Maria wrote:The USA helped to fund and train the Taliban to defeat the Soviets. When the Taliban accomplished their goal and chased out the Soviets, then the USA started eradicating the Taliban.
Then the USA funded and trained Al Qaeda, and when Al Qaeda had served their purpose, they were systematically destroyed.
Now the USA is helping to fund ISIS with the cooperation of Israeli, British, and Saudi Arabic intelligence.
In the meantime, thousands of Christians and Muslims are being beheaded, crucified, or shot in the head to be left to die in mass graves. This is genocide. Now ISIS is seen to be out of control. Will it be destroyed by the USA?
Does anyone see a pattern here?
There is supposedly another Muslim extremist group, even more powerful than ISIS, that is poised to take over. This was mentioned in the news media about a month or more ago, but nothing more has been said lately.
The Taliban didn't exist during the Soviet occupation. We did fund the mujahideen who were fighting the Soviets, and some of them ended up in the Taliban, but others ended up opposing the Taliban, e.g. Ahmad Shah Masoud, who the Taliban assassinated the day before 9/11.
I really don't believe the US ever directly supported al Qaeda or ISIS. You need to realize that the US doesn't have direct control over these groups, which are very fractious and constantly changing size and shape. This of course is why we should be much more careful about who we support in that part of the world, but our leaders are too naive.
During World War II, we allied with the Soviets against Hitler and gave them lots of material support. After the Nazis were defeated, the Soviets became our enemy. What's going on with the Islamists is quite similar. I think the US should have made more effort to stay out of WWII and just let Hitler and Stalin beat each other down, rather than strengthen one totalitarian monster against another. Similarly, I think we should have let the Soviets fight the mujahideen in Afghanistan and not get involved: the Soviet Union was already getting weaker and would have had to pull out of the country eventually, but the Islamists would have been weakened by enduring a more protracted conflict and consequently would have posed less of a threat to us later. But hindsight is always 20/20.
A few months ago they were talking about this "Khorasan" group, but like you I haven't heard a peep about it since.