NP - Bin Laden "Owns" the Taliban

[David Morris]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40211-2001Oct10.html

Bin Laden Said to 'Own' The Taliban
Bush Is Told He Gave Regime $100 Million

By Bob Woodward
Thursday, October 11, 2001; Page A01

Osama bin Laden has provided an estimated $100 million in cash and military 
assistance to the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan over the last five years, 
making bin Laden the single greatest supporter of the Afghan regime, 
according to intelligence information presented recently to President Bush 
and his senior national security advisers.

As a result of the new information, government sources said, the CIA has 
concluded that bin Laden "owns and operates" the Taliban, highlighting the 
pervasive influence that bin Laden and his al Qaeda forces exert within 
Afghanistan. Bin Laden's military units also provide the Taliban with some 
of its most committed and effective assault forces.



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