Cold‑War Boobytraps Resurface Terror Risk

Past covert Cold‑War alliances and proxy operations can create long‑lived ‘boobytraps’—social, political, and militant dynamics that surface decades later as acute security threats if neglected or mismanaged. The essay argues the US backing of 1980s Afghan fighters, allied with regional patrons, produced conditions that eventually culminated in 9/11 and that similar unattended legacies could spawn fresh attacks. — This frames counterterrorism and foreign‑policy accountability as long‑term maintenance problems, shifting debate from short‑term deterrence to stewardship of historical interventions and their social consequences.