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Someone from Adelphia.net found us with this Yahoo! search:"did reagan supply al Qaeda w/ weapons"
Matt's Chat
The short answer is NO. Al Qaeda didn't exist during the Reagan administration.Mark will be able to give you the details...but Reagan supplied Muslim mujahedeen (rebels, for lack of a better word) against the Soviet Union which had taken over Afghanistan.
Mark's Remarks
As usual, the liberals tend to revise history. Look, the program to help teh mujahedeen insurgents was begun to further wreak havoc on the Soviet Union. We had friends there to whom we helped supply weapons, people bent on Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan and the restoration of the progressive nation that it was. However, the character of the mujahedeen (at least many of them) changed after 1993. Do you know what happened during this time? Clinton refused to aid Afghanistan's more progressive Northern Alliance (our main weapons buyers) and leave the Afghanis to fend for themselves, despite promises to help them when the Soviets pulled out. As a result, many people turned to the fundamentalists from places like Iran and Iraq (exiles) who would eventually create the Taliban and provide haven for al-Queda. Reagan saw them as freedom fighters, and that is what they were. However, when we had a chance to steer them, the other guy balked and created distrust and discord.
Now, on to the Contra issue, which a hamster troll reader brought up. Reagan did not know the full extent of the Iran-Contra affair. He knew we were getting money to the Contras, fighters against Communism, and knew about that. He knew we were in negotiations with Iran over hostages, and he also knew he wanted to balance the Middle East struggle between Iran and Iraq. However, the underlings in the administration were left to connect the dots, in order to protect the President. Only later did Reagan find out the full extent. Of course, the liberal media takes this footnote on a great Presidency, where more people jumped off the welfare rolls, where we honored Dr. King, where even though taxes were cut, we were paying off the deficit, and turn it into something else. This is why I want to teach history, to get at the facts, not smear and innuendo, or as I like to say, Dan Rather's style of reporting.
