So did America basically arm ISIS?

Big Boss · November 25, 2015, 08:01:07 AM

I'm doing an illustration piece for my course and my teacher loves all that descriptive, opinionated imagery and shit so I thought I'd give her a piece inspired by the whole USA vs ISIS thing.

I've heard that America was outed as being the ones who armed them and gave them weapons, is this true? I don't feel like reading through ten pages of news stories and discussions on it so I decided to ask here. Is there anything else the USA and other countries have done in all this to shoot themselves in the foot?

BaconShelf · November 25, 2015, 08:03:10 AM

They armed Al Qaeda when the USSR invaded Afghanistan.

I think it was AQ, anyway.

Super Irish · November 25, 2015, 08:04:50 AM

Quote from: Bacon on November 25, 2015, 08:03:10 AM

They armed Al Qaeda when the USSR invaded Afghanistan.

I think it was AQ, anyway.

It was either them or the Taliban...

...or was it both?

Honestly though, it's better to check a reliable news source than here.

BaconShelf · November 25, 2015, 08:05:39 AM

Quote from: SuperIrish on November 25, 2015, 08:04:50 AM

Quote from: Bacon on November 25, 2015, 08:03:10 AM
They armed Al Qaeda when the USSR invaded Afghanistan.

I think it was AQ, anyway.
It was either them or the Taliban...

...or was it both?

It was definitely one of them, anyway.

gats · November 25, 2015, 08:12:25 AM

No? No one has directly armed ISIS, most of what they have is acquired when they take ground from opposition.

Big Boss · November 25, 2015, 08:15:42 AM

Quote from: gatsby on November 25, 2015, 08:12:25 AM

No? No one has directly armed ISIS, most of what they have is acquired when they take ground from opposition.

Didn't Russia reveal that America helped? I'm probably on about something completely different

gats · November 25, 2015, 08:20:58 AM

Quote from: Big Boss on November 25, 2015, 08:15:42 AM

Quote from: gatsby on November 25, 2015, 08:12:25 AM
No? No one has directly armed ISIS, most of what they have is acquired when they take ground from opposition.

Didn't Russia reveal that America helped? I'm probably on about something completely different

Lol that'd be rich coming from the Russians considering that they've mostly only bombed rebels and not ISIS. But yeah the US hasn't supported ISIS, publicly anyway. They may have done behind closed who knows.

Turkey · November 25, 2015, 08:21:26 AM

America supported the precursors to the Taliban and Al Qaeda (when they were legitimate governments fighting the Soviets), but not ISIS.

challengerX · November 25, 2015, 08:25:37 AM

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Super Irish · November 25, 2015, 08:33:30 AM

Quote from: challengerX on November 25, 2015, 08:25:37 AM

Quote from: SuperIrish on November 25, 2015, 08:04:50 AM
Quote from: Bacon on November 25, 2015, 08:03:10 AM
They armed Al Qaeda when the USSR invaded Afghanistan.

I think it was AQ, anyway.
It was either them or the Taliban...

...or was it both?

Honestly though, it's better to check a reliable news source than here.
It was neither.

They armed the Mujahideen, of which the Taliban broke off and became their own evil little group. This is also over exaggerated, because if you noticed they have far more Russian weapons than American.

However, the point here is that America has funded and armed the Syrian Rebels which have been taken over by various terror groups, ISIS being one of the main ones.

Fair enough, I was thinking something like that.

I guess the recent TOW missile used by the FSA in the destruction of that Russian heli has not gone down well by anyone.

Mordo · November 25, 2015, 09:10:35 AM

Sincerely doubt it. They had close ties to Al-Qaeda during the Iraq War but that's about as close as they ever came to US funding.

gats · November 25, 2015, 09:21:44 AM

If you're interested in the rise of ISIS I do recommend this book it's pretty solid.

Jocephalopod · November 25, 2015, 01:47:20 PM

No, but we are arming the toxic soup of Syrian rebels

MyNameIsCharlie · November 25, 2015, 05:39:22 PM

Sort of. We supplied arms to militants who went on to become ISIS soldiers. Kinda like how we armed the Mudjahadeen, some of whom went on to join the Taliban. Most of their American weapons, however were from captured Iraqi units.

The moral of this story? Don't give ANY aid or weapons to ANYONE in the Middle East or lower Asia. There's a good chance that someone who hates you will get it.

