When U.S. Aided Insurgents, Did It Breed Future Terrorists?

By HUGH EAKIN
Published: April 10, 2004

In the varied explanations for the 9/11 attacks and the rise in terrorism, two themes keep recurring. One is that Islamic culture itself is to blame, leading to a clash of civilizations, or, as more nuanced versions have it, a struggle between secular-minded and fundamentalist Muslims that has resulted in extremist violence against the West.