Paybacks Are A Bitch

So the Russians, in part, goaded us into invading Iraq.

That wouldn't be because they have a big-ass grudge against us for setting a trap for them in Afghanistan? A trap that did a lot to destroy the Soviet Union, and severely limit Russian power, prestige, and influence in the world, that is.

Here's a reminder:

Question: The former director of the CIA, Robert Gates, stated in his memoirs ["From the Shadows"], that American intelligence services began to aid the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan 6 months before the Soviet intervention. In this period you were the national security adviser to President Carter. You therefore played a role in this affair. Is that correct?

Brzezinski: Yes. According to the official version of history, CIA aid to the Mujahadeen began during 1980, that is to say, after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan, 24 Dec 1979. But the reality, secretly guarded until now, is completely otherwise Indeed, it was July 3, 1979 that President Carter signed the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul. And that very day, I wrote a note to the president in which I explained to him that in my opinion this aid was going to induce a Soviet military intervention.

Q: Despite this risk, you were an advocate of this covert action. But perhaps you yourself desired this Soviet entry into war and looked to provoke it?

B: It isn't quite that. We didn't push the Russians to intervene, but we knowingly increased the probability that they would.

Q: When the Soviets justified their intervention by asserting that they intended to fight against a secret involvement of the United States in Afghanistan, people didn't believe them. However, there was a basis of truth. You don't regret anything today?

B: Regret what? That secret operation was an excellent idea. It had the effect of drawing the Russians into the Afghan trap and you want me to regret it? The day that the Soviets officially crossed the border, I wrote to President Carter. We now have the opportunity of giving to the USSR its Vietnam war. Indeed, for almost 10 years, Moscow had to carry on a war unsupportable by the government, a conflict that brought about the demoralization and finally the breakup of the Soviet empire.

Q: And neither do you regret having supported the Islamic fundamentalism, having given arms and advice to future terrorists?

B: What is most important to the history of the world? The Taliban or the collapse of the Soviet empire? Some stirred-up Moslems or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the cold war?

Q: Some stirred-up Moslems? But it has been said and repeated Islamic fundamentalism represents a world menace today.

B: Nonsense! It is said that the West had a global policy in regard to Islam. That is stupid. There isn't a global Islam. Look at Islam in a rational manner and without demagoguery or emotion. It is the leading religion of the world with 1.5 billion followers. But what is there in common among Saudi Arabian fundamentalism, moderate Morocco, Pakistan militarism, Egyptian pro-Western or Central Asian secularism? Nothing more than what unites the Christian countries.

That interview with former Carter National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski occurred in 1998. I wonder if Mr. Brzezinski still feels the same way today. I can't believe we let fools like this into the halls of power (and it's only gotten worse in the present administration). His unbelievable mischaracterization of the ummah is astonishing. There are a whole lot of Muslims who want the restoration of the caliphate--not necessarily a giant Muslim state, but there is a strong push toward unity in Islam. Read about the wars of the riddah, for example. Islam, ideally, composes a single political and religious whole. While that unity is likely impractical and unlikely given the geographic spread of the religion, that does not mean that the idea is without power.

So, here's a partial list of the people and entities that played the United States for a sucker:

Russia
Iran
Ahmed Chalabi
Israel
Halliburton

I'm sure China will be added to the list before it's all over with. Maybe Saudi Arabia, too. Oh, and you can throw in Bechtel, DynCorp, and all of the big defense contractors in the US.