ALEXANDER NEMENOV / AFP
  1990s: The CIA supports the Northern
  Alliance fighting against the Taliban


1995
The agency pulls the plug on efforts to mobilize Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq, convinced that Saddam Hussein is on to the operation

1998
After the African embassy bombings, the CIA begins an urgent campaign against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Agents rebuild contacts with the Northern Alliance and hire armed tribesmen to gather intelligence and try to capture Osama bin Laden
  TEXT BY MITCH FRANK
  From the February 3, 2003 issue of TIME Magazine. Posted Sunday, January 26, 2003