This is my take because many people were mocking it. Yes, the US in the 1980s directly armed and tuned the various elements and personalities that later formed Al-Qa`idah. As for recent years, the US indirectly armed and funded Al-Qa`idah and ISIS by allowing various GCC regimes to arm and fund those terrorist groups. In the case of Libya--and we still don't know the full picture--the US may have directly armed and assisted Al-Qa`idah and ISIS in the eager hope that they will bring down Qadhdhafi regime. In the case of Libya, the US cavalierly dumped money and weapons in the laps of rebel groups that the US knew would be sharing the goodies with Al-Qa`idah (and in some cases ISIS).