Does NATO Get It?

I think here al-Qaeda was being used as a blanket term for the numerous terrorist groups that have sprung up since Bin Laden appeared on the scene.
Look at the many splinter groups that sprang up in the Northern Ireland conflict. Whilst many could be said to be polictically motivated, there was a criminal element masquerading in there as well.
There are reports of many of the fighters attacking Nato forces in Afghanisan actually being paid a daily rate for their services. So are these actually freedom fighters, or mercenaries?
I hope you enlightened your NATO colleague, and perhaps you would like to share your knowledge with the rest of us quarsan?

He was specifically talking about al-Qaeda. Many of the answers can be found in reading bin Laden and others' statements.

Of course many of the fighters in Afghanistan are on retainers - all soldiers are.

According to one of the recent 9/11 documentaries Al Qauda means 'the database', referring to a CIA database of 'resources' in the regoin. It is well known that Osama and many others were trained (at Sandhurst) and funded by the British and American governments whilst the Soviets were fighting the Taliban. We trained 'Al Quaeda' in guerilla warfare and anti-guerilla warfare tactics and then fed them arms and intelligence whilst they honed their skills on the Soviet troops (120,000 of them) defending Afghanistan.
During this period they became quite friendly with the Taliban, not entirely surprising as they were fighting the same cause, if not for the same reason or paymaster.
It is, therefore not possible to characterise Osama and his cohorts as either 'Freedom Fighters' or mercenaries as we paid them to continue their 'Freedom Fighting' efforts.

Many of the armed men in Afghanistan are allied to one of the many warlords (that we messed around and used during our invasion) and are made available after negotiation with said warlords. This may comprise either ideological agreement or payment / payment in kind for their services. Either way there is compensation paid for these fighters.
Once regimes such as Iran enter the mix (it is not the exclusive domain of the UK and US to fight war by proxy) the payment of fighters or their relatives becomes more likely. Sympathetic regimes are likely to provide something that is relatively easy for them to obtain and covertly deliver, generally small arms and cash. This can be seen clearly in the Lebanon where Hez'b'Allah are handing out $Millions in compensation packages to the Lebanese displaced by the Israeli incursion.
Saddam was also believed to be paying 'compensation' payments to the familys of Palestinian suicide bombers, but then he was not really a big fan of Adolf Sharon.

In Northern Ireland much of the same holds true. In the recent IRA / UDF era there were many 'grassroots' organisations whose membership were, generally poor and disaffected, members of the local community. These individuals resented the ongoing military occupation of part of their country (Nortern Ireland) by the English. See this BBC article for a potted history and play spot the difference with Palestine, Sierra Leone, Cuba, Israel etc etc.
This disaffected population used religion as both their recruiting mechanism and identification of enemy as the English occupiers were mostly Protestant whilst the Irish were still mainly Catholic. (again replace with Moslem / Christian for the Middle East vs George Bush)
Added to this already effective mix for violent local militias was organised funding from many sources including the British Government for the UDF. In the US an organisation called NORAID was set up by Irish Americans and some ex-terrorists who had fled Ireland to raise funds for the IRA / Sinn Fein side of the movement. NORAID included a number of US Senators who are now the ones actively blocking the US half of the current extradition treaty as they fear prosecution for funding terrorism and conspiracy to cause explosions.
With these in place Northern Ireland was quite similar to todays Iraq in terms of religious and cultural divide exacerbated by foreign military occupation.

In order to raise the funds needed to successfully attack the UK and its interests both Republican and Unionist organisations turned to criminal activity. This is easy when the groups have massive popular support and a ready supply of guns. This included not just bank robberies but significant volumes of drug and arms import and export. (Ironically much of the drug shipment was from South to North America)

Over time, as public support was reduced by talks, economic improvement and finally the recognition of Sinn Fein as a political party many members of the terrorist groups were unwilling to give up the lifestyle afforded by their activities and continued with what they knew best, organised crime. Some groups, such as 'the Real IRA' splintered off and carried on their terrorist actions as they were still intent on their mission.

