US policy was always split between anti-Soviet and anti-Islamist interests

Evidence

Readers unfamiliar with this history might be surprised to learn that Islamists were not always seen as enemies. Instead, policymakers adopted a checkered approach driven by Cold War interests. At first, up until the 1970s, the political elite allied with Islamists. In the 1970s, though, this approach changed in response to various factors, including the Iranian revolution of 1979. After this, and up until the end of the Cold War, they had it both ways: Islamists were enemies in some cases, but not in others. The United States used the Holy Warriors in Afghanistan (the predecessors of al-Qaeda) to fight a proxy war with the Soviet Union. At the same time, particularly in the wake of the 1979 hostage crisis, Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran came to personify all things Islamic and evil. Realpolitik dictated that the United States must cut against some Islamists but ally with others against its main Cold War enemy. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 220

Categorization

• XREF: Chronology and logic map onto the reader’s goal of tracing domestic fear to policy; links to Grosfoguel’s demystification project. — connects to: US power legitimated Islamist dictator Zia while fighting Soviet expansion; US counterterrorism agencies divide over whether Islam causes radicalization or merely justifies it — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 490; The US alternately armed and opposed Islamist forces to preserve its regional domination. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 29 (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• US imperial interests, not Islamist actions, determine Islamist ally or enemy status #corroborates (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 278
• US hostility to Islamism depended on whether it served US interests #expands (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 233
• US facilitated Muslim violence when it served Cold War interests #exemplifies (0.75) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 288
• American Cold War strategy cultivated Islamists against secular nationalism #exemplifies (0.70) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 219
• The same Islamist figures who denounced the US conspired with the CIA against nationalists #exemplifies (0.70) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 370
• Sadat’s regime deliberately cultivated Islamist groups against secularist policies #exemplifies (0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 331
• The CIA funded Islamist clergy to overthrow Mossadegh in 1953 #exemplifies (0.50) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 244