The US armed Al-Qaeda as freedom fighters before designating it a terrorist group

Evidence

The “Islam strategy” would eventually lead to America’s financial support of Osama bin Laden’s mujahideen in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union—the same ones who later planned the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City. When it benefited US interests, the United States sent military aid to the mujahideen and Osama bin Laden, calling them “freedom fighters” against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. But as soon as they were no longer useful to the United States, that is, after the fall of the Soviet Union, the same group of mujahideen—Al-Qaeda—was designated a terrorist group. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 648

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader pattern of great powers arming then disowning proxy forces; echoes themes from the US Cold War strategy of backing anticommunist clients regardless of their later actions. — connects to: The US once allied with Islamist forces before treating them as enemies; The US trained the mujahideen from which al-Qaeda later emerged — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 396; CIA-trained Afghan militants later turned their violent skills against the United States — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 411
• CANDY: The striking flip from ‘freedom fighters’ to ‘terrorists’ for the exact same group is an attention-grabbing fact usable in casual conversation.