![]() The Muslim forces that defeated the Russians were called "Mujahideen". On 15th February 1989, the last Soviet troops withdrew from Afghanistan a decade after the initial invasion. More about the final big development in both the Muslim world, and in Bin Laden's life, can be found in the next timeline item - the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Not only this, but the Iranian revolution, which installed the fundamentalist Khomeini regime in Tehran, was a source of inspiration for many extremists - even though the regime in Iran were Shia extremists rather than Sunni Muslim extremists. ![]() Many extremists were incensed by the signing of the Camp David accords, the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, seeing it as a betrayal of the Arab world's solidarity against Israel. While a young man at University, Bin Laden also witnessed a number of key events which would heavily influence the Muslim World. Bin Laden soon followed Azzam to the conflict in Afghanistan. Azzam is sometimes known as "the father of the modern global Jihad" for his role in facilitating fighter networks of Mujahideen travelling to Afghanistan to fight against the Soviets. Sadly, we are still a long way from an enlightened public.In the late 1970s, Osama bin Laden attended university at Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.Īs a student, Bin Laden came into contact with Abdullah Azzam, who was teaching at the University. One lesson of the past 20 years is the imperative of an informed public. Even more staggering, 82% believed Saddam provided assistance to Osama bin Laden. ![]() A Washington Post poll conducted two years after 9/11 dramatically illustrated the story: 69% of Americans at the time believed Saddam Hussein was “personally” involved in the 9/11 attack. Despite the intelligence community’s unequivocal conclusion that Iraq had nothing to do with either 9/11 or al-Qaida, the administration let Americans believe the contrary.Ĭonsequently, the United States went to war in Iraq on a false pretense that it was somehow avenging those killed by al-Qaida. The Bush administration was eager to mobilize the anguish of the 9/11 attack to support the war. The United States did go to war with Iraq soon enough. He argued that the Palestinian conflict was the driving force behind al-Qaida’s popularity and legitimacy. The king pressed the president to take action to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. On September 28, Bush received Jordan’s King Abdullah. The Saudis pressed Bush to come out publicly in support of a Palestinian state as he had privately promised Crown Prince Abdullah Al Saud. The Saudis were alarmed that attacking Iraq would only benefit Iran and set in motion severe destabilizing repercussions across the region. Indeed their history was of being antagonists.Īfterward, Bandar told me privately that the Saudis were very worried about where Bush’s obsession with Iraq was going. He told Bush that the Saudis had no evidence of any collaboration between Osama bin Laden and Iraq. His questions to Bandar show his bias.” Bandar was visibly perplexed. My note says the president “clearly thinks Iraq must be behind this. Vice President Richard Cheney and Rice were there as well. The meeting took place on the Truman Balcony. On September 18, a week after 9/11, Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan came to the White House to see Bush. ![]() Of course, there was none, which British intelligence knew. He pressed Bush for evidence of Iraq’s connection to the 9/11 attack and to al-Qaida. Bush immediately said he was planning to “hit” Iraq soon. On September 14, I was with Bush when he had his first phone call after 9/11 with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for Middle East Policy, Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology
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