US policy judged Islamist groups by oil access, not their record

Evidence

The Clinton administration viewed Iran as a hub of international terrorism and Islamic “extremism” and instituted sanctions and banned trade with Iran. However, it consorted with the Taliban, whose ultraconservative Deobandi philosophy had created horrific conditions for women in Afghanistan (as noted in Chapter 3), because of an interest in forging a pipeline deal that would, it was hoped, give US companies access to the oil and natural gas reserves in the Caspian Sea. At the end of the day, Islamist forces that cooperated with a vision of the world adopted by the United States were allies, and those who did not were enemies and cast as “terrorists.” This is how imperial ethnocentric racism works. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 400 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Gulf oil monarchy security, not democracy, drives US Mideast policy; Islamist groups were judged purely by their utility to US oil and business interests — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 410; US Middle East oil policy pursued access, not territorial control (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Islamist groups are labeled allies or terrorists based on US interests #corroborates (0.95) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 400