US kills leader of al-Qaeda linked Al-Nusra Front in Syria

Clausewitz · Sep 23, 2014

http://kfor.com/2014/09/23/al-qaeda...ys-its-leader-was-killed-in-syria-airstrikes/

With ISIS and now the Khorasan group taking up headlines it's easy to forget about al-Qaeda's other group, the Al-Nusra Front. What are your thoughts? Can/should the US target ANF, ISIS, and KG?

Strasser · Sep 25, 2014

All of the various gangs over there are interchangeable, Hamas, PLO, ISIS, Hezbollah, etc., there is no difference re how the West should view them. The reason ISIS is such a big deal is that they're kidnapping and beheading some bobo adventure tourists LARPing as 'journalists', and now the media hacks are all in a tizzy, so the politicians have to pretend to be Doing Something!. All those other people who get murdered, raped, and robbed don't matter, really, but behead some LARPing bobo adventure tourists with Press IDs???? CAll out the military and kill the savages!!!! ....

Clausewitz · Sep 25, 2014

Strasser said: ↑

All of the various gangs over there are interchangeable, Hamas, PLO, ISIS, Hezbollah, etc., there is no difference re how the West should view them. The reason ISIS is such a big deal is that they're kidnapping and beheading some bobo adventure tourists LARPing as 'journalists', and now the media hacks are all in a tizzy, so the politicians have to pretend to be Doing Something!. All those other people who get murdered, raped, and robbed don't matter, really, but behead some LARPing bobo adventure tourists with Press IDs???? CAll out the military and kill the savages!!!! ....
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You don't really believe that they're all interchangeable do you?

waltky · May 21, 2016

U.S. says, 'not so fast' to joint strikes with Russia...

Russia urges joint strikes on Syria rebels but US reacts coolly
Fri May 20, 2016 - Russia has proposed to the U.S.-led coalition that they stage joint air strikes on Syrian rebels, including militