” ‘The terrorists will grow deep and wide, right and left, up and down to terrorize and entangle the West, and especially the United States,’ he [Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud] told a close aide in December 1998. So far, the Taliban, Osama and the Pakistani fanatics who volunteered to support the Taliban did not have a strong organization. ‘But if that is established under Osama,’ Massoud said, ‘then it would be very hard to stop it.’ “ [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.]
– Roy Gutman, How We Missed the Story, Page 170