Jabhat Al-Nusra

Jabhat al-Nusra is a Salafist fighting group in Syria, formed in July 2011 as the initially unofficial Syrian wing of al Qaeda in Iraq and allied with - but rejecting the perceived pro-West constraints on - the Free Syrian Army (FSA). The group is also called sl-Nusra Front (Arabic: جبهة النصرة لأهل الشام‎ Jabhat al-Nusra li-Ahl al-Sham, meaning: "The Support Front for the People of the Levant [Greater Syria]") and bears the flag shown at right. Generally considered one of the most effective and best-supported groups in the struggle against Syria's government (sometimes called "Syria's Best Rebel Fighters"), they became infamous for gross violations of Human Rights and were listed by the United States as a terrorist organization - in fact, as a different name for the organisation also known as Al-Qaeda in Iraq - in December 2012.

Goals
A January 2013 "strategic briefing" by Noman Benotman and Roisin Blake of the anti-extremist think-tank Quilliam Foundation gives a quite detailed report of origins, goals and strategy of the organization. In February 2013 a leading Jihadi internet forum produced a "comprehensive strategy for Syria" paper in a collaborative effort which mentions Al-Nusra several times as "our brothers on the ground" and shines further light on ideology, goals and strategy. It was translated into English by Cole Bunzel of the monitoring site "Jihadica" in late February.

Contrary to groups like the FSA, the fall of the Assad government is only a short-term goal for al-Nusra, while the end-goal is to establish an Islamist caliphate in all of what they call Bilad al-Sham (The Land of Sem) - not the modern Republic of Syria in its present borders - but basically the whole Levant including Jordan, Lebanon, Israel/Palestine and the present Turkish province of Hatay (ar: Iskandaroun). This caliphate would eventually encompass the whole Muslim world.

Jabhat al-Nusra is against democracy on principle, claiming that it is God and not mankind, who is the supreme authority. The people in a Muslim country, for example, does not have the right to oppose the introduction of Shari'ah laws. But the organization can accept elections inside an Islamic system provided that non-Muslims do not have a say, except in their own internal affairs.

The organization's problem with the Assad regime has thus nothing to do with democracy or freedom. The main problem is that this regime is secular and dominated by an apostate sect that should be put to death. The fact that Syria's population is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim compounds this problem. al-Nusra's mother organization "The Islamic State of Iraq" (al-Qaeda in Iraq), however, have the same line although Iraq has a Sunni minority.

al-Nusra, like many al-Qa'eda groups, is extremely sectarian and takfiri. The followers of other religions other than Islam, as well as Muslims not adhering to its own salafist interpretation of this religion, are counted as kuffar (infidels). Followers of other monotheist religions such as Judaism and Christianity can be tolerated as long as the Muslims have all the power. Members of other muslim sects, such as Shias and Alawis, as well as secular Muslims, are generally considered apostates who have converted from true Islam and therefore should be punished by death. The Economist asked a Nusra fighter what would be the fate of the Alawis of Syria:

"Allah knows what will happen to them. There is a difference between the basic kuffar [infidels] and those who converted from Islam. If the latter, we must punish them. Alawites are included. Even Sunnis who want democracy are kuffar as are all Shia. It’s not about who is loyal and who isn’t to the regime; it’s about their religion. Sharia says there can be no punishment of the innocent and there must be punishment of the bad; that’s what we follow."

An Effective Force
The New York Times reported how rebel fighters had come to value Al-Nusra "because of its fighters’ bravery and reliable supply of money and arms." Further, they reported the Front "has never come under the banner of the Free Syrian Army, shunning the Western aid and input that other groups have sought, but it coordinates closely with many who do."

(more forthcoming...)

A Criminal Force
The group has been identified as involved in a number of heinous and criminal acts across Syria, with a handy partial list at the Wikipedia page. Jabhat Al-Nusra was one of the few groups to explicitly refuse recognizing UN envoy Brahimi's late October Eid Al-Adha cease-fire proposal, to which both the government and the FSA agreed. The cease-fire was shattered almost immediately by, among other things, terrorist car bombings in Damascus thought to be carried out by the Front. They have claimed responsibility for a vast majority of the car bombings, suicide and otherwise, that have been carried out so far in the Syrian war.

