[A-List] "The Forbidden Truth"

["Craven, Jim" <jcraven@xxxxxxxxx>]

Excerpts from "The Forbidden Truth: U.S.-Taliban Secret Oil Diplomacy and
the Failed Hunt for Bin Laden" (formerly "La Verite Interdite") by
Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasquie

"Even though she has been portrayed as a suburban soccer mom living in New
Jersey, Laili Helms has seen her share of the world's darkest places. An
American of Afghan origin, she grew up amid and got caught up in the
tumultuous relations between her native and adopted countries. Her two
grandfathers were ministers in Afghanistan's last royal government, and, by
marriage, she is also the niece of Richard Helms, former CIA director and
American ambassador to Iran. In the 1980s, while living on the East Coast,
she took up the cause of the Mujahedeen, the wrriors who at the time were
fighting Soviet invaders. By the age of twenty-two, she was already the
executive director of American Friends of Afghanistan--a nongovernmental
organization looked upon kindly by the State Department and the White
House--whose purpose was to favorably influence public opinion regarding the
Afghan Mujahedeen..."

Over the last six years, Helms had spearkeaded several initiatives on the
Taliban's behalf, principally with the United Nations. Her activities with
the Taliban continued even after 1996, when the Taliban's leader, Muhammad
Omar, gained notoriety in the eyes of the American government after carrying
out summary executions. Her efforts continued even after the Taliban
welcomed the fundamentalist leader Osama bin Laden in 1997, and after 1998,
when bin Laden was found guilty of orchestrating attacks against American
embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. In February 1999, Helms, among
others, was invited by NBC's "Dateline" to provide footage of women in
Afghanistan for a report on th elives of Afghan women. For this project, the
station provided her with a camera. The result: a propaganda film presenting
the lives of Afghan women in a particularly optimistic light. NBC used about
thirty seconds of it in their twenty-minute segment, which also included an
interview with Helms.

After the Taliban request for official recognition on February 5, 2001,
Laili Helms, quite naturally, was given the job of orchestrating new
relations between Afghanistan and the United States. Within a few weeks, she
had worked her diplomatic magic to make sure the most important members of
the Bush administration met Mullah Omar's emissaries...

The fruit of this came two months later. Between March 18 and March 23,
Muhammad Omar's itinerant ambassador and personal advisor,
twenty-four-year-old Sayed Rahmatullah Hashimi, mad a bvrief trip to the
United States. His visit came just after the Taliban's destruction of the
centuries-old Buddha statues in Bamiyan. Despite the tense context, Helms
organized several meetings for the young Afghan dignitary, including ones at
the Directorate of Intelligence at the CIA, and the Bureau of Intelligence
and REsearch at the State Department. Even better, Helms got her client
interviews on two influencial media channels, ABC and National Public Radio.
This was a perfect opportunity to improve the Taliban's image, and thus
facilitate negotiations."

However it wasn't all plain sailing for Hashemi. He was exposed to tough
questioning on the PBS "News Hour" and on National Public Radio's "Talk of
the Nation". ABC broadcast images of Hashimi's surly response to a pointed
question from a female journalist: 'I'm really sorry for your husband. He
must have a very difficult time with you.' "

to be continued...

Jim Craven





James Craven
(Blackfoot Name: "Omahkohkiaayo-i'poyi-inaa")
Professor/Consultant Economics; Division (Business) Chairman;  
Clark College, 1800 E. McLoughlin Blvd.
Vancouver, WA. 98663
(360) 992-2283; Fax: (360) 992-2863
blkfoot5@earthlink.net
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~blkfoot5
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