Changes

With U.S. and other funding, the ISI armed and trained over 100,000 insurgents. On July 20, 1987, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the country was announced pursuant to the negotiations that led to the [[Afghanistan#The Geneva Accords and Their Aftermath|Geneva Accords]] of 1988,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/co_mission/ungomap/background.html |title=United Nations Good Offices Mission in Afghanistan and Pakistan - Background |publisher=United Nations |date= |accessdate=2008-11-21}}</ref> with the last Soviets leaving on February 15, 1989.

With U.S. and other funding, the ISI armed and trained over 100,000 insurgents. On July 20, 1987, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the country was announced pursuant to the negotiations that led to the [[Afghanistan#The Geneva Accords and Their Aftermath|Geneva Accords]] of 1988,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/co_mission/ungomap/background.html |title=United Nations Good Offices Mission in Afghanistan and Pakistan - Background |publisher=United Nations |date= |accessdate=2008-11-21}}</ref> with the last Soviets leaving on February 15, 1989.

No Americans trained or had direct contact with the mujahideen.<ref>Bergen, Peter.  Holy War, Inc.  New York: Free Press, 2001.  Pg.66</ref> The skittish CIA had fewer than 10 operatives in the region.<ref>The New Republic, "TRB FROM WASHINGTON, Back to Front" by Peter Beinart, October 8, 2001.</ref>  The ISI was used as an intermediary for most of these activities to disguise the sources of support for the resistance.

No Americans trained or had direct contact with the mujahideen.<ref>Bergen, Peter.  Holy War, Inc.  New York: Free Press, 2001.  Pg.66</ref> The skittish CIA had fewer than 10 operatives in the region.<ref>The New Republic, "TRB FROM WASHINGTON, Back to Front" by [[Peter Beinart]], October 8, 2001.</ref>  The ISI was used as an intermediary for most of these activities to disguise the sources of support for the resistance.

The early foundations of [[al-Qaida]] were allegedly built in part on relationships and weaponry that came from the billions of dollars in U.S. support for the Afghan mujahideen during the war to expel Soviet forces from that country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/10/27/we_arm_the_world.php |title=We Arm The World |work=TomPaine.com |date=October 27, 2006 |first=William D. |last=Hartung |accessdate=January 27, 2012 }}</ref>  However, scholars such as [[Jason Burke]], [[Steve Coll]], [[Peter Bergen]], [[Christopher Andrew (historian)|Christopher Andrew]], and [[Vasily Mitrokhin]] have argued that [[Osama bin Laden|bin Laden]] was "outside of CIA eyesight" and that there is "no support" in any "reliable source" for "the claim that the CIA funded bin Laden or any of the other Arab volunteers who came to support the mujahideen."<ref>Jason Burke, Al-Qaeda (Penguin, 2003), p59.</ref><ref>Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, The Mitrokhin Archive II: The KGB and the World (Penguin, 2006), p579n48.</ref><ref>Steve Coll, Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan and Bin Laden (Penguin, 2004), p87.</ref><ref>Peter Bergen, The Osama bin Laden I Know (Free Press, 2006), pp60-1.</ref>

The early foundations of [[al-Qaida]] were allegedly built in part on relationships and weaponry that came from the billions of dollars in U.S. support for the Afghan mujahideen during the war to expel Soviet forces from that country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/10/27/we_arm_the_world.php |title=We Arm The World |work=TomPaine.com |date=October 27, 2006 |first=William D. |last=Hartung |accessdate=January 27, 2012 }}</ref>  However, scholars such as [[Jason Burke]], [[Steve Coll]], [[Peter Bergen]], [[Christopher Andrew (historian)|Christopher Andrew]], and [[Vasily Mitrokhin]] have argued that [[Osama bin Laden|bin Laden]] was "outside of CIA eyesight" and that there is "no support" in any "reliable source" for "the claim that the CIA funded bin Laden or any of the other Arab volunteers who came to support the mujahideen."<ref>Jason Burke, Al-Qaeda (Penguin, 2003), p59.</ref><ref>Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, The Mitrokhin Archive II: The KGB and the World (Penguin, 2006), p579n48.</ref><ref>Steve Coll, Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan and Bin Laden (Penguin, 2004), p87.</ref><ref>Peter Bergen, The Osama bin Laden I Know (Free Press, 2006), pp60-1.</ref>