Letters to the Editor
-
Ignorance on both sides, gack
A young woman in the audience stood up, speaking "in a voice near-tearful with passionate self-righteousness, saying that it was the Americans who had armed the Islamists in Afghanistan, and that therefore the U.S., in its response to Sept. 11, 'should be dropping bombs on themselves!'"
Oh this sounds so right, except that it's so WRONG.
It annoys the heck out of me that people on the left get this so wrong. Crack open a book now and then. It won't kill you!!
There is no one group called "the Islamists" in Afghanistan. The Islamic groups we did arm after the Soviet invasion were divided into factions based on ethnic and tribal affiliation as well as degree of adherence to Islam. Some of them were moderates, and some of them were not.
Arguably the worst of the bunch we armed was Gulbuddin Hekmatyr, but he had nothing to do with 9/11.
America never armed the Taliban, who were still young madrassa students when the Red Army left Afghanistan in 1989.
When the Red Army left, so did American funding.
It was Pakistan under Benazir Bhutto that armed the Taliban and sent them in to Kabul.
Hekmatyr was briefly friendly with the Taliban, but that was his own reasons.
I'm pretty sure now they're bitter enemies, but I don't know because it's not like I'm watching him or anything.