Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
Actually the local Mujaheddin in Afghanistan pretty much thought that Bin Laden and his foreign Mujaheddin were complete idiots who were there not to fight the Soviets to free Afghanistan but to achieve Martyrdom.
At the same time, the US funded the Afghan Mujaheddin which later became the Taliban, but Bin Laden wanted nothing to do with US aid preferring that the money came from pure Muslim countries.
There was a rift between local Taliban and foreign fighters, however the locals who later became the leadership in Afghanistan were grateful that Bin Laden and his group were so good at making the Soviets expend valuable ammunition;
|
Well I disagree. I think, in addition to downplaying OBL's role in Afghanistan, you're ignoring the influence of the Pakistani Madrassas. More of the Taliban's initial fighting force came from there than anywhere else. The local Afghan Mujaheddin were basically just involved in a lot of infighting in the post-Soviet era. It wasn't until the Pakistan/Saudi backed Madrassas got involved that the Taliban became organized. The student's themselves were a mixture of Afghan refugees and Pakistanis.
I think this thread is devolving into another one of those "history expert" ones, so I'll end this debate with me getting this last little word in
