>>>”Cyrus was a thug.”<<<
That’s illuminating. The only other people who have called Cyrus a “thug” are members of the Mullahs’ regime in Iran.
>>>”Cyrus could have cared less about the religion of anyone in Babylon,”<<<
Correct. He didn’t care much about the religion of others. He didn’t like slavery; Babylonians were keeping the Jews captive as Slaves.
You have a point about saying he didn't like slavery. I can't say what his motivation was, e.g., he didn't like slavery because the nature of slavery or he didn't like slavery because at the moment it didn't aid him in expanding his empire. The thug comment was about a ruler that expanded an empire through conquest. Understand that his empire was the largest to that date.
The Jews have certainly venerated Cyrus. I don't dispute that. I am simply making three points. 1.) Empire builders have their intentions (power) come first. 2.) Muslims use deception, in this case using history to distract for current issues. 3.) Ancient history has nothing to do with the situation between Iran and Israel today.