Common misconception that the mujaheddin was a “weapon of US intelligence”
First of all, there were lot of disparate groups in the so-called Mujaheddin. Yes they hated the Russians. But they also hated each other and us.
The foreigners led by Osama ALWAYS hated us. He was never a US ally or a CIA tool. Get off the leftist view..
The muj was like an unguided rocket - no big loss if it was aimed at the other guys. But once they were gone that rocket just changed direction.
I briefed a general one day that there was good new and there was bad news. The good news is the muj was winning. The bad news was, the muj was winning.
Perhaps I should’ve been more clear in my initial statement. I wasn’t endorsing the view that Osama bin Laden himself was a CIA creation (the whole Tim Osman codename thing that even the Washington Post picked up on some years ago). But it isn’t disputed that we funneled weapons and money (along with advisors) through the ISI to the MAK, which was a precursor to Al Quada. Unlike some of his brothers (Salem comes to mind) he was never pro-US in any way.
But this is yet another example of covert interventionism burning us. You can unleash a rabid dog against your enemy, but odds are the dog will end up biting you too.