November 14-25, 2001: US Secretly Authorizes Airlift of Pakistani and Taliban Fighters

At the request of the Pakistani government, the US secretly allows rescue flights into the besieged Taliban stronghold of Kunduz, in Northern Afghanistan, to save Pakistanis fighting for the Taliban (and against US forces) and bring them back to Pakistan. Pakistan’s President “Musharraf won American support for the airlift by warning that the humiliation of losing hundreds—and perhaps thousands—of Pakistani Army men and intelligence operatives would jeopardize his political survival.” [New Yorker, 21 January 2002.')" onmouseout="return nd()">New Yorker, 1/21/2002] Dozens of senior Pakistani military officers, including two generals, are flown out. [PBS NOW with Bill Moyers, 21 February 2003.')" onmouseout="return nd()">NOW with Bill Moyers, 2/21/2003] In addition, it is reported that the Pakistani government assists 50 trucks filled with foreign fighters to escape the town. [New York Times, 24 November 2001.')" onmouseout="return nd()">New York Times, 11/24/2001] Many news articles at the time suggest an airlift is occurring. [Independent, 16 November 2001.')" onmouseout="return nd()">Independent, 11/16/2001; New York Times, 24 November 2001.')" onmouseout="return nd()">New York Times, 11/24/2001; BBC, 26 November 2001.')" onmouseout="return nd()">BBC, 11/26/2001; Independent, 26 November 2001.')" onmouseout="return nd()">Independent, 11/26/2001; Guardian, 27 November 2001.')" onmouseout="return nd()">Guardian, 11/27/2001; MSNBC, 29 November 2001.')" onmouseout="return nd()">MSNBC, 11/29/2001] Significant media coverage fails to develop, however. The US and Pakistani governments deny the existence of the airlift. [US Department of State, 11/16/2001; New Yorker, 21 January 2002.')" onmouseout="return nd()">New Yorker, 1/21/2002] On December 2, when asked to assure that the US did not allow such an airlift, Rumsfeld says, “Oh, you can be certain of that. We have not seen a single—to my knowledge, we have not seen a single airplane or helicopter go into Afghanistan in recent days or weeks and extract people and take them out of Afghanistan to any country, let alone Pakistan.” [MSNBC Meet the Press.')" onmouseout="return nd()">MSNBC, 4/13/2003] Reporter Seymour Hersh believes that Rumsfeld must have given approval for the airlift. [PBS NOW with Bill Moyers, 21 February 2003.')" onmouseout="return nd()">NOW with Bill Moyers, 2/21/2003]

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PBS NOW with Bill Moyers, 21 February 2003.')" onmouseout="return nd()">