GHOST WAR Gary Schroen, a CIA agent meets with Ahmed Shah Massoud, the former Afghan defense minister. The CIA fed large amounts of money to Massoud's organization during the war with the Soviet Union. By 1996, Massoud's popularity is waning. The Taliban form in 1994 and is trying to clear Afghanistan of warlords, including Massoud. The Americans, who walk away from Afghanistan when the Soviet Union dissolves, will be coming back in the future, Schroen says because of terrorism. Osama bin Laden comes to Afghanistan for asylum in May 1996. The wealthy sheikh is known to the warlords for his help against the Soviets. He is a financier of Islamic terrorist groups and is expelled by the Sudan and stripped of his Saudi citizenship. The CIA has a special unit for gathering information on bin Laden. Schroen and the CIA want Massoud's help against bin Laden... Howard Hart is a CIA agent providing arms to the Afghan anti-Soviet guerrillas. He is in Peshawar to meet Abdul Haq, an Afghan rebel commander. Hart becomes the CIA station chief in Islamabad in 1981 and begins supplying the rebels with arms but has to supply them through Pakistan under the control of General Zia. This is why Hart and Abdul Haw have to meet in secret. Hart also meets regularly with Akhtar due Rahman, the director of ISI, Pakistan's intelligence service. Ahktar establishes the rules for the CIA and the success of the CIA depends on Hart's ability to work with Akhtar. They will develop the list of weapons that are required. In Chapter Four, Ahmed Badeeb is sent to Pakistan with money from Price Turki al-Faisal who is the head of Saudi intelligence. He meets with President Zia. The Soviet invasion is... Massoud is born in the Panjshir Valley and lives in Kabul from the age of eleven on. While attending the Kabul Polytechnic Institute, he joins the Muslim Youth Organization. Like all students of the time, he has a choice between communism or radical Islam. This radical Islam is based on the Muslim Brotherhood and the teaching of Sayyed Qutb who combines Leninism with Islamic Revolution. This is taught in classes attended by bin Laden. Massoud's group protects the Solang Highway and attacks the Soviets that use it. They capture weapons and equipment, repair them and use them against the Soviets. As a result of this he is a top target for the Soviets. Good intelligence allows him and his men to avoid Soviet attacks. He is very popular in the Panjshir. Eventually, Massoud reaches a truce with the Soviets. When the Soviets plan... Milton Bearden becomes CA station chief in Islamabad in July 1986. Casey wants him to wage the war against the Soviets. The CIA sponsored rebels are now facing constant helicopter attacks from the Soviets. Stingers are introduced in an attack on helicopters at the Jalalabad airport. There is fear of retaliation from the Soviets. The CIA does not favor the use of Stingers because they can be used by terrorists against passenger airplanes. The CIA still funds and supplies Abdul Haq and Massoud. The Americans have to travel around the area carrying large sums of money and there is always the fear of robbery and murder. There are also thousands of Arab volunteers. Bin Laden has moved to Peshawar at this time in 1986. There are also many charities that are active in the city. One Muslim Brotherhood volunteer is Aymen al-Zawahiri, from Egypt. Abdullah... Gary Schroen is back at the United States embassy in Islamabad as Kabul station chief. The Najibullah government has not fallen so Schroen waits in Pakistan. The CIA is still funding Massoud and other rebels without the ISI knowing it. Hamid Gul is now chief of the ISI. Pakistan has formed an Afghan government and proposes an attack against Jalalabad so the new government can be installed on Afghan soil. Bennzair Bhutto is now Prime Minister and is suspicious of Gul and the ISI but approves the Jalalabad campaign. The battle for Jalalabad wages for months. Neither Jalalabad or the Najibullah government falls. The views and recommendation of Ed McWilliams runs counter to those of the CIA at Langley. The Foreign Service officer is transferred back to Washington. The CIA establishes a radio facility for the rebels near Parrot's Beak. The CIA agents... The civil war in Afghanistan continues but is ignored by the United States. Now that the Soviet Union is gone, terrorists are seen as the biggest threat. The Clinton administration is soon to take office and a new CIA chief is selected. It is James Woolsay. Two men from Pakistan are in the United States. Mir Amal Kasi is from a wealthy family near Quetta and is working as a courier in Virginia. On January 23, 1993, he begins shooting employees entering the CIA headquarters. The next day, he flies to Pakistan. Ramzi Yousef was born in Kuwait. His family flees during the Iraq invasion and he volunteers for the jihad. He receives bomb training, then returns to Pakistan. On February 26, 1993, he and his group attacks the World Trade Center in New York City and that night he flies back to Pakistan. It takes the... Economic sanctions are imposed against the Sudan in 1993 because of government sponsored terrorism. Cofer Clack becomes the CIA station chief there in 1993. The basic objective of the CIA station there is terrorism since Khartoum is haven for terrorists and radicals like Carlos the Jackal. The country is a safe base for groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, Egypt's Islamic Group and Algeria's Islamic Salvation Front since the ruling party, the National Front, is led by Hasan al-Turabi. The station gathers information on bin Laden and describes him as an emerging leader. At this time the Saudi's are still trying to work out their differences with bin Laden until they revoke his citizenship in 1994. On February 8, 1995, Ramzi Yosef is brought back to the United States. He believes that only extreme acts can bring about change. He tells the FBI that he is inspired by certain leaders... There are oil and gas reserves in Central Asia. Unocal is one oil company that is interested. The company wants to build a pipeline from Turkmenistan through Kandahar to Pakistan. The company sends Marty Miller and John Imle to negotiate. Carlos Bulgheroni, an Argentine oilman, has the same idea as Unocal. Bulgheroni has the support of Prince Turki. The Bhutto government promises to buy Bulgheroni's gas but the