Eisenhower armed Islamist groups against secular nationalists during the Cold War

Evidence

In the context of the Cold War, the United States had two objectives in the Middle East: to control the flow of oil and to keep the Soviet Union out. After an initial period when it tried to bring radical secular nationalists into the fold, it turned against them. This meant cultivating all forces that could counter radical secular nationalism and communism. At the top of this list were the Islamists. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 219 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Finally, for all of the concerns expressed by Western political and public figures about Islam’s violent tendencies, these concerns were all but absent in certain episodes involving Muslims and violence prior to 9/11. During the Soviet-Afghan War of the 1980s, the United States was actively involved in training the mujahideen in guerilla warfare tactics. In the same decade, the United States assisted Saddam Hussein and Iraq’s military in the Iran-Iraq War. This assistance included intelligence about Iranian military deployments, the means to develop chemical weapons, and diplomatic support to protect Iraq from UN condemnation in the use of poisonous gas against Iran. When it has served American interests, particularly in winning the Cold War and extending political and military influence in the Middle East, the US government has had no qualms about facilitating and contributing to violence in Muslim-majority regions. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 288 (#expands, via linked claim)

Metaphorically, its demolition was the beginning of the end of the Cold War and the ending of the global political and military models that had dominated international relations for the past forty or so years. If simplistic arguments and theses can be in any way useful, what was occurring at the global level was, as Huntington put it, that both the West and Islam were being forced to shift their global perception and relationship: ‘the collapse of communism removed a common enemy of the West and Islam and left each the perceived threat of each other’. — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 246 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Eisenhower’s doctrine secretly armed Islamist groups against secular nationalists.; US cold-war strategy deliberately weaponized religion against nationalism and communism in Muslim regions — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 388; The CIA deliberately cultivated Islamist groups as Cold War counterweights to Nasserism — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 389 (+10 more)

Broader Connections

• American Cold War strategy cultivated Islamists against secular nationalism #corroborates (0.96) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 219
• US facilitated Muslim violence when it served Cold War interests #expands (0.92) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 288
• The Cold War’s end left Islam and the West mutually perceived threats #complicates (0.72) — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 246