Al-Nusra were described as prominent in the audacious repeated assaults on the border town of Ras Al-Ayn. They were involved in the destruction of an Al-Ikhbaria TV station near Damascus, and later the execution of a news presenter. Al-Nusra were blamed by locals and officials for the twisted Haswiyeh Massacre, also of Jan. 15, in Homs. It seems they operated the alleged bakery (a shipping center, actually) targeted in the Halfaya Bakery Bombing near Hama. They seem to be behind the killing of Shi'ite guards, executives, and workers at the Syrian Petroleum Company's center in Al-Shaddadi, Hasakah province, in mid-February 2012 (see Al-Shaddadi Petroluem Company Massacre)

Jabhat Al-Nusra has been especially active in and around Syria's largest city of Aleppo in the north. They documented themselves executing dozens of army soldiers there in September, 2012. They later declared a "no-fly zone" over Aleppo, threatening to shoot down commercial airliners if they felt they carried weapons. They've been blamed for the Aleppo University Attack of Jan. 15, 2013 (perhaps in part to help underscore the importance of their "no-fly zone"). They were blamed by some for the Queiq River Massacre, in which some 80 or more local men and boys were executed and found in a rebel-held stretch of the Queiq river in Aleppo in January, 2013.

These are examples, and nothing like a comprehensive list.

Balancing Act
There is a widespread but not necessarily true belief that Syria's rebels turn or will turn to Islamic extremist groups like Jabhat Al-Nusra, due to a lack of Western support, a mangled "Jihad vs. McWorld" conception. The young boy in Syria seen at left, partaking in an early December demonstration in Isqat (far north), apparently understands the perceived problem (unless he didn't really make the sign).

However, it's entirely conceivable, to put it mildly, for the opposition in whole to take the support of both the West and the Jihadists, and use them together for an end more in line with the goals of one side or the other. All the talk of balance might be nothing more than a clever opposition playing supporters off against each other to accelerate a competition of support they can reap profitably on both ends.

US Listing as a Terrorist Group
The decision to list the Front as a terrorist organization, thus criminalizing privite support for the group, was announced in late November, during the lead-up to the "Friends of Syria" meeting set for December 12, 2012 in Marrakesh, Morocco. The actual listing by the U.S. State Department came on December 10, following immediately president Obama's extension of recognition to the new Rebel council as the legitimate representatives of the Syrian people. The Christian Science Monitor reported on the move made with "lightning speed":
 * The speed with which the US government moved to designate a fairly new group that has never attacked US interests and is engaged in fighting a regime that successive administrations have demonized is evidence of the strange bedfellows and overlapping agendas that make the Syrian civil war so explosive.

The State Department confirmed earlier accusations that Jabhat Al-Nusra was a direct offshoot of Al Qaeda in Iraq. One of its more prominent members killed in fighting in January, 2013, was claimed by Jordanian Salafists as a brother-in-law of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, AQI's onetime leader.

Protest Against the Listing
Many rebels who'd been fighting with Al-Nusra, enjoying its often-stunning successes, and not being too upset with its cruel excesses, voiced displeasure with the decision and protested. As the New York Times reported:
 * ''But a growing number of anti-government groups — including fighters in the loose-knit Free Syrian Army that the United States is trying to bolster — have signed petitions or posted statements online in recent days expressing support for the Nusra Front. In keeping with a tradition throughout the uprising of choosing themes for Friday protests, the biggest day for demonstrations because it coincides with Friday Prayer, many called for this Friday’s title to be “No to American intervention — we are all Jabhet al-Nusra.”

Lindey Hilsum, Channel 4 (UK) wrote on the more official response:
 * “There is nothing wrong with fighting in the name of Islam,” said the coalition leader, Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, a moderate imam, in his speech to assembled ministers and diplomats. He requested the Americans to reconsider their decision.


