President Eisenhower entertained a young Muslim Brotherhood official at the White House in 1953 -- knowing full well the Brotherhood's reputation for violence and its ambition for an Islamic state in Egypt.
Come to think of it, wasn't the U.S. supporting Islamic fundamentalists in Afghanistan at one time, as a "counterbalance" to some set of secular socialists or other? Cough cough blowback cough.
I believe Israel, similarly, initially saw Hamas as a religious counterweight to Al Fatah.
ReplyDeleteQuite so. See here.
ReplyDeletePresident Eisenhower entertained a young Muslim Brotherhood official at the White House in 1953 -- knowing full well the Brotherhood's reputation for violence and its ambition for an Islamic state in Egypt.
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it, wasn't the U.S. supporting Islamic fundamentalists in Afghanistan at one time, as a "counterbalance" to some set of secular socialists or other? Cough cough blowback cough.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you're mistaken. The U.S. government would never do anything like that.
ReplyDelete