Turkmenistan government makes their deal with Unocal. There is support in Washington for the Unocal deal. Multilaterial lending for the Unocal project requires a stable government. Afghanistan does not meet the requirements at the time. Unocal also needs Pakistan to drop its pledge to buy from Bulgheroni but Bhutto will not. When the Unocal people arrive in Afghanistan, they cannot meet with Mullah Omar because they ware not Muslims. The Taliban want the contract but... Schroen is the Islamabad station chief in 1996 and is the primary assistance for the agency's virtual station on bin Laden. The CIA is trying to recover Stinger missiles and the Taliban will not sell back the ones they have. By November 1996, bin Laden has moved his operations to the south to Kandahar. He is now building his reputation in the international media. He also becomes an ally of the Taliban. Unocal is working on its pipeline plan and rents a house across the street from bin Laden. This is only one of his compounds. He is also establishing training camps, but the United States has no plans for anything other than intelligence gathering. Massoud, in the north, is finding sponsors in Iran and India. They raise money from selling gems and heroin to finance the fight of the Taliban and their Islamic totalitarian... The CIA hires a group of Afghan tribal fighters to find Mir Amal Kasi, who attacks CIA employees in 1993. The agency outfits the group with supplies and money, including tracking and locating equipment using satellites. Kasi is taken on June 15, 1997. Since the equipment is already in place, they decide to use it for the capture of bin Laden. If there is not a grand jury indictment in the United States, they hope some other country will accept him for trial. The tribe plans to hold him in a cave for thirty days so there is less of a chance for an attack on the Americans who come to remove him. However, in order to comply with various executive orders, bin Laden has to be captured alive. Al-Zawahiri arrives in Afghanistan after bin Laden but by 1998 they publishe a joint manifesto declaring the United... The purpose of the CIA is to prevent surprise attacks. They obtain and analyze information and distribute it in the form of reports. They do not want any surprise attacks during the Clinton impeachment hearings that could weaken the Presidency. Al-Qaeda generates huge amounts of information. Pillar's Counterterrorist Center provides so much information that the recipients complain about the volume. The information indicates that bin Laden is planning attacks in the United States. The Untied States and ships and submarines with missiles sitting off the Pakistani coast wait to receive the coordinates of bin Laden's location. The CIA tries to confirm his location. A memorandum of Notification signed by Clinton in 1998 gives the agents the authority to use lethal force to capture bin Laden and the al-Qaeda leadership. Government lawyers spend months debating under what circumstances lethal force is legal and under what... George Tenet believes that bin Laden is a serious threat in early 1999 but believes that nuclear proliferation is a bigger threat. Tenet wants more information on bin Laden from reliable sources. He appoints a new chief of the bin Laden unit known as Rich and Cofer Black is named head of the Counterterrorist Center. Blackl takes a more pro-active approach asd decided that Uzbekistan is the best government in the area to work with. The leader Islam Karimov agrees to work with the CIA. CIA teams also meet with Massoud and supply him with some monitoring and other equipment. Massoud believes that eventually the Taliban strength will wither so he will patiently wait. He wants the United States to pressure the Pakistanis to stop supporting the Taliban. Clinton and the United States are neutral in the Afghan civil war but they will work... In early 2000, bin Laden goes to his Derunta Camp near Jalalabad. Only Arabs are allowed in the elite camp. The Americans feel they were experimenting with chemicals. Massoud sends a commando team to the area but the CIA can find no evidence of an attack on the camp. The CIA have increased recruitment but cannot penetrate the al-Qaeda. Bin Laden is very security conscious as he moves around and it is difficult for the CIA to obtain information. Since bin Laden and al-Zawahiri travel in luxury SUVs, satellites are used to locate the vehicles in a place where most people do not have cars. However, they cannot track them on a day to day basis. The Pentagon also do not want to try a commando raid due to the logistics and lack of reliable intelligence. Failed attacks with civilian causalities will raise bin... In Spring 2000, the United States looks for new ways to approach the bin Laden problem. The CIA buys Predator drones to use in Afghanistan. Uzbekistan agrees to allow the Predator to be operated from one of its air bases while the control will be in Langley. They begin the flights over the places bin Laden is known to visit. The flights continue until winter. The group begins to concentrate on the Tarnak complex again. The families of bin Laden and his aides live in the compound. In September the Northern Alliance loses Taloqan to the Taliban. The following month the USS Cole is attacked in Yemen. They have to develop a new plan to deal with bin Laden. Schroen feels that the United States has to work with Massoud but they cannot get approval. Chapter Thirty begins with George Bush as President. Terrorism... Massoud now employs a lobbyist to promote his efforts in Washington. He meets with other countries to obtain supplies and addresses the European Parliament about the al-Qaeda threat. Schroen and his group mset Massoud in Paris to guarantee the continuation of the agency's support. Massoud is forging a coalition of anti-Taliban forces. Peter Tomsen, now retired from the foreign service, writes a strategy paper for Massoud. In April, the Bush administration begins to study the al-Qaeda problem. Recommendations are for more money and support for Massoud. By this time Tenet, Black and others say that there are indications of a big impending strike but they do not know where. Bin Laden openly brags to the media of impending attacks. It takes several months for United States policy to change. By June they feel that an attack is imminent. There is a movement around...