[ScottinVA]

Correction to my post at #18.

Yes, al-Qaeda was on the anti-Soviet side in Afghanistan. IMO, in retrospect we were on the wrong side of that fight.

[kroll]

IMO, in retrospect we were on the wrong side of that fight.

Are you serious? Hindsight is a wonderful thing. The Soviets were a insanely more dangerous threat than the Islamists are now....Of course now you can dismiss them and pretend otherwise since we didn't actually blow each other to smithereens. Also, we pretty much created the Taliban by pumping all those weapons into afghanistan.
We Were on the right side but our strategy was wrong. You don't arm an unstable violent country to its teeth and leave, and expect no repercussions...
Besides, a lame strategy of "enemy of an enemy..." is precisely why we have so many problems in the first place (Saddam, the Saudis, Afghanistan etc etc)