“In March 1997, the Taliban delivered the definitive response to [Secretary of State Warren] Christopher’s letter [in December 1996, asking them to expel Osama bin Laden]. There was the direct answer that Maulvi Ehsanullah, a member of the Taliban inner shura and later deputy interior minister in charge of intelligence, gave to three U.S. diplomats in Kandahar [Afghanistan]. The expulsion of bin Laden, he said, is ‘not a solution.’ The United States would repeat its demand three dozen times over the next five years and would receive a variant of Ehsanullah’s answer every time.” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.]
– Roy Gutman, How We Missed the Story, Page 97