US instrumental use of Islamists produced today’s negative Islam frame

Evidence

Nevertheless, the Reagan administration armed Iran during its war with Iraq, in what came to be known as the Iran-Contra scandal. Further, in the context of the Cold War, the US cultivated other Islamist formations in a proxy war against the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and the United States armed and trained the Afghan mujahideen rebels, who policymakers viewed as advancing imperial interests. Al-Qaeda emerged out of the mujahideen. Thus began a period of contradiction when “Islam” was both a positive and negative construct depending on whether actors supported or militated against US imperial aims. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 395

Categorization

• XREF: This is the core thesis of the whole book — imperialism, not intrinsic religious conflict, generates the Islamophobia frame. The ‘good/bad Muslim’ split echoes throughout later chapters. — connects to: The US once allied with Islamist forces before treating them as enemies; Sustained negative media discourse has shifted American public opinion against Muslims — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes…, 749; The United States armed and licensed global anti-Muslim crusades — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 293 (+4 more)
• SEED: The ‘good vs bad Muslim’ frame is a perfect through-line for an essay on how empires rhetorically split an entire faith into allies and enemies depending on geopolitical utility — from the Shah vs Khomeini straight to modern framing of Saudi Arabia vs Iran.

Broader Connections

• Islamist groups are labeled allies or terrorists based on US interests #corroborates (0.82) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 400
• US hostility to Islamism depended on whether it served US interests #corroborates (0.78) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 233
• The United States armed and licensed global anti-Muslim crusades #expands (0.75) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 293
• Global Islamophobia derives from an American blueprint that authorizes persecution of Muslims #expands (0.74)
• Sustained negative media discourse has shifted American public opinion against Muslims #complicates (0.72) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 749
• The US War on Terror gave other nations a sanctioned template for suppressing Muslims #expands (0.72) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 287