“Taken together, the evidence ‘confirms our conviction,’ [CIA director George] Tenet told the Senate Intelligence Committee on February 2 [2000], that bin Laden ‘wants to strike further blows against America,’ and is ‘placing increased emphasis on developing surrogates to carry out attacks in an effort to avoid detection.’ Al Qaeda had now emerged as ‘an intricate web of alliances among Sunni extremists worldwide, including North Africans, radical Palestinians, Pakistanis, and Central Asians,’ Tenet warned. The Taliban was an increasingly obvious part of the problem, he said. Illicit profits that the Taliban reaped from opium trafficking reached extremists such as bin Laden ‘to support their campaign of terrorism.’ ”
– Steve Coll, Ghost Wars, Page 489