The US held contradictory Islamist allies and enemies simultaneously
Evidence
It is important to start by noting that Islamist groups were not always seen by the US government as enemies. As we will see in the following chapter, during the Cold War the United States supported the parties of political Islam against secular nationalist and leftist parties it believed to be in the pocket of the Soviet Union. At the same time, the Iranian revolution of 1979, which deposed the US-backed Shah and brought a Shi’a Islamist government to power, meant that the United States had Islamist enemies at the same time as it had Islamist allies. In a nutshell, the foreign policy establishment’s view of political Islam has been neither uniform nor consistent. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 214
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: US support for the mujahideen inadvertently seeded the creation of al-Qaeda — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 257; US refusal to examine its own Mideast policies enabled future terrorism — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 267; US facilitated Muslim violence when it served Cold War interests — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 288 (+14 more)
Broader Connections
- US hostility to Islamism depended on whether it served US interests
#corroborates(0.90) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 233 - US imperial interests, not Islamist actions, determine Islamist ally or enemy status
#expands(0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 278 - US support for Islamists continued in the 1980s despite threats to Israel
#exemplifies(0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 264 - Sadat’s regime deliberately cultivated Islamist groups against secularist policies
#exemplifies(0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 331 - Cold War logic led the US to fund Islamists even after Iran’s revolution
#exemplifies(0.75) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 247 - US policy was always split between anti-Soviet and anti-Islamist interests
#expands(0.70) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 220 - American Cold War strategy cultivated Islamists against secular nationalism
#expands(0.70) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 219 - Soviet defeat in 1989 legitimized and globalized the Islamist militant movement
#expands(0.65) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 257