As rapid developments take place in Afghanistan with the US completing its withdrawal from the country as per the country's 2020 agreement with the Taliban, the internet has been flooded with videos and remarks made by US politicians and former officials discussing the course of events involving the US, Afghanistan, and the Taliban.
This is an Interview between Greta Van Susteren of Fox News and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dated July 18, 2010, were Secretary Clinton admitted that US government created and funded the terrorist group [Taliban & Al-Qaeda] they are fighting today. #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/FkCyI9ghql
— Comrade RED (@comradarjun) August 17, 2021
Crown Witness Confirming America's Creation of Islamist God Warriors!@HillaryClinton , in an exceptionally honest interview, admits that the #USA has created the #Mujahedeen & the #Taliban https://t.co/8Woiw8k61o #Afghanistan #AlQaeda #terrorist #America #Terrorism #sponsor
— Felix Abt (@felixabt) August 23, 2021
One of the most shared videos on social media platforms is a clip from a 2010 interview conducted by Fox News' ta Van Susteren with then US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, in which she weighed on the historic American involvement in Afghanistan.
Clinton who was on a visit to Pakistan at the time of the interview talked about the US decision to create, arm, and train the ideologically-driven Mujahideen in the 1980s, in an attempt to combat the Soviet Union which had then invaded Afghanistan.
So is AlQaeda, ISIS, AlNusra all @HillaryClinton Stated We Took The Mujahideen from Pakistan to create a WAHABBI Brand of Terrorists to take out @KremlinRussia_E Putin Russia ?? from Afghanistan but then they used them In @Presidency_Sy Syria in @HaiderAlAbadi Iraq etc @JoeBiden https://t.co/Zt1V5VoXEQ
— Bibi Spielberg (@PrincessBibiRF_) August 27, 2021
During the interview, Clinton questioned the US rationale and whether or not officials at that time had anticipated that the Mujahideen and the Taliban would continue to fight foreign interventions in their country, saying that " [...] in part, the United States had – to be fair, we had helped to create the problem we’re now fighting".
"Because when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, we had this brilliant idea that we were going to come to Pakistan and create a force of mujaheddin, equip them with Stinger missiles and everything else, to go after the Soviets inside Afghanistan. And we were successful. The Soviets left Afghanistan. And then we said great, goodbye – leaving these trained people who were fanatical in Afghanistan and Pakistan, leaving them well armed, creating a mess, frankly, that at the time we didn’t really recognize. We were just so happy to see the Soviet Union fall and we thought, okay, fine, we’re okay now, everything’s going to be so much better. Now you look back; the people we’re fighting today we were supporting in the fight against the Soviets."
Social media users have been widely sharing the video, suggesting that her words do echo recent events in Afghanistan and the fact that the Taliban couldn't be stopped when needed.
In their remarks in regard to the video, YouTube's Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur hinted that the US does hold responsibility for creating radical Islamist groups whose ideology was not popular prior to the 1980s.
On the 15th of August 2021, the Taliban recaptured most of Afghanistan, only 20 years after the US-led NATO coalition invaded the country to extract the terrorist group.
