Forbidden Truth: US-Taliban Secret Oil Diplomacy, Saudi Arabia & the Failed Search for Bin Laden

by Jean-Charles Brisard, Wayne Brisard, Guillaume Dasquié

An international bestseller, banned in Switzerland by the bin Laden family, Forbidden Truth by Jean-Charles Brisard & Guillaume Dasquie shows how US national security in Afghanistan was disastrously compromised by corporate oil interests & Saudi Arabia. Brisard wrote the 1st intelligence report on the bin Laden financial networks which was used to close down fraudulent Islamic charities funding terrorism, a report that President Jacques Chirac handed to George Bush on his visit to the US in the wake of 9/11. Forbidden Truth reveals that French intelligence gave the FBI unambiguous information that the so-called 20th hijacker, Zacarias Massaoui, was tied to Al Qaeda, a story Brisard broke to Salon magazine before Special Agent Coleen Rowley came out publicly to say the FBI stifled the investigation. John O'Neill the former head of the FBI's antiterrorism division--who perished in the World Trade Center--told Jean-Charles Brisard in 7/01, "All of the answers, all of the clues allowing us to dismantle Osama bin Laden's organization, can be found in Saudi Arabia." The result of three years of investigation by a leading French intelligence expert & investigative journalist, Forbidden Truth is the untold story of the Clinton & Bush attempts to stabilize Afghanistan so that US energy companies could build a pipeline. In particular, it details the secret hazardous diplomacy between the Bush administration & the Taliban from February to August 2001--a story still untold in the US media--talks that ultimately led the US to make threats via Pakistani intermediaries to the Taliban in 7/01 that they were going to bomb Afghanistan if the Taliban didn't comply.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, History, Middle East

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

During the winter of 2002/3 I went to visit my friend John McGough in Manhattan. I hadn't been there since 1980, shortly after the Soviets had sent troops to Afghanistan, but had lived on the island during 1974-78. John had been living there on 9/11/01, when the three World Trade Center buildings had collapsed. While there I gave him the book Why Waco? about the 1993 murder of Christian cultists by the US government. He gave me this book related to the background of 9/11 to read while I was visiting. John and I share political concerns.

This book is not about the mysterious events of 9/11 themselves, but about the background, specifically the connections between the Bush and bin Laden families, various oil companies, the Taliban and Saudi Arabia. It is not the kind of information any of the principals, except perhaps the Taliban, would want anyone outside of their circles to know as it reflects poorly on all of them and upon elements of our federal government which serve their purposes.

Fact-filled, the book is a chore to read.

[Kevin Q · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is filled with claims that you should corroborate with credible texts before buying in to.

But if you want to know the rumors that the intel community knows (whether disinfo or not) this book is for you.

[Booketeer · Rating 1 out of 5]

According to the Amazon 1-star reviews, the authors of this book lost libel suits and had to make apologies. This doesn't mean that everything they say is wrong, but I can't trust the book and wish now I hadn't read it, since I have no idea what I "know" and what I don't.

Here's my older review when I gave it five stars:

--Us Gov supported the Taliban during the 90s because of desire in Gov/Corp (!) for a stable power to provide for a pipeline through Afghanistan.

##So the whole idea that we *ONLY* went into Afghanistan to punish Taliban and find Al Qaeda is suspect. And it shows why nation-building was the only option considered, rather than a punitive expedition.

--Taliban eventually got hard to handle because they resisted giving up Osama bin Laden. Plus they were embarrassing.

--In the 90s one State department official seems to has mentioned "carpet bombing" to the Taliban as the only option to cooperation with US interests (offering "a carpet of gold" as the carrot to go with the stick). When questioned, claimed he was just joking and drunk and can't be sure if he said that or not.

--bin Laden family enmeshed in Saudi kingdom as a major Corp.

--OBL enmeshed in bin Laden family businesses. "Black Sheep" of the family may be an exaggeration or even a lie. Saudi "rejection" of OBL may be more appearance than reality.

--Qaddafi was the first (and only?) regime to seriously pursue OBL via InterPol, etc because he was a target of Al Qaeda enmity. This was a minor sidenote in the book used to compare Libya's reaction to the lethargic Western reaction (or contrary reactionS within the West). But in light of recent events it stood out. Qaddafi was a modernizer and relative secularist. His story shows how the term "Islamofascism" is misleading since the Islamic Fundamentalist forces tend to be at odds with the secular, Western-influenced leaders like Gaddafi or Saddam Hussein.

--Huge part of the book is dedicated to showing the immense connections/entanglements between Saudi-Western-and Terrorist banking. BCCI is only an extreme example of many related institutions. The Bush family and co. is especially invested (literally!) in these groups.

Short book, dated by now, but essential.

[sologdin · Rating 2 out of 5]

includes the famous anecdote of how second-level diplomats from the US tell Taliban that they can have a carpet of gold, via pipeline projects, or a carpet of bombs, if they decline to work with the oil corporations.

[Mohammad Khalid · Rating 1 out of 5]

كتاب ردئ جداً يعرض معلومات غير دقيقة ومعقدة جداً
الكتاب لم يكتب بطريقة جيدة او ربما الترجمة وصلت هكذا !
لا انصح به لن تفهم الكثير منه

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