There's
an irony here. Belmokhtar as a young man fought in Afghanistan under the
command of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, one of the Mujahideen warlords heavily backed
by the United States. Hekmatyar is a character straight out of a novel, a man
of blood and intrigue, a keeper of secrets and dark alliances.
Today,
Hekmatyar fights with a militant group identified as a branch or affiliate of
the Taliban.
But in
the late 1980's and early 1990's Hekmatyar's fighters were closely affiliated
with the bin Laden and the people that were in the process of forming al Qaeda.
At the time the United States had little problem with this. Hekmatyar was among
the Mujahideen invited to visit Reagan in the White House, but Gulbuddin turned
him down. This is not to say he didn't benefit from his relationships with
other American officials. For some reason he was more than happy to meet
with Margaret Thatcher - at Downing Street no less.
Hekmatyar's
story also ties in with US/CIA drug smuggling activities which were used in
Southeast Asia, Central America and Afghanistan to fund clandestine wars and
other black operations.
Of
course the possibly deceased Jalaluddin Haqqani also pictured in the
linked spread, became one of the chief opponents of the United States post-2001
and a leader of a Taliban affiliated group. During the 1980's he was one of
America's darlings in the Afghan-Soviet War even as he aided in laying the
groundwork for what became al Qaeda by the recruiting of foreign fighters to
the Afghan cause, among whom were bin Laden himself.
The
Algerian Belmokhtar who has also been active in post-Gaddafi Libya is a classic
example of the schizophrenic and perhaps cynical nature of US policy. This is
someone that at one time was being backed and supported by US money and
interests. It's as if the US seeks to create its own enemies or for the sake of
expediency backs and supports groups without thinking about the long term
consequences. Is it the Keystone Cops, the Puppetmasters or a bit of both?
People still debate these points.
The CIA
has been thinking about these issues at least since the overthrow of Mossadegh
in 1953 when the term Blowback first
appears. And yet they continue to act in a way that all but guarantees this
effect.
It's
hard not to be cynical about the way in which the war machine functions and all
but assures its perpetuity.
It's
also of interest to note how little the Western press has covered the
activities of the French and the Americans in the region and the way in which
mining and other economic interests are being factored in to the equation... on
all sides.
It's
also noteworthy that among the dead in the hotel were Chinese. Here in this
incident we find a very poignant picture, a microcosm of the region as a whole
and the struggles that are being played out.
While
politicians, armies and corporations play their games, people die and not a few
Christians are caught in the middle.
