Editing Openai/691ee85a-16f4-8004-b4c8-f358beff60b1


{{DISPLAYTITLE:Terrorist group funding claims}}

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== gpt-5-t-mini ==
=== User: What evidence is there that the UK USA and Israel created and funded every terrorist group on the world? ===
What evidence is there that the UK USA and Israel created and funded every terrorist group on the world?

=== Assistant: Short answer: No — there is no credible evidence that the UK, USA and Israel “created and funded every terrorist group … ===
Short answer: No — there is no credible evidence that the UK, USA and Israel “created and funded every terrorist group in the world.”
That claim is a conspiracy-level overgeneralisation. But it’s true that intelligence services and governments have — at times — created, funded, armed, or worked with violent non-state groups for narrow foreign-policy goals, and some of those relationships later had unintended, harmful consequences. Below I summarise the strongest, well-documented examples and then explain why the blanket claim you quoted is not supported.

=== Well-documented examples of state support for armed groups ===
* U.S. funding of Afghan mujahideen (Operation Cyclone). The CIA ran a major covert programme to arm, train and fund Afghan insurgents fighting the Soviet occupation (late 1970s–1980s). It channelled money, weapons and training (often via Pakistan’s ISI) to a range of Islamist factions. This is well documented in declassified materials. Office of the Historian<ref>{{cite web|title=Office of the Historian|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v12/d76|publisher=Office of the Historian|access-date=2025-11-20}}</ref>
* Iran–Contra / U.S. support for the Contras. During the 1980s the U.S. covertly supported the Nicaraguan Contras. Congressional investigations (the Iran–Contra reports and related declassified documents) show how funds and arms were moved covertly despite legal restrictions. The American Presidency Project<ref>{{cite web|title=The American Presidency Project|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/excerpts-the-report-congressional-committees-investigating-the-iran-contra-affair|publisher=The American Presidency Project|access-date=2025-11-20}}</ref>
* U.S. and allied support to Syrian rebel groups (2011 onwards). During the Syrian civil war the U.S., UK and other partners provided varying degrees of non-lethal and (in some programmes) lethal assistance, training and help to selected rebel groups. Some of that aid later ended up being used by more extreme groups or was shared in mixed rebel coalitions — a problem noted in official and parliamentary analyses. Research Briefings<ref>{{cite web|title=Research Briefings|url=https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN06721/SN06721.pdf|publisher=Research Briefings|access-date=2025-11-20}}</ref>
* UK intelligence engagement in Afghanistan. British intelligence (MI6) also engaged covertly with Afghan resistance groups in the 1980s and has a history of clandestine contacts with a variety of non-state actors. Investigations and reporting have documented this involvement. Declassified UK<ref>{{cite web|title=Declassified UK|url=https://www.declassifieduk.org/how-mi6-backed-right-wing-religious-fanatics-in-afghanistan/|publisher=Declassified UK|access-date=2025-11-20}}</ref>
* Israel and Lebanese militias (1980s). During the Lebanese civil war Israel backed and coordinated with certain Lebanese militias (e.g., Christian Phalangists). The Sabra and Shatila massacre of 1982 — carried out by Phalangist militiamen while Israeli forces controlled the area — is a tragic example of the risks of state support for proxy militias. Al Jazeera<ref>{{cite web|title=Al Jazeera|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/16/sabra-and-shatila-massacre-40-years-on-explainer|publisher=Al Jazeera|access-date=2025-11-20}}</ref>

=== Why those documented cases don’t mean the sweeping claim is true ===
# Support ≠ “creation” of every group. In many cases states supported pre-existing groups or factions for tactical reasons (to counter another state or group). That’s very different from having created every violent organisation worldwide.
# Not all groups received foreign state support. Many extremist or terrorist organisations grew from local politics, sectarian disputes, criminal economies, ideological movements, or intra-regional rivalries without direct UK/US/Israeli founding or funding.
# Degrees and motives vary. State activity ranges from diplomatic contact, covert training and arms supplies, to direct creation or control — but examples of direct “creation” are limited and specific; they are not universal. Sometimes support was offered to secular anti-communist forces, sometimes to Islamist fighters, and sometimes assistance accidentally enabled more extreme actors.
# Accountability and declassification reveal complexity. Declassified documents and investigative reporting show episodic, pragmatic, sometimes illegal actions by intelligence agencies — but they also show limits, internal debates, and failures. Those sources are why historians and journalists attribute certain outcomes to foreign policy choices, not to a single intentional global conspiracy.

=== Where this idea comes from (and why it spreads) ===
* Covert operations are by nature secretive and later revealed; selective revelations can look like a pattern of intentional creation.
* Proxy wars (Cold War, Middle East, Africa) led to many external backers — often multiple foreign states backed different sides, making causation complex.
* Political narratives and conspiracy thinking simplify complexity into a single culprit.

=== If you want a deeper dive ===

I can:
* Provide a sourced timeline of major documented cases where Western states funded or armed militant groups (Operation Cyclone, Iran–Contra, Iraq/Syria programmes, covert actions in Africa/Latin America, etc.).
* Look into particular groups you’re curious about (e.g., ISIS, al-Qaeda, IRA, Hezbollah) and show the best evidence on origins, funding sources, and any state involvement.

Which would you prefer? (Or name one specific group and I’ll give a sourced, plain-language summary of the evidence.)

== References ==
<references />


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