The Man who Made al Quaeda

Juan Cole on the origins of modern Islamic terrorism.
Once upon a time, a dangerous radical gained control of the ...
Here and in other ellipses, you can't follow the story without reading Cole.
One fifth of the money ... went to Gulbuddin Hikmatyar, a violent extremist who as a youth used to throw acid on the faces of unveiled girls in Afghanistan.
Another excerpt:
Fahd not only put Saudi government money into the Afghan Mujahideen networks, which trained them in bomb making and guerrilla tactics, but he also instructed the Minister of Intelligence, Turki al-Faisal, to try to raise money from private sources.

Turki al-Faisal checked around and discovered that a young member of the fabulously wealthy Bin Laden construction dynasty, Usama, was committed to Islamic causes. Turki thus gave Usama the task of raising money from Gulf millionaires for the Afghan struggle. This whole effort was undertaken, remember, on Reagan Administration instructions.
Oops, I guess I gave away the punch line.

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