In the twilight of the Cold War, the United States spent millions of dollars to supply Afghan schoolchildren with textbooks filled with violent images and militant Islamic teachings, part of covert attempts to spur resistance to the Soviet occupation.

The primers, which were filled with talk of jihad and featured drawings of guns, bullets, soldiers and mines, have served since then as the Afghan school system’s core curriculum. Even the Taliban used the American-produced books, though the radical movement scratched out human faces in keeping with its strict fundamentalist code.

As Afghan schools reopen today, the United States is back in the business of providing schoolbooks. But now it is wrestling with the unintended consequences of its successful strategy of stirring Islamic fervor to fight communism. What seemed like a good idea in the context of the Cold War is being criticized by humanitarian workers as a crude tool that steeped a generation in violence.

See the complete article at http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A5339-2002Mar22?language=printer

One more thing it says int eh article

Some legal experts disagreed. A 1991 federal appeals court ruling against AID’s former director established that taxpayers’ funds may not pay for religious instruction overseas, said Herman Schwartz, a constitutional law expert at American University, who litigated the case for the American Civil Liberties Union.

“Taxpayer dollars cannot be used to supply materials that are religious,” she said.

I wonder if if these organizations were as concerned about the U.S. recruiting and training Muslim extremists to fight its proxy war against the Russians? The country of Afghanistan had been destroyed and millions had been killed.

Without U.S. support the Saudis rulers would have been gone a long time ago. I guess the trillions of dollars in investment money and billions of money made selling the Saudis weapons they don’t know how to use, is more important than human rights.

I got kicked out of my Islamic Studies class for voicing my opinion against stoning.

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