Al Qaida-linked group Syria rebels once denied now key to anti-Assad victories … When the group Jabhat al Nusra first claimed responsibility for car and suicide bombings in Damascus that killed dozens last January, many of Syria’s revolutionaries claimed that the organization was a creation of the Syrian government, designed to discredit those who opposed the regime of President Bashar Assad and to hide the regime’s own brutal tactics.
Nearly a year later, however, Jabhat al Nusra, which U.S. officials believe has links to al Qaida, has become essential to the frontline operations of the rebels fighting to topple Assad. Not only does the group still conduct suicide bombings that have killed hundreds, but they’ve proved to be critical to the rebels’ military advance. In battle after battle across the country, Nusra and similar groups do the heaviest frontline fighting. Groups who call themselves the Free Syrian Army and report to military councils led by defected Syrian army officers move into the captured territory afterward. – McClatchy
Dominant Social Theme: Al Qaeda is a dangerous terrorist organization that must be exterminated.
Free-Market Analysis: We reported just yesterday on Anonymous’s attack on Syria’s Internet facilities. Soon we expect Julian Assange to organize a wider data dump of Syrian secret memos.
Just kidding … not. Actually it’s already been done. Look at this, from WikiLeaks.org:
Today, Thursday 5 July 2012, WikiLeaks began publishing the Syria Files – more than two million emails from Syrian political figures, ministries and associated companies, dating from August 2006 to March 2012.
This extraordinary data set derives from 680 Syria-related entities or domain names, including those of the Ministries of Presidential Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Information, Transport and Culture.
Over the next two months, ground-breaking stories derived from the files will appear in WikiLeaks (global), Al Akhbar (Lebanon), Al Masry Al Youm (Egypt), ARD (Germany), Associated Press (US), L’Espresso (Italy), Owni (France) and Publico.es (Spain). Other publications will announce themselves closer to their publishing date.
Do you sense a pattern here, dear reader? Still believe Assange is an independent blogger and hacker untouched by Western Intel? No. The team is out in full force. Anonymous, WikiLeaks and, believe it or not, Al Qaeda.
Directed history, folks. Aimed at Syria these days.
We’ve always believed Al Qaeda to be a US Intel invention. The CIA denies it, of course. But Al Qaeda was reportedly active in Libya, supporting the “rebels” against Muammar Gaddafi. And now Al Qaeda fighters are showing up in Syria.
When is your enemy your friend? When they regularly fight on your side.