The CIA financed Bin Laden as he led al-Qaeda to fight back against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 80's.
My question is while al-Qaeda has always been radical jihadists, were they technically terrorists if they were fighting against Soviet soldiers rather than targeting civilians. Or did al-Qaeda organize attacks against civilians around this time in addition to fighting Soviet soldiers?
The CIA financed Bin Laden as he led al-Qaeda to fight back against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 80's.
If you have evidence that this is true that would be quite a shocking development, because there is currently no evidence whatsoever that the CIA financed, supported, trained, had contact with (etc.) Bin Laden in the 1980s.
The date of the foundation of al-Qaeda is disputed, but it was not until the early 1990s.