 * “We will work with everybody on the ground who has an agenda which includes ending the suffering of the Syrian people,” said Yaser Tabbara, a coalition spokesman. “If al-Nusra is on the same page, they will be dealt with using dialogue and containment.”

Guardian reporter Martin Chulov, a reliable ally of the rebels all along, expressed shock at the protests with the following tweet:
 * Choking on coffees in Marrakesh: #Syrian oppn leader Khatib asks US to reverse decisn to brand Jabhat al-lNusra terrorists #news

Turkish officials reportedly complained on January 17 that the front should not have been declared terrorists until after the war was over.
 * Turkey also criticized the timing of Washington’s decision to declare the Jabhat al-Nusra front, an Islamist group at the forefront of the fight against the Syrian government, as a terrorist organization ... while noting U.S. support for Turkey’s efforts to combat terrorism and plans on stopping terrorism financing.

This ironic set of statements came as the Turks planned another enabled border-crossing at Ras Al-Ayn, with Al-Nusrah jihadists driving tanks into the Kurdish town once again on the 18th,, and at the same time Turkey arrested 15 prominent lawyers and human rights activists under counter-terrorism laws, allegedly as part of a crackdown on some leftist group.

Alternate Sponsorship Theories
The basic evidence is that Al-Nisra Front, other Al Qaeda and other Salafist Sunni groups and rigades in Syria, are working against the secular Syrian state. I this they are directly supported, most people understand, by elites from the Persian Gulf monarchies, Erdogan's Islamist Turkish government, at one time by Morsi's in Egypt, and by Libya's post-Gaddafi non-government. Despite being listed technically as terrorists by the United States, it and its allies indirectly support al-Nusra in Syria in various ways, including allowing its aforementioned allies to continue their support.

But as awareness increased of how obnoxious the group is, and following on the even more insane antics of their al-Qaeda rival ISIS, the mouthpieces of the groups' supporters have turned to alternate theiories in which the terrorists are supported by or even created by the Syrian government and its allies, pretty much to make the opposition look bad, it seems. And no one was able stop them from looking bad, the plan was so clever.

Iranian Support Alleged

 * Daily Star, Feb. 8 Iran assisting Al-Qaeda operations in Syria: U.S. Yes, they back/are the Shabiha, and also they are Al-Qaeda, at least partly. So says the U.S. Treasury Dept. as they continue the policy of flinging shit against a wall. Proof seems to be similar to that in Iraq - they can find one guy who's operating inside Iran, and so they're surely behind it. This guy, with Iranian help probably, helped AQ's main guy in Iran, who's "believed to be responsible for overseeing Al-Qaeda efforts to transfer experienced fighters from Pakistan to Syria. The Treasury said he was involved in organizing and maintaining routes by which recruits could travel to Syria via Turkey." Well there you go, and poor ol' Turkey was just an innocent pawn of IRAN sending all these AQ guys through. Or, am I missing something here that makes this make the slightest bit of sense?
 * The Treasury department said the Al-Qaeda network in Iran “has facilitated the transfer of funds from Gulf-based donors to Al-Qaeda core and other affiliated elements, including the Nusra Front in Syria.”


 * “The Iran-based Al-Qaeda network has also leveraged an extensive network of Kuwaiti jihadist donors to send money to Syria via Turkey,” the Treasury added.

