While I'm not sure I believe the entire story, because I think there is a lot of truth mixed in with lies. It is however no big secret we worked with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Hell
Operation Cyclone was the official name and they made a movie about it with Tom Hanks for Christ sake called Charlie Wilson's War, but of course the movie says nothing of Bin Laden as he really wasn't a key figure other than funding and fighting back then.
If we successfully used them to beat the Soviets in Afghan then why would we also not used them else where if possible? However I don't think it's too the degree as this article states.
One thing is clear, even while George Bush Jr was Governor of Texas he was trying to make a deal with the Taliban for the Oil/Gas Pipeline. The thing is I don't believe we dealt directly with Bin Laden as he wasn't a major power figure at that time.
It's also quite possible that our dealings there doing this sort of thing is why he decided to target the US in the first place. Maybe he didn't like it that the US was using the Mujahid for our own gain.
So do I believe we worked with the Taliban insurgents well after the soviet occupation? Of course, however I don't think we worked closely with bin Laden. I think we created the problem with bin Laden as a result of our meddling in the region.