Hacker News Reader

Comment by danieltillett | Hacker News Reader

There are no good guys here, just various variation of bad. You just get to choose which bad guys you back.

Personally I find it hard to believe that the USA is backing Al Qaida (or what ever they have decided to call themselves this week), but that is middle east politics for you.

View on HN

Why is that hard to believe? The USA created Al Qaeda in our first foray into Afghanistan; they're literally blowback from training mujahedin to fight the Soviets.

this is a dishonest portrayal of events. the arab fighters in afghanistan were not supported by the US and were an extremely marginal presence to begin with. you could make a case for elements of the taliban having links to US support years prior to its establishment, but not AQ affiliates.

the arab fighters in afghanistan were not supported by the US and were an extremely marginal presence to begin with.

You mean, until we sent the CIA in to train them, fund them, and arm them with Stinger missiles?

we did not train, fund or arm the arab fighters. we trained, funded and armed local afghan mujahideen.

Even if the USA helped create Al Qaeda (rather controversial) I still find it hard to believe that anyone in the USA thinks it is a good idea to support them today.

In what way is "they're literally blowback from training mujahedin to fight the Soviets." controversial? I'd love to hear this...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com