AMERICA BETRAYED - Brain & Mind

America Betrayedcil of six men (a shura) which was commanded by the one-eyed, 6'6" tall, Mullah Mohammed Omar. Afghanistan had a new governmentwhich was ruled by the Taliban whose goal was to establish apure Islamic state.Iran, Russia, India, and the central Asian states all condemnedthe takeover. But not the U.S., Saudi Arabia or Pakistan. SaudiArabia, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates gave diplomaticrecognition to the Taliban. They were eager to do business with theTaliban, as Afghanistan held the key to the oil riches in the territoriesnorth of Afghan’s border: Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan,Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan. The plan was, once Afghanistan wascompletely conquered and stabilized, an oil pipeline could be constructed,from the central Asian states, across Afghanistan, and thento Pakistan and thus to the sea and world markets.Of course, there were other routes, such as through Russia orIran—but these were unacceptable to the Saudis, the U.S., and Pakistan.An oil pipeline, built across Afghanistan and Pakistan, wouldenable these states to become like oil-rich Saudi Arabia, as well asruled by Muslims subscribing to the Wahhabi branch of Sunni Islam.By contrast, the Sunni-Wahhabis not only detested Iran, withits Shiit population, but hoped to someday conquer and convert itspeople to the Sunni branch of the Islamic faith.Likewise, the U.S. had no interest in doing business with theIranians and thus favored the Afghanistan-Pakistan plan.Islamabad, Pakistan, is the main route from Afghanistan tothe sea, which is yet another reason Pakistan’s rulers and the Pakistanmilitary and Intelligence services helped to create and wereeager to support the Taliban. A puppet-like Afghanistan would notonly extend their control and power, but would serve as a conduitfor incredible riches that would be theirs once a pipeline was built,linking the oil-rich Caspian basin and the central Asian states withPakistan—a pipeline that would cross Afghanistan once the Talibanconquered the country.The Taliban, however, were not al-Qaeda. They were notonly independent of Osama bin Laden, but as they continued tocapture more and more of Afghanistan, and were closing in onKabul, they were becoming more independent of Pakistan and SaudiArabia (16). As they captured more of Afghanistan, that indepen-384