On CNN's Crossfire last week, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) tried to blame Al Gore for failing to reign in the Taliban before 9/11. He said, "Of course it's Al Gore, who knows a lot about incompetence, I might add, that got us into this mess; 9/11 was on the way; 9/11 was on the way by the time President Bush was inaugurated."
But according to federal documents reviewed by the Orange County Weekly, it was Rohrabacher who "maintained a cordial, behind-the-scenes relationship with Osama bin Laden's associates in the Middle East—even while he mouthed his most severe anti-Taliban comments at public forums across the U.S." According to the report, Rohrabacher "lobbied shamelessly for the Taliban" throughout the 1990s, with a 1996 Washington newsletter pointing out his belief that the "Taliban could provide stability," that its leaders were "not terrorists or revolutionaries," and that it would develop a "disciplined, moral society" that did not harbor terrorists. Ignoring an explicit federal law banning unauthorized individual attempts to conduct American foreign policy, Rohrabacher in April of 2001 "opened negotiations with the Taliban at the Sheraton Hotel in Doha, Qatar," meeting with Taliban Foreign Minister Mullah Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, an advisor to Mullah Omar.
Progress Report article
But according to federal documents reviewed by the Orange County Weekly, it was Rohrabacher who "maintained a cordial, behind-the-scenes relationship with Osama bin Laden's associates in the Middle East—even while he mouthed his most severe anti-Taliban comments at public forums across the U.S." According to the report, Rohrabacher "lobbied shamelessly for the Taliban" throughout the 1990s, with a 1996 Washington newsletter pointing out his belief that the "Taliban could provide stability," that its leaders were "not terrorists or revolutionaries," and that it would develop a "disciplined, moral society" that did not harbor terrorists. Ignoring an explicit federal law banning unauthorized individual attempts to conduct American foreign policy, Rohrabacher in April of 2001 "opened negotiations with the Taliban at the Sheraton Hotel in Doha, Qatar," meeting with Taliban Foreign Minister Mullah Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, an advisor to Mullah Omar.
We still have to consider the possibility that our government created the Taliban, and that Rohrabacher wasn't (isn't) the only one with a cozy private relationship while publicly excoriating opponents by claiming they are aiding and abetting the terrorists. These people have no scruples, and they have no fear of being turned out either.
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
