What about the $43 million that Bush gave the Taliban in May 2001?

[Sterling]

What about the $43 million that Bush gave the Taliban in May 2001?

Why is this being overlooked during the commission? I keep hearing why didn’t Clinton bomb this or bomb that but please tell me why the hell giving $43 big ones to the people sheltering Osama was an improvement on Clinton’s policy?

[wryter2000]

1. Thank you

I was beginning to doubt my own sanity.

[Wickerman]

2. I have looked for a link on that

do you have one?

[Submariner]

4. Here is the link

http://www.robertscheer.com/1_natcolumn/01_columns/052201.htm

[RaulGroom]

3. That was an internet rumor

n/t

[SoCalDem]

5. proof??

:)

[Sterling]

17. No it was not

thanks for playing though.

[RaulGroom]

19. Um, yeah, it's an internet rumor

It's true that a lot of foreign aid is distributed to and through questionable recipients. However, the RUMOR referred to money that was in fact not given to the Taliban but was distributed through humanitarian aid programs.

Isn't uninformed, flip sarcasm a nice way to make oneself look foolish?

[Sterling]

21. I was not aware that the Taliban gave control over to

The UN or aid organizations. Were you? Do you think the money did not end up in the hands of the Taliban? Do you think our government thought otherwise?


Seriously if our government is that stupid we are doomed.

It seems everything hangs on believing Bush is really that dumb yet we should trust him to be the President? If Clinton was sending our tax dollars to the Taliban it is just as bad.


The fact is it does not make sense to assume everyone in our government is that dumb.

[Birthmark]

6. Actually, it was pretty innocuous.

"Secretary Colin L. Powell
Statement at Press Briefing on New U.S. Humanitarian Assistance for Afghans
Washington, DC
May 17, 2001

SECRETARY POWELL: Good morning, everyone. Afghanistan is in crisis. After more than 20 years of war, and now the third year of a devastating draught, the country is on the verge of a widespread famine. Nearly 4 million Afghans are at risk. If the international community does not take immediate action, countless deaths and terrible tragedy are certain to follow.

At the direction of President Bush, I am today announcing a package of $43 million in new humanitarian assistance for the people of Afghanistan, including 65,000 tons of wheat, $5 million in complementary food commodities, and $10 million in other livelihood and food security programs within Afghanistan. We also expect to soon announce additional assistance to Afghan refugees."

http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2001/2928.htm

It was humanitarian aid.

[mmonk]

9. What about the unocal project?

[Sterling]

16. innocuous?

I think not, unless we really are that stupid. Who gives "aid" to a country that is a platform for terrorism against the US? The whole 9-11 comish brings that point home. All I hear is "Clinton did not do enough" yet Bush gave them $? Seriously you can't see the problem here?

[Birthmark]

18. As I recall...

...Afghanistan was on the brink of famine. *Many* nations were providing humanitarian assistance. That's what I remember.

[kiahzero]

7. It was a MYTH

Jesus... I've posted this at least four times now.

http://www.spinsanity.org/post.html?2003_02_23_archive.html
As we have noted many times, President Bush granted $43 million in food aid and food security programs to relieve an impending famine in Afghanistan in May 2001, continuing an aid program initiated by President Clinton. The programs were administered directly by the United Nations and NGOs, bypassing the regime.

[iamtechus]

8. The War On Drugs

I seem to recall that the 43 mil was to pay the Taliban not to grow opium.

[mmonk]

10. Oil pipeline

[Sterling]

22. That was the explanation Powell gave I think.

Some one from the Bushies said it was to stop the opium flow. Which is it guys. Famine relief or drug war payoffs?

[Must_B_Free]

23. that was my recollection, too

it was supposed to be a reward for curbing the production of opium.

[BigBigBear]

11. This came up in a couple of other threads

It's a loser - it was humanitarian aid offered through US relief agencies, administered by the UN. Leave it alone.

[Q]

12. Some people think this story has been 'debunked'...

...but like so much other 'foreign aid'...we don't know where most of this money goes. We do know that some of it ends up in the pockets (payoffs) of foreign leaders friendly to the Bush* regime.

[mmonk]

13. Unocal hired two Pushtuns to influence

the Taliban in favor of a pipeline. They were Zalmay Khalilzad (naturalized US citizen and Hamid Karzai from Kandahar). George Bush Senior had appointed Khalilzad deputy undersecretary of defense for policy planning, working under Paul Wolfowitz. While at the Pentagon Khalilzad was noticed by then Secr. of Defense Dick Cheney, who in 2001 named him to head the Bush Junior transition team for defense.

[mmonk]

14. and you know about Karzai

Oil is all around our foreign policy. In 1996, Karzai and Khalilzad were pro Taliban because mistakenly, at the time, they thought Afghanistan would be more stable and the pipeline for Unocal could go through. In November of 1997, Taliban officials were invited to Houston with a side trip to the NASA Space center thrown in. Of course, you know history and the Karzai interim government is in charge now.

[kentuck]

15. It was used to get the hijackers over here in June...

and to pay for their partying if Florida and Vegas?

[David Zephyr]

20. I Screamed This At Our Television During Colin's Questioning.

But my words like silent raindrops fell into the well...of silence.

Sterling, for the life of me, I had hoped against hope that someone would ask our Secretary of State this while he was testifying to the 9/11 Commission...especially after he kept stating how evil the Taliban was.