Jabhat al-Nusra

By Sam Heller | ( RFE/RL) | – – As the extremist group Islamic State (IS) and its rival Al-Qaeda have captured pieces of Iraq, Syria, and other countries in the region, they have had to balance their global aims with the specific local concerns of the communities under their control. Al-Qaeda’s latest attempt to […]

Free Syrian Army

Not the Onion: US asks Russia not to Bomb al-Qaeda in Syria

contributors

TeleSur | – – The Russian foreign minister said his Washington counterpart asked Moscow not to target the extremist groups out of fear of hitting moderate rebels. The United States has asked Russia not to target al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria the Nusra Front arguing that airstrikes by Moscow could also hit other rebel groups, Russian […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

ISIS and Israel on the Golan Heights

contributors

By Sam Brennan | ( Open Democracy ) | – – The Yarmouk Valley is run by ISIS – and left alone by Israel. This is a testament to the complex, cynical and calculated machinations of the actors in this conflict. There is a strange relationship between Israel and a small sect of the Islamic […]

al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda’s Al-Zawahiri, 9/11 Mastermind, Plays Syrian Politics

contributors

By Sam Heller | ( RFE/RL ) | – – When the self-proclaimed Islamic State declared the establishment of a global Muslim “caliphate” in 2014, the move accelerated a race for legitimacy within the international jihadist movement. IS’s rival Al-Qaeda — which had long held out a righteous Islamic state as a far-off ideal, not […]

al-Qaeda

Al-Zawahiri Supports Syrian al-Qaeda, calls for more global Volunteers

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Al-Qaeda central leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, a mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, DC, has issued a new audio tape. In it, he said that the only successful revolution launched in 2011 in the Arab world was the Syrian, because it followed the […]

Bashar al-Assad

A Tale of Two Cities: Muslim Rebels strike back at Hospital in Gov’t held West

contributors

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment)| – – Muslim fundamentalist rebels, including al-Qaeda, took revenge Tuesday on West Aleppo for the heavy government bombardment of East Aleppo that has killed dozens in the past week, including at a hospital run by Doctors without Borders. At the same time that the government was bombarding the slums […]

al Qaeda in the Arabian Penisula

Al-Qaeda Everywhere: US support for Oppressive Gov’t’s made Bin Laden’s Killing Moot

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The US government has never understood insurgency for the most part. Smart USG officials with whom I’ve interacted have had a firm belief that leadership is a rare quality and that you can attrite an organization by killing its leaders. This theory is patently false. It […]

Featured

Syria: Is al-Qaeda rising as ISIL is rolled Back? Is the US de facto Allied with it?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The cessation of hostilities in Syria never included Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) or al-Qaeda (the Nusra Front or Support Front), but it did include some of the de facto allies of al-Qaeda. The Syrian Arab Army and its Shiite militia allies, with Russian air support, have taken […]