Manchurian blowback

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Manchurian blowback is a term coined after the events of 9/11 to refer to blowback that occurs many years after the actions that led to the blowback. In the case of 9/11, the attacks are seen as blowback from the United States support of the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan in the 1980s, which led to the rise of Osama bin Laden.

The concept takes its name from the 1959 novel The Manchurian Candidate, which features a brainwashed soldier being prompted to take violent action many years after his abduction by hostile forces.