The treasury also denies that getting their hands on Iran's state-owned central bank is the slightest motive for this new round of sanctions. (thanks to Syricide for the tweet)--Caustic Logic (talk) 23:59, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

There is bound to be some serious rebuttal to this, judging by the comments below that article. One decent link for now, and below, space for more.
 * Business Insider, February 1: Why Is (sic) Iran Letting A Top al Qaeda Operative Pump Fighters And Cash Into Syria? Al-Jazeera video report, picture of Mr. Suri (wanted, $10 million reward), and speculation that Iranian Major General Qassem Suleimani "is personally handling Iran's extensive contributions to the Assad regime and has allowed al Qaeda operatives a degree of freedom in Iran since several arrived after 9/11." But the writer, Michael Kelly, acknowledges "[The] reported arrangement is puzzling, given Iran's staunch backing of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad." Confusingly, he adds: "Also of note is the potential role of Turkey, which has harbored al Qaeda financiers and allowed many extremists to pass from its territory into Syria" and who recently reached an agreement with Iran "on exchanging information and coordinating closely on the situation in Syria." Sounds suspicious, or rather, no it doesn't. Furthermore, it's mentioned that "Activists claim that one ISIS leader who was captured in Aleppo held an Iranian passport." And that gives it away. Even the al-Qaeda infighting to make Al-Nusra look better than ISIS, all part of the plot where Iran in behind al Qaeda after all. Maybe 9/11 even. And they're handing out genuine Iranian passports, allegedly. --Caustic Logic (talk) 10:23, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

Created by the Syrian Government?
A rather strange article by Hazem Al-Amin (from Al-Hayat, Jan. 13, 2013, translated and re-posted by Al-Arabiya Jan. 20) seems to make a case that Jabhat Al-Nusra pre-dates the Syrian uprising by decades, and is essentially a creation of the Syrian government, as a "trap" for the opposition. It's quite the conspiracy theory, with no apparent support except arguing that in years past the same was done with "al-Talea" to ensare the Muslim Brotherhood. Some excerpts:
 * Any attempt at identifying al-Nusra Front with the revolution is supported by the way facts on the grounds are pushed to that direction. The regime has always been doing that so that it could establish al-Nusra as the only available alternative in case the Syrians decide to demand change.


 * Today the facts that are being revealed prove that the Syrian regime has to be toppled as soon as possible. Among those facts is the way the regime used al-Nusra and similar groups in its conflict with the Syrian people in the 1970s and 1980s as well as in its regional wars, especially with militant networks in Iraq, throughout the past decade. Now it is back to the same strategy through creating of al-Nusra the only opposition faction. Add to this the return of the militants previously sent to Iraq to fight the Syrian regime together with other fighters from Iraq and other countries.


 * The model of al-Nusra has always served the Syrian regime’s ends and which always revolve around stripping the conflict of its political dimension.

An awful lot of people who seem opposed to the government (regime) have been suckered, if Mr. Al-Amin is the slightest bit correct. All other evidence suggests he is not.

Oil Deals
(forthcoming - anyone want to grab this topic? Just replace this with something link-based...)

Alleged History of Teamwork
One background claim that will play into these accusations is the widely-believed claim that Bashar Assad's government had supported al Qaeda in Iraq when it was fighting American troops, and similar claims that came in especially over the years 2007-2009. (forthcoming)

Summary
This narrative, to the few deranged minds capable of accepting it, could huptoptheticall clarify the moral picture for them, untangling a murky picture where it's hard to see how there's a good guy. With Al-Qaeda and its two nasty and nastier offshoots, Assad and his Army and "Shabiha," Iran, Hezbollah, eyc. all on one side, damn. Where's the fugitive Serbian massacre commander? The forces of freedom* and human rights, the right reading of Islam, the right banking system, etc. all lined up on the other. Some of them are even actual Syrians. Yeah, if true, this would simplify things. If this were true, only these jointly-supporting forces would need to be overcome for the good forces to prevail:
 * Syria's al-Qaeda army,
 * Iran's al-Qaeda Army,
 * whoever else's whatever else is bad,
 * possibly direct Iranan military,
 * Hezbollah,
 * The Iraqi Shi'ite militias,
 * Syria's air defenses,
 * Syria's air Force,
 * Syria's army,
 * The Popular Committee/NDF "Shabiha" of every city and village of Syria,
 * The police forces of all Syria's cities and provinces
 * "Some portion" of Syria's civilian population

That is, virtually every force on the battlefield will need to overcome by something that, obviously, doesn't exist yet. And it's had three years to try and exist.