The Saur Revolution ushered in a faction of the Communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). That faction was in turn overthrown by another faction of the communist PDPA in 1979. Regardless of which faction of the PDPA was in charge, they all had strong ties to the Soviet Union and promoted socialist ideologies.
Of particular interest, the communist's PDPA promoted equality for women, which angered Islamic fundamentalists. It was this anger and rebellion against the equality of the sexes, and anger against "godless communism" that the US exploited for its own purposes.
Despite what the US says is its concern for women's rights, it sided with the anti-feminists Islamic fundamentalists for geopolitical reasons. A chance to cause trouble for the Soviet Union was just too tempting to let women's welfare get in the way. Afghanistan was a chance to pay the Soviet Union back for Vietnam.
President Carter, with the advice from his National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, launched a secret operation called Operation Cyclone to overthrow the communist government in Afghanistan. This was before, not after, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. That invasion occurred afterwards on December 24, 1979. Once the Soviets invaded, Brzezinski says that he sent a memo to President Carter saying that:
"We have the chance to give the Soviets their Vietnam."
Whether or not the US intentionally drew the Soviets into a "Vietnam" trap is debatable. In a 1998 interview with Le Nouvel Observateur, Zbigniew Brzezinski reportedly said that he and Carter did. In answer to one question from Le Nouvel Observateur, Brzezinski reportedly said:
"... 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." (HERE)
Brzezinski denies the accuracy of the Le Nouvel Observateur quote, saying that he sent a memo to Carter about the chance to give the Soviets their "Vietnam" after the Soviets invaded. He does admit that aid to the Mujahedeen started before the Soviet invasion. Brzezinski also admits that after the Soviet invasion he sent a memo to President Carter saying that:
"We have the chance to give the Soviets their Vietnam."
Whether or not Brzezinski said what he said before or after the Soviet invasion is not as important as it is that the US did give the Soviets their "Vietnam". Whether or not that was such a good idea is looking more and more dubious. By giving the Soviets their "Vietnam" the US inadvertently got itself stuck in a quagmire of another "Vietnam" in Afghanistan itself, and in the Global War on Terror.
In that same Le Nouvel Observateur interview Brzezinski also reportedly said:
"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."
So Brzezinski said in 1998 that there isn't a Global Islam. That to say so was "nonsense" and "stupid".
That was before 9-11. That was before the Global War on Terror. That was before Bush said everybody is either for us or against us. That was before GITMO. That was before Abu Ghraib. That was before Koran burnings. That was before the US support of Israel bombing Gaza. That was before everyone had to have their genitals scanned before getting on an airplane. That was before NSA spying on everybody. That was before the Boston Marathon Bombing. That was before Charlie Hebdo. That was before kids old enough today to join the military were even born. That was before demagoguery and emotion ran rampant with Islamophobia. That was before the US angered the "Muslim world" with the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Still what Zbigniew Brzezinski said was true in 1998, is also true today. There is no monolithic Islam of 1.5 billion Muslims. Muslims are as diverse today as they were in 1998. It is still "nonsense and stupid" to talk about Global Islam. We still need to be rational and stop looking at the world's leading religion with demagoguery and emotion. (HERE)
There should be no room in America for prejudice, scapegoating, racial profiling and discrimination against Muslims. Otherwise the USA is repeating the same mistakes it made in the past against Japanese-Americans in World War 2, the same mistakes it made against African-Americans, the same mistake it made against Native-Americans, the same mistakes it made against LGBT, the same mistakes it made against women and the same mistakes it has made by demonizing, stereotyping and discriminating against other ethnic and religious groups.
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