In my memory, the Taliban was primarily a creation of the Pakistanis -- first supported by Bhenazir Bhutto against the then ISI-preferred Mujahedeen factions, then ISI supported them too -- with the US coming with some support now and then in opportunistic fashion (betting on the winning faction, hope of pipeline deal). *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Then there was/is a Paktoonistan political movement which would seek to break the NWFP (where the Tribal areas are, where Osama bin Laden is likely hiding out today) and merge with the Pashtun regions of Afghanistan (if not the whole of the country) which Islamabad is not terribly taken by but of course many factions in Afghanistan were.) When I was at U Peshawar (1987-88, making me quite old I know), they shut the place down due to student demonstrations for this. They take this sort of stuff very seriously.
Pakistani involvement in Afghanistan needs to be taken as a whole, in this context. It may seem crazy of them to support the Taliban, but in reality it was more a best of many bad choices deal, with the added benefit of having a very weak Afghanistan which, with hostile India on the other side, has very important advantages of its own... Fai de bèn a Bertrand, te lou rendra en cagant
Rashid quotes the US State Department as saying in February 1997 "the Taliban will probably develop like Saudi Arabia. There will be Aramco, pipelines, an emir, no parliament and lots of Sharia law. We can live with that." (Taliban, 179) And the world will live as one
I do not, however, think it impossible that someone from the Clinton state department would say such a thing - competence was not their thing either. Fai de bèn a Bertrand, te lou rendra en cagant
But the interest was there, and Rashid isn't the only one to have made claims about a CIA role in the creation of the Taliban. Most agree that the Pakistani ISI played the crucial role, but that the CIA was there with money, some weapons, and a supportive posture. And the world will live as one
Turkmenistan has no oil, only gas. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
