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this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2025
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Memes
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That's not how Operation Cyclone worked. You can just read the wikipedia article, there's several books on the subject, but honestly Blowback Season 4 is pretty good coverage. Episode 3 specifically deals with who at the CIA interfaced with the afghans and how.
It also includes the methods the US promoted the mujahedin as freedom fighters to the US before ultimately turning on them, which is what the meme is about.
The CIA using the ISI to transport some weapons and train soldiers isn't "this ISI did everything therefore the Mujahedin weren't supported by the US", it's "the ISI were a tool of the CIA", the operation was run out of Washington. It had US media providing glowing coverage of the Mujahedin as they committed war crimes.
The Mujaheddin did need help, they needed weapons, bombs, intelligence, diplomatic support, booby traps specifically procured by the CIA. The US provided it.
And then back home, they used their contacts in the media to make sure everyone knew that the Mujaheddin were the good guys worthy of America's support, even if they were not officially receiving it. Americans, Mujaheddin, and Soviets all understood the US supported the Mujaheddin, even if there was a layer of plausible deniability. It's why the Soviets asked the US to stop the attacks on Soviet soldiers during the pullout and not Pakistan.
The american people were told to see the Mujaheddin as their ally, and the Mujaheddin understood it was the US supporting them.