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US Support for Jihadists Against the Soviets Promoted Terrorism [Carter's Support]
arabnews ^ | 26, December, 2005 | Jonathan Power,

Posted on 12/25/2005 6:11:24 PM PST by ncountylee

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1 posted on 12/25/2005 6:11:25 PM PST by ncountylee
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To: ncountylee
Whomever makes this claim, ie: "We made Osama and other Muslim terrorists", whether from the Left or the Right is wrongheaded and has no sense of history or human nature.

If I help someone, I expect some form of returned gratitude for my help. I may never get it, but just being a normal, caring human being would invigorate some sort of 'thank you' from the person I helped.

If this person whom I helped, then turns on me and seeks to hurt of kill me, am I really responsible for his repulsive behavior? It may be my actions that saved his life, but I am in now way responsible for his future actions. 100% of the responsibility is on his shoulders.

If Islam is such an evil motivator that it would have its followers turn on their benefactors, then Islam needs to be questioned, not my original charitable actions.

2 posted on 12/25/2005 6:20:26 PM PST by keithtoo (Leftists/Democrats - Traitors, Haters and Vacillators)
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To: ncountylee
One more proud member of the "Blame America First" crowd.
3 posted on 12/25/2005 6:23:21 PM PST by Ninian Dryhope ("Bush lied, people dyed. Their fingers." The inestimable Mark Steyn)
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To: ncountylee
I asked the high American official, “don’t you feel that you spend all your time just picking up the pieces for the wrongheaded policies when the West supported the jihadists as a tool against the Soviet presence in Afghanistan?”

Wrongheaded policies?

As long as the Soviet Union existed, it was the biggest threat to the West. The United States had to dealt with that threat, even if that meant supporting jihadists. Likewise, the United States previously supported the Soviets against the Nazis, judging the latter to be the greater threat at the time.

As the old saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

4 posted on 12/25/2005 6:27:36 PM PST by Logophile
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To: ncountylee
Unfortunately we can only deal with one evil empire at a time. The Nazis were a bigger threat than Russia. The Soviet Union was a more immediate danger than some Afghan crazies.

Nazi Germany was defeated. The USSR was defeated. The Islamofascists will be defeated too.

5 posted on 12/25/2005 6:32:14 PM PST by Mad_as_heck (The MSM - America's (domestic) public enemy #1.)
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To: ncountylee

Muslims have been violent aggressors against their neighbors ever since the time of Muhammed. It's the basic nature of their religion, which Muhammed seems to have consciously designed as a weapon for control and conquest.

There was a temporary respite when Europe shot ahead of the Muslim world with scientific advances, but it's evident that the present wave of Muslim terrorism has been building up since the Second World War.

It may be that Carter and the elder Bush miscalculated, not by arming the Muslims in Afghanistan, but by letting the Saudis and Pakistanis persuade them to arm the wrong groups. We should have backed Massoud, not Hekmatyar.

But we still would be much where we are now in any case. The worst failures were not Carter's activities in Afghanistan but his stupid interference in Iran, bringing the Mullahs to power, followed by clinton's failure to react to a whole string of Muslim attacks on us, and his assistance to the Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo.

Our worst failure was weakness in the face of the Muslim threat. And it still is, on the part of liberal politicians, opinion leaders, and media.


6 posted on 12/25/2005 6:32:47 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: ncountylee

Yeah, sure. It would be so much better if Russians held Afghanistan up until now. /sarcasm/ Anyone who believes this sort of Islamists' psychological warfare propaganda must be totally nuts.


7 posted on 12/25/2005 6:34:36 PM PST by REactor (Wesolych Swiat)
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To: ncountylee

In the Cold War context, it made perfect sense to support the mujahideen in Afghanistan at the time. I think it is mite too partisan to blame Carter for our doing it then. Conservatives at the time, I believe, supported a response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Let's not rewrite history for partisan purposes to suit our current circumstances. That is more a trick of the Left.


8 posted on 12/25/2005 6:35:59 PM PST by Unam Sanctam
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To: ncountylee

Yep, this modern Jihad is the work of ol' Jimmah more than anyone. Projecting weakness while arming Islamists and leaving Afghanistan to the dogs was not a recipe for peace.

