“In May 1997, Washington looked on in silence as Pakistan encouraged the Taliban to conquer the north [of Afghanistan], where thousands of their ill-trained fighters found themselves in a trap and were massacred [by Afghan resistance].” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.] – Roy Gutman, How We Missed the Story, […]
5/15/1997
In May 1997, “the Clinton administration issued Presidential Decision Directive 56 (PDD 56), which was designed to force interagency cooperation and synchronization among government agencies. Essentially, it ordered the Pentagon, the Department of State, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and other key government agencies to work together to create a new program for educating and […]
5/15/1997
“Referring to bin Laden and other terror masters, the Director of Central Intelligence, George Tenet, had testified before a closed-door session of the Senate Appropriations Committee in May 1997. ‘I think we are already at war,’ he said. ‘We have been on a war footing for a number of years now.’ “ [The 15th of […]
5/15/1997
In May 1997, “CNN airs an interview with bin Laden in which he criticizes US ‘occupation of the land of the holy places.’ ” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.] – “Hunting Bin Laden; Who is Bin Laden & What Does He Want? A Chronology of His Political Life,” PBS […]
5/15/1997
In May 1997, “Mandini al-Tayyib, another of bin Laden’s brothers-in-law, was seized by the Saudis. Reportedly the chief financial officer for al Qaeda, al-Tayyib agreed to talk in return for asylum.” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.] – Peter Lance, 1000 Years For Revenge, Page 358 […]
5/15/1997
“In May 1997 bin Laden teamed up with [Egyptian Islamic Jihad leader Ayman al-] Zawahiri, who had been wandering around Europe and the Middle East since he left Sudan in 1996, and with their supporters to form a close-knit group of jihadists. Zawahiri became its ideological leader, bin Laden its charismatic chieftain.” [The 15th of […]
5/15/1997
“By May 1997 he [Islamic Jihad leader Ayman al-Zawahiri] had reunited with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. The two would be inseparable for the next four years. Meanwhile Zawahiri’s Islamic Jihad continued to attack Egyptian targets, but since the regime had grown increasingly impervious to assault, it now aimed at softer targets that would weaken […]
5/15/1997
In May 1997, “Mandini al-Tayyib, bin Laden’s brother-in-law and al Qaeda’s chief financial officer, found his way into the hands of Saudi intelligence that month and in return for a promise of asylum agreed to share organization secrets on the condition that none of the information would be passed on to the U.S. The Saudis […]
5/15/1997
“In an interview…[in May 1997] with John Miller of ABC News, he [Osama bin Laden] complained that ‘the truth is that the whole Muslim world is the victim of international terrorism, engineered by America at the United Nations. We are a nation whose sacred symbols have been looted and whose wealth and resources have been […]
5/12/1997
From an interview of Osama bin Laden by journalists Peter Arnett and Peter Bergen, aired by CNN on May 12, 1997: “Q. Mr. Bin Laden, could you give us your main criticism of the Saudi royal family that is ruling Saudi Arabia today? A. …the first one is their subordination to the US. So, our […]