“In March 1989, State Department officials told Secretary of State James Baker that Iraq was working on chemical and biological weapons and that terrorists were still operating out of Iraq.” – Craig Unger, House of Bush, House of Saud, Page 81 […]
2/24/1989
On February 24, 1989, shortly after the Soviets left Afghanistan, bin Laden’s mentor Abdallah “Azzam delivered a sermon in Islamabad laying out his vision of a jihadist future: ‘We will fight, defeat our enemies and establish an Islamic state on some sliver of land, such as Afghanistan. Afghanistan will expand, jihad will spread, Islam will […]
2/15/1989
“With the Soviet withdrawal in February 1989, Afghanistan replaced the Syrian-controlled Bekaa Valley in Lebanon as the world’s premier terrorist training centre for about forty guerrilla and terrorist groups.” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.] – Rohan Gunaratna, Inside al Qaeda, Page 221 […]
2/15/1989
“On February 15, 1989, the last Russian soldier departed Afghanistan. Osama and his fighting men claimed a great victory. Tragically, with the departure of the Russians, the Afghan warlords commenced quarreling, each faction determined to gain leadership of the war-weary country. Osama made some efforts to bring the warlords together, but his efforts were unsuccessful.” […]
2/15/1989
“By February 1989, the Soviets had retreated and [Osama] bin Laden had joined the civil war to turn once-tolerant Afghanistan into a model Islamic state. He financed the construction of vast training camps and bankrolled militant factions. His activities seemed to increase as the Soviets shrank back.” [The 15th of the month used for date […]
2/15/1989
“…after the Soviet withdrawal [from Afghanistan] in [February 15] 1989, the international community turned away from Afghanistan and the militias continued to organize and fund themselves through drug production. The continuous violence and lack of government authority led to growing poverty and suffering across Afghanistan. It was in these circumstances that the Taliban came to […]
2/15/1989
“An estimated fourteen thousand jihadis had dispersed after the Russians abandoned Afghanistan in [February 15] 1989, and untold numbers began to settle in New York and New Jersey.” – Peter Lance, 1000 Years For Revenge, Page 38 […]
2/15/1989
In an interview in August 2005, “Ahmad Shah Ahmadazi [who] was acting Afghan prime minister from 1995 to 1996 [said:] ‘After the defeat of the Soviet Union [in February 1989], we sent a message to all Arabs that were in Afghanistan: *We thank them for their cooperation with us in fighting the Soviet Union. Now […]
2/15/1989
In an interview on June 13, 2005, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi said, ” ‘after [the Russians left Afghanistan in February] ’89, floodgates open to Afghanistan of all kind of Arab adventurists and that’s when radicalism starts creeping in. [jihadist/bin Laden mentor] Abdullah Azzam was selective. Osama was more in the mind-set that this is a […]
2/15/1989
In Fuad Hussein’s book, Al-Zarqawi: The Second al Qaeda Generation, former Egyptian army officer and al Qaeda military commander Sayf al Adel said: ” ‘After God granted the Muslim mujahideen in Afghanistan victory against the Russians [in February 1989] and when disagreements began to emerge among factions of the Afghan mujahideen, many of our Arab […]