[asimpletune]

I don't think "hate the West" is even the right way to put it. They're much more concerned with the islamic world, and turning "bad" (secular) muslims into "good" (shariah) muslims. It's not like they love the west either, but they fully expect non-muslims nations to be evil and don't care nearly as much.

The west is more of a useful propaganda tool to achieve the real goal of establishing the islamic caliphate (like from ottoman days).

[throwawayswede]

That's a pretty naive and reductive way to describe the situation. The relationship between early al qaeda days and various US agencies who armed and trained them is very well established.

[kodah]

Both what you and GP said can be true simultaneously, and in my opinion is.

[throwawayswede]

Thank you for your informative contribution.

[kodah]

What else would you like me to say?

It is factually true that the Taliban and ISIS wanted to achieve cultural domination. Al Queda I'm not so sure about, but hell, they're religious extremists who sometimes masquerade as a violent and totalitarian political party.

It is also true that back in the 80's the US funded, specifically, Al Queda and the Taliban for various things. It doesn't mean they were our allies, just an underhanded way of doing policy. You saw this on repeat in Syria where we were giving weapons and funding to people that we'd, in any larger context, consider terrorists.

That just agrees with what's already been said. If you want me to disagree with anything it's your use of "naive". Ironically, if you can't perceive both as true (since they're both factually true), who is the naive one? My guess is on the person telling themselves a half baked truth.