Returning to Afghanistan the primary business of the warlords and many of the farmers is the growth of Opium poppies to supply the global heroin market. Production has increased significantly since we drove out the Taliban as the economy has collapsed and Opium has become the only profitable crop. The Alliance's failure to provide the rebuilding and investment promised before the war has assisted this change. The opium income serves to keep the Taliban and Warlords armed and able to provide for their people, thus keeping them in power.
The very nature of this business means organised crime as it has to be shipped out of country to people who can distribute it to the target markets such as the UK and US.

With respect to the NATO individual and their inability to understand the motivation of the various Islamic groups our leaders like to lump together under the headline of Al-Quaeda (remeber this is a CIA given name) I find this truly puzzling.
If they truly do not understand that the last 100+ years of western Imperial policy, recently escalated by the Christian fundamentalists and their Zionist friends will have oppressed, disadvantaged and frightened the populations of these countries then they are too stupid to be employed. These actions are well understood to create the conditions necessary for violent extremist groups to recruit, fund raise and operate.
The alternative explanation is that they are continuing the standard NATO policy of not mentioning the elephant in the room as we did in Bosnia etc etc. It would, after all be a poor show to admit that NATO are the motivation for these people in public.

Al-Qaeda (or 'the database') was created by the CIA in Saudia Arabia. Osama Bin Laden is a CIA asset (if he's still alive and I doubt it).

It is a bogey-man hyped by the US to justify the mass slaughter of people who are resisting US efforts to dominate their countries energy resources.

What is scary is the statement "We know they are full of hatred for the West..." Do we know that? If so who told us, yes the US and Osama (the CIA asset).

Of course some extremists have jumped on the Al Qaeda bandwagon, e.g. Al Zaqawi among others, because they too believe the nonsense from the US.

The reality is there is no "hatred for the West" but rather a hatred of the imperialism of the US which wages total war against civilians for profit. Now that's something worth hating.

I have given up any hope of living on a peaceful planet because of the ignorance and plain stupidity of these people who make the crucial decisions. And of course the out and out criminals (elected by educated westerners btw) who kill, lie and decieve for profit.

"In the counsels of Government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the Military Industrial Complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together."

President Eisenhower 1961.
No one can say that we were not warned.

Islamic fundamenalism has been around since the early years of the last century. It drew its energy from the lack of political and social power in colonial societies such as Egypt, but the creation of Israel gave it a further causus belli that really ramped up with the successive defeats Israel inflicted on the Arabs. It gained a further, and stronger ideological framework when the Saudis used their oil wealth to prostheletize their very particular reading of Islam (anything after 622AD bad, anything non muslim beyond the pale). If we have any hope of tackling the foreign policy issues raised by the threat of a religiously-based desire to attack the west and all its works there has to be intellectual engagement and more sophisticated understanding beyond calling for a crusade or identifying exclusively with Israel. In this sense Osama's survival may be irrelevant to the continued energy of the fundamentalist perspective. It has gone beyond merely seeking resolution to the Israeli-Palestine issue but if we don't adopt a more intelligent tone in dealing with it, whether we have 100000 or a 1000000 soldiers in Afghanistan or anywhere else, we will not defeat it. From the comments of the Nato apparatchik, this looks pretty unlikely.

Exactly - we need to distinguish between the psychofanatics and the recruits. Years come and go but the nutjobs are always with us; however, people only start listening to them when things get desperate and ugly, as they have done in Palestine, Afghanistan, Lebanon and now Iraq. There is plenty of proof to back up claims that the West is hellbent on enslaving and plundering middle eastern nations, which we are shielded from by our ever-vigilant mainstream media.

Very well written and readable piece Cube - Thank You

More troops ... .

for Iraq
http://iraqwar.mirror-world.ru/article/102240

AND for Afghanistan
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/13092006/325/collins-says-british-troops-t-wait-nato.html

paid for by:
"A&E and maternity units to be axed"
http://society.guardian.co.uk/health/story/0,,1871191,00.html

Now our women & children at home are to pay the price for bLiar's treason in handing over foriegn policy to the global bully.

Tell NATO to read "The End of Faith" by Sam Harris. That'll explain Al-Quaeda's motivation.