US support for the mujahideen inadvertently seeded the creation of al-Qaeda

Evidence

The mujahideen are significant not only because they illustrate yet another instance of the United States’ willingness to encourage Islamism when it suited its larger political goals but also because the foundations of al-Qaeda emerged from the mujahideen resistance to the Soviets. A young businessman from Saudi Arabia, Osama bin Laden, began assisting the mujahideen in the 1980s. Bin Laden became increasingly involved in the war over the course of the decade, raising funds and recruiting additional fighters. His involvement in the war led him, along with an Egyptian physician named Ayman al-Zawahiri, to create the radical Islamist organization al-Qaeda (“the Base” in Arabic) as a means to organize and finance the Afghan resistance. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 257

Categorization

• XREF: The US backfiring covert support for Islamists parallels the reader’s own knowledge of blowback from Cold War interventions, and the earlier “Strange Bedfellows” pattern of the book. — connects to: U.S. covert support in Central America produced blowback against the United States.; CIA-trained Afghan mujahideen produced the terrorist attacks against America — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 269; The US held contradictory Islamist allies and enemies simultaneously — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 214 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• US facilitated Muslim violence when it served Cold War interests #corroborates (0.85) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 288
• U.S. Cold War arming of extremists enabled the Taliban’s rise #corroborates (0.80)
• CIA-trained Afghan mujahideen produced the terrorist attacks against America #contradicts (0.70) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 269
• The US alternately armed and opposed Islamist forces to preserve its regional domination. #expands (0.70) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 29
• The US held contradictory Islamist allies and enemies simultaneously #expands (0.50) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 214
• US refusal to examine its own Mideast policies enabled future terrorism #expands (0.50) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 267
• US hostility to Islamism depended on whether it served US interests #expands (0.50) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 233