billions of dollars worth of weaponry into Afghanistan. Osama Bin Laden, who was not a terrorist at the time by the way, may have received some CIA weaponry and minor amounts of training, but there’s no definitive proof that ever occurred”The answer to this question is unclear. In the eighties, the CIA did train mujahideen and funneled billions of dollars worth of weaponry into Afghanistan. Osama Bin Laden, who was not a terrorist at the time by the way, may have received some CIA weaponry and minor amounts of training, but there’s no definitive proof that ever occurred.”

But today, Richard Miniter[2] has written an editorial that seems to pretty definitively show that we DID NOT provide any training to Bin Laden at all.

AS Miniter points out, Bin Laden himself denied that he ever had any CIA training to noneother than Robert Fisk…

“Personally neither I nor my brothers saw any evidence of American help,” bin Laden told British journalist Robert Fisk in 1993. In 1996, Mr. Fisk interviewed bin Laden again. The arch-terrorist was equally adamant: “We were never, at any time, friends of the Americans. We knew that the Americans supported the Jews in Palestine and that they are our enemies.”

Miniter also quotes, “Bill Peikney, who was CIA station chief (now retired) in Islamabad from 1984 to 1986” as saying, “I don’t even recall UBL [bin Laden] coming across my screen when I was there.” Furthermore, “Milt Bearden, who was (an also retired) CIA station chief from 1986 to 1989” says, “I challenge anyone to give any proof that we gave one dollar to any Arab Afghans, let alone bin Laden.”

So look folks, if Osama Bin Laden himself denies it ever happened, and the station chiefs who would have been involved deny it ever happened, and if as Miniter suggests there are no, “cancelled checks, no invoices, no government reports” that show Bin Laden received money, doesn’t that seem to indicate that the CIA didn’t have anything to do with Bin Laden? Well, to reasonable people it does…

Endnotes:
  1. before the war in Iraq: https://rightwingnews1.wpenginepowered.com/john/warfaq.php
  2. Richard Miniter: http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=9998

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