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Jabhat al-Nusra greater threat than ISIS, warns report
[Rudaw] A new policy report by Fred and Kim Kagan (developers of the so-called "surge" strategy in Iraq around a decade ago) charges that the al-Qaeda offshoot in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... , poses a greater threat to the United States in the long-term than the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... (ISIS) does. "Any strategy that leaves Jabhat al-Nusra in place will fail to secure the American homeland," the report warns. Published by American Enterprise Institute and the Institute for the Study of War the report posits that Nusra is "much more dangerous to the U.S. than the ISIS model in the long run." "While ISIS is flashier ... both represent an existential threat, both wish to attack the homeland, both seek the mobilization of Muslim communities against the West," Kim Kagan told CNN. However Nusra is more dangerous in their view since, unlike ISIS, it "is quietly intertwining itself with the Syrian population and Syrian opposition ... they are waiting in the wings to pick up the mantle of global jihad once ISIS falls." "Right now," she continued, "al-Nusra has decided not to overtly host attack cells because the al-Qaeda leadership's priority is preserving success in Syria and avoiding being targeted by the U.S." "We define a threat as having the capability and the intent. ... The capability is already there, and in time the intent will be as well," they warned. Posted by: trailing wife 2016-01-28 |
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