Gatortag · November 25, 2015, 07:27:44 PM

Pretty much what Charlie said. We armed people who weren't ISIS, but they later joined ISIS. Or ISIS killed them and picked up our stuff. I mean, it's kinda obvious. There's videos of ISIS using American weapons and vehicles. Some people believe we are literally arming them ourselves. But most would say, it's just an accident. And weapons fall into their hands. Matt Drudge just sent out a Tweet. "A shocking truth is unfolding: America has been arming ISIS"

Winy · November 27, 2015, 10:15:25 AM

I feel like we're responsible for arming a lot of Middle Eastern groups or countries we hate.

Am I wrong?

🍁 Aria 🔮 · November 27, 2015, 10:28:41 AM

Quote from: Winy on November 27, 2015, 10:15:25 AM

I feel like we're responsible for arming a lot of Middle Eastern groups or countries we hate.

Am I wrong?

Nope. If I had to take a guess, I'd say it's because people don't understand the political atmosphere in the Middle East as much as they think they do.

challengerX · November 27, 2015, 10:41:33 AM

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Ridiculous Tales · November 27, 2015, 12:49:40 PM

America has been arming ISIS "unofficially" since the start of this whole mess. It's no secret that the Arabs are losing faith in Obama and he's desperate to keep the Wahhabists in his favor so Obama is using any means possible to topple Assad just to appease them.

Ridiculous Tales · November 27, 2015, 12:52:21 PM

Quote from: Josh55886 on November 25, 2015, 07:27:44 PM

There's videos of ISIS using American weapons and vehicles.

To be fair, the vast majority of the American weapons and equipment they're using was captured from the pathetically hopeless Iraqi military.

Winy · November 27, 2015, 01:05:33 PM

Quote from: Prime Megaten on November 27, 2015, 10:28:41 AM

Quote from: Winy on November 27, 2015, 10:15:25 AM
I feel like we're responsible for arming a lot of Middle Eastern groups or countries we hate.

Am I wrong?
Nope. If I had to take a guess, I'd say it's because people don't understand the political atmosphere in the Middle East as much as they think they do.

I'm not disagreeing, but didn't Al-Qaeda have a bunch of US military equipment? Where'd they get it?

To clarify, I'm not saying that the US has literally been arming our enemies, I'm asking if it happens inadvertently.

cxfhvxgkcf-56:7 · November 27, 2015, 02:28:54 PM

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DAS B00T x2 · November 27, 2015, 04:54:39 PM

Quote from: SoporificSlash on November 27, 2015, 02:28:54 PM

Quote from: Winy on November 27, 2015, 01:05:33 PM
Quote from: Prime Megaten on November 27, 2015, 10:28:41 AM
Quote from: Winy on November 27, 2015, 10:15:25 AM
I feel like we're responsible for arming a lot of Middle Eastern groups or countries we hate.

Am I wrong?
Nope. If I had to take a guess, I'd say it's because people don't understand the political atmosphere in the Middle East as much as they think they do.
I'm not disagreeing, but didn't Al-Qaeda have a bunch of US military equipment? Where'd they get it?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Wilson_%28Texas_politician%29

There was a Tom Hanks movie about this guy? Man, I gotta watch that.

Nascent Email · December 03, 2015, 10:13:52 AM

The US operates a jihadi training camp in Jordan which is primarily used by ISIS at the current time.

Ajax · December 03, 2015, 05:48:15 PM

They gave them lots of money and weaponry.

Ajax · December 03, 2015, 05:49:46 PM

Quote from: gatsby on November 25, 2015, 08:20:58 AM

Quote from: Big Boss on November 25, 2015, 08:15:42 AM
Quote from: gatsby on November 25, 2015, 08:12:25 AM
No? No one has directly armed ISIS, most of what they have is acquired when they take ground from opposition.

Didn't Russia reveal that America helped? I'm probably on about something completely different
Lol that'd be rich coming from the Russians considering that they've mostly only bombed rebels and not ISIS. But yeah the US hasn't supported ISIS, publicly anyway. They may have done behind closed who knows.

They only bomb the religious extremists, it just so happens that the Americans only use crazy people to get rid of crazy people.

Cadenza has moved on · December 03, 2015, 10:30:14 PM

Well there is this article, but I'm not one to trust any news wholeheartedly:
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/11/30/benghazi-commission-obama-admin-gun-running-scheme-armed-islamic-state/