According to an Agence France-Presse story on April 20, 1996, during U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Robin Raphel’s visit to Afghanistan (shortly before the rise of the Taliban), she remarked: ” ‘We are also concerned that economic opportunities here will be missed if political stability cannot be restored.’ “ Three days later, she said: ” ‘We continue to be concerned about the humanitarian situation here and we are particularly concerned about the political instability and the potential for it spreading in the region.’ ”
– Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasquie, Forbidden Truth, Pages 19-20