It is well known that the CIA sponsored & nourished AlQaeda in the 1980s to create a thorn in the side of the Soviet Union. In this major investigative study (from the Jan issue of Harpers), Alexander Cockburn documents how CIA support for Islamic violence has continued through to the present.
American agents have not just provided money and weapons. The organization, the tactics, the plans & ideas have come from our own CIA. Support has not continued reluctantly, despite disapproval of the terror tactics. Rather, the attacks on civilians, the shocking, headline-grabbing cruelty have been American ideas all along.
It is no accident that terrorist attacks have become a staple excuse for the worst American military adventures. In fact, terrorism was created by and for the American military and intelligence, because we perceived that it would be useful for America to have a heinous enemy.