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| - FACT CHECK: No, Hillary Clinton Did Not Say ‘We Created Al-Qaeda’ In 2011
A viral video shared on X claims former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said, “we created Al-Qaeda” in 2011.
HILARY CLINTON IN 2011 SAID “WE CREATED AL-QAEDA”
They did the same with ISIS pic.twitter.com/uaLRVZ3mFy
— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) March 24, 2024
Verdict: False
Clinton discusses the Pakistani military in the original video, which was shared on YouTube by CNN in 2009. A transcript of the video shows she does not make the purported remark.
Fact Check:
In mid-February, Clinton said former President Trump “will seek to withdraw the U.S.” from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) if he wins the 2024 election, according to NBC News. Clinton made the remark during the Munich Security Conference, the outlet reported.
“HILARY CLINTON IN 2011 SAID ‘WE CREATED AL-QAEDA,'” the viral X video’s caption reads, adding, “They did the same with ISIS.” In the video, which has been viewed over 700,000 times and bears a CNN logo, Clinton discusses the Middle East.
The claim is false, however. In the original video, shared on YouTube by CNN in 2009, Clinton discusses the Pakistani military. The clip is unavailable to watch in the U.S. on copyright grounds, but a transcript indicates Clinton did not make the purported remark.
“We also have a history of kind of moving in and out of Pakistan. I mean, let’s remember here, the people we are fighting today, we funded 20 years ago. And we did it because we were locked in the struggle with the Soviet Union. They invaded Afghanistan and we did not want to see them control central Asia. And we went to work,” Clinton says.
“And it was President Reagan in partnership with the Congress led by Democrats who said, you know what? Sounds like a pretty good idea. Let’s deal with the ISI and the Pakistani military and let’s go recruit these Mujahideen. And that’s great.”
“Let’s get some to come from Saudi Arabia and other places importing their Wahhabi brand of Islam so that we can go beat the Soviet Union. And guess what? They retreated. They lost billions of dollars and it led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. So there is a very strong argument which is it wasn’t a bad investment to end the Soviet Union, but let’s be careful what we sow because we will harvest,” she continues. (RELATED: Was Senator Chuck Schumer Rushed Off The Senate Floor In Chaos?)
Likewise, a video shared on YouTube by Voice of America indicates Clinton made the comments about the Pakistani military while testifying before Congress in April 2009. Another video, from California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, reveals Clinton appeared before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State Department and Foreign Operations.
Additionally, Check Your Fact found no credible news reports supporting the claim made via the viral X video. In fact, the opposite is true. Snopes also labeled the claim as false via a Mar. 25 article. Furthermore, Clinton has not publicly commented on the claim.
Check Your Fact has contacted Clinton’s office for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.
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