The Cold War Flirtation
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Problems as complex as the Middle East don’t just spring out of nowhere, they take time to go sour. During the Cold War c. 1950-1990, America flirted with Islamic extremists as a way to frig with the Ruskis.
At the time, America viewed the world as two separate powers: America vs. Russia. The Russians had their Soviet colleagues and the Islamic guys were deemed to be on America’s team. The US knew that the Soviets were worming their way into Afghanistan, and the Americans did not like the sound of that one bit. Islamic extremists within Afghanistan weren’t keen either, after all, communism is an atheist ideology and they are totally not down with atheism.
During the Cold War, the CIA backed a number of extreme Islamist groups in Afghanistan, but also in Soviet Central Asia (places like Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan) where a majority Muslim population could easily be convinced to kick back against their new masters.
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Back in 70’s America “terrorism” was basically unknown, it was something that America supported elsewhere, not something that it had to deal with on its own soil (that’s still pretty much the case). In its mission to beat back the red scourge it supported militant Islamists far and wide.
In the 70’s the CIA used the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt to fight off the Russians. This is the Muslim Brotherhood’s motto:
Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Qur’an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.
It seems a bit rich for America to be slamming these types of groups now, seeing as they used them so heavily in the past. But, it doesn’t end there. The US also openly supported Sarekat Islam against Sukarno in Indonesia, and supported the Jamaat-e-Islami terror group against Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in Pakistan.
Additionally, the CIA encouraged anti-communist Pakistanis to train Muslims from across the world to participate in the jihad against the Soviet Union
And then, of course, there’s al Qaeda…
