Was Bin Laden funded by the CIA to fight the Russians in 1988?

Question

Russians had invaded Afghanistan and Bin Laden who was relatively unknown at the time was with the mudjahdin's who fought the russians out of Afghanistan.

Answer 1

In a word Yes, The CIA funded the Mujaheddin in Afghanistan and Bin Laden's Al Queda was a small, very small, like 50 men small , fighting force. I doubt that the boys in Washington even knew who he was until later.

Answer 2

You have things a bit confused.
It was 1979.....not 1988....It occurred at the same time the Iranians overthrew the Shahs government........The Russians did not "invade" Afghanistan.....The Russians were invited into Afghanistan by the legitimate Marxist government (PDPA).
The Mujahideen .....one of whom was Osama Bin Laden (Saudi Arabian.....not Afghanni) .... The CIA provided weapons and other assistance to the Mujahideen.....not specifically Osama..

Answer 3

No.

The funding of the Afghan fighters started in 1980 after the USSR invaded Afghanistan in DEC 1979. The decision was made by Jimmy Carter. Osama was just one of the minor fighters at the time and was using his own considerable wealth for the fight also. His rise in stature came later.

Answer 4

as much as I loathe him and what he and his enthusiasts represents, i don't believe he became into in touch in its preliminary creation and planing etc. although, at some time merely before the attack he became into counseled of it and with out problems authorized it in each and every sense, investment the two interior intelligence, the money and besides the gainful get entry to permitting the attackers to board and take over the flights. below no circumstances in any comprehend, could desire to all and sundry are turning out to be aboard those flights for this reason armed and last undetected. And as such i will in no way be confident the FBI or the CIA think of in any different case to this present day! Bin Ladens latent jeers etc in that he planned all of it - merely bravado - understanding comprehensive nicely he'd gas the hearth of raging American bitterness and resentment. He below no circumstances qualified as an architect in-stay overall performance with different such expert attributes to the quantity he could desire to mastermind, from scratch, considered one of those devastating attack the rocked the comprehensive international! besides, i'm confident that each and every of the rigors to party the cave in of the Towers have been achieved in France at considered one of their respected institutes. no you will have accomplished each and every of the pre artwork in a back street storage! Nor could desire to it have been accomplished everywhere in the Arab international. France with all its Arab connections with out doubt the obtrusive place as certainly did arise, all those years in the previous the Ayotollah himself The preliminary concept taken from the WW RAF 11 Dam Busters Raid! And it needed everyday sorting out centers to establish it may artwork! The Dambusters 617 squadron lost 8 planes / fifty six men! The loss of their pilots/crews not a ingredient as they have been all suicidal to the cor!

Answer 5

Yes, he was funded and supplied by the C.I.A. particularly with ground to air missiles to take out the Russian Hind gunship Choppers.

He was part of the Mujaheddin back then.

Answer 6

No.

In the 80s the US supplied and supported the Afghans that opposed the Soviets. We did not, however, support the
"Afghan Arabs," the term used by native Afghans for non-Afghans that went to Afghanistan for the purpose of fighting he Soviets, and is used today to describe those who have gone there today to fight the Coalition.

Former CIA official Milt Bearden, who ran the Agency's Afghan operation in the late 1980s, says, "The CIA did not recruit Arabs," as there was no need to do so. There were hundreds of thousands of Afghans all too willing to fight, and the Arabs who did come for jihad were "very disruptive . . . the Afghans thought they were a pain in the ***."

Afghan Arabs functioned independently and had their own sources of funding. The CIA did not need the Afghan Arabs, and the Afghan Arabs did not need the CIA. So the notion that the Agency funded and trained the Afghan Arabs is, at best, misleading.

Al Qaeda's number two leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, confirmed that the "Afghan Arabs" did not receive any U.S. funding during the war in Afghanistan. In the book that was described as his last will, Knights Under the Prophet's Banner, which was serialized in December 2001 in Al-Sharq al-Awsat, al-Zawahiri says the Afghan Arabs were funded with money from Arab sources, which amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars:

"While the United States backed Pakistan and the mujahidin factions with money and equipment, the young Arab mujahidin's relationship with the United States was totally different."

"... The financing of the activities of the Arab mujahidin in Afghanistan came from aid sent to Afghanistan by popular organizations. It was substantial aid."

"The Arab mujahidin did not confine themselves to financing their own jihad but also carried Muslim donations to the Afghan mujahidin themselves. Usama Bin Ladin has apprised me of the size of the popular Arab support for the Afghan mujahidin that amounted, according to his sources, to $200 million in the form of military aid alone in 10 years. Imagine how much aid was sent by popular Arab organizations in the non-military fields such as medicine and health, education and vocational training, food, and social assistance ...."

"Through the unofficial popular support, the Arab mujahidin established training centers and centers for the call to the faith. They formed fronts that trained and equipped thousands of Arab mujahidin and provided them with living expenses, housing, travel and organization." (Al-Sharq al-Awsat, December 3, 2001, Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS), GMP20011202000401)

Answer 7

He was funded before 1988.The (former) Soviet Union was in Afghanistan,from 1979-1989,before losing.
1989 was the year that Berlin wall was brought down.

Answer 8

This has been widely reported and yes his group at the time did receive funding from the CIA/U.S. Just proves the old agade about the enemy of your enemy being your friend is fleeting at best and false at worst. Temporary allies sometimes do become enemies.

Answer 9

Yes the USA funded Afghans against the Russians.

Yes UBL was part of the group.

No we didn't know UBL by name at the time, nor had he spoken out against us as far as we know.

Answer 10

Yes, and it was Ronald Reagan himself who called him "the freedom fighter".