Amidst his war talk, Bush has made no mention of bin Laden's former role as an ally of Washington during the 1980s war in Afghanistan. The U.S. government cultivated such figures as tools of its opposition to the Soviet backing of the government in Kabul. Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Afghanistan in December, 1979, to back up an increasingly unpopular regime.

In the 1970s growing social unrest challenged the traditional rulers of Afghanistan, where Afghan peasants, representing some 80 percent of the workforce, labored under semifeudal conditions. The government initially charted a course of social reforms, including the redistribution of land, which won popular backing. The Kabul government squandered that support by attempting to impose its reforms, first by decree, and then--confronted with the landlord-backed resistance--by indiscriminate bombings of villages, and other brutal acts.

Following Moscow's invasion, U.S. president James Carter signed a secret directive authorizing the supply of covert aid to help organize an army to topple the government in Kabul. These forces received encouragement from Afghani landlords, who opposed the threat to the power and land. The nationalism of the self-styled freedom fighters was generally marked by reactionary and brutal policies towards workers, peasants, and women.

"What began as a trickle would soon turn into a flood of arms and money," wrote Tom Hundley in the September 17 Chicago Tribune. "The CIA took responsibility for acquisition and shipment of weapons. Much of the hardware was purchased on the black market from Soviet bloc countries, although one of the most effective weapons in the mujahedeen's arsenal would turn out to be U.S.-made Stinger missiles. They used the missiles to shoot down hundreds of Russian helicopters."

Pakistan's secret service, "working closely with the CIA, was in charge of recruiting and training the guerrillas," reported Hundley, while "money for the undertaking poured in from the anti-communist Saudis."

During the war, bin Laden, a businessman and inheritor of a family fortune, commanded the Maktab al-Khidimat, "which recruited fighters from around the world and imported equipment to aid the Afghan resistance against the Soviet army," according to a September 14 BBC report. Bin Laden was "trained by the U.S. war experts to fight the Russians" reported a January 4 United Press International dispatch. "According to the Central Intelligence Agency, which helped arm the anti-Soviet Mujahedeen, bin Laden had between 12,000 and 20,000 supporters trained in arms, explosives and the use of U.S. Stinger missiles."  
 
 
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