Although our military was still eviscerated at the time, when Reagan ran from Lebanon it didn't help. I hate to speak ill of the Gipper, but....

We should have finished Saddam in 1991 and eliminated the Syrian army while it was handy if they objected. Although we didn't have the stomach at the time for nation building, it would have saved a bit of trouble in the future.

Then there's Clinton with his air war is Bosnia and chicken poop pullout from Somalia.

Oh well, hindsight is 20/20, but the root of the modern problem is on Jimmy.


9 posted on 12/25/2005 6:38:41 PM PST by 308MBR (Not only older, but bolder. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.)
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To: ncountylee
I agree with everything said so far. As much as I dislike Jimmy Carter, I supported his sending arms to the Mujahhaden. This policy, raised an order of magnitude by Reagan when he supplied them with the Stinger missile, was correct at the time.
10 posted on 12/25/2005 6:38:55 PM PST by Brad from Tennessee (Anything a politician gives you he has first stolen from you)
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To: 308MBR

I think Carter's main error in that region at that time was allowing the Shah of Iran to be overthrown. Maybe the Shah's downfall was inevitable but Carter did nothing to help. As the Shah fled Iran he said, "This is the beginning of the decline of the West." Iran has turned into a world terror factory.


11 posted on 12/25/2005 6:45:57 PM PST by Brad from Tennessee (Anything a politician gives you he has first stolen from you)
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To: keithtoo
Whomever makes this claim, ie: "We made Osama and other Muslim terrorists", whether from the Left or the Right is wrongheaded and has no sense of history or human nature.

Too right. The US supported the mujahidin via the Pakistani intelligence service. The Taliban emerged after the Soviets left Afghanistan. I repeat, the Taliban emerged after the Soviets withdrew.

The blame America crowd continues to suggest that we gave money and arms directly to Mullah Omar and Bin Laden which is a distortion of history.

12 posted on 12/25/2005 6:46:44 PM PST by RedRover
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To: ncountylee

Charlie Wilson had more to do with funding the Afghanis against the Soviets, than Jimmy Carter.


13 posted on 12/25/2005 6:47:45 PM PST by FreedomPoster (Guns themselves are fairly robust; their chief enemies are rust and politicians) (NRA)
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Comment #14 Removed by Moderator

Comment #15 Removed by Moderator

To: ncountylee

“don’t you feel that you spend all your time just picking up the pieces for the wrongheaded policies"

So true - I mean, if we hadn't allied with Stalin to defeat Hitler...

/s


16 posted on 12/25/2005 6:53:59 PM PST by Fenris6 (3 Purple Hearts in 4 months w/o missing a day of work? He's either John Rambo or a Fraud)
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To: Brad from Tennessee
And the Stingers were not used for terrorism. My problem with the headline is that the mujahidin were not terrorists at the time of the Soviet war. Even the Soviet official account of the war in Afghanistan didn't claim the mujahidin (a loose confederation which included Hamid Karai as a leader) targeted civilians or fought a terrorist campaign.

The chaos after the war, and the rise of the Taliban, should be blamed on Pakistan--not the US.

17 posted on 12/25/2005 6:59:44 PM PST by RedRover
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To: Fenris6
Much common sense posted on this thread. The tone of the article is weird -- he "sighed" at the wrong-headed policies. Was that a tear in his eye? Oh, grow up. Even if some policies and decision eventually turned out to be wrong, the United States was making moves against worldwide threats.
18 posted on 12/25/2005 7:03:22 PM PST by NutCrackerBoy
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To: keithtoo

I would maybe go so far as to say we didn't help to fill the void left behind by the soviets withdrawal in the most
helpful manner we could. But to say we created terror is a stretch.

Though blaming Carter is always fun.


19 posted on 12/25/2005 7:04:40 PM PST by ottersnot ( You can't spell Liberal without L, I, E.)
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To: Gengis Khan

Ping....you might be intrested in this article.


20 posted on 12/25/2005 7:35:55 PM PST by indcons (FReepmail indcons to get on/off the Military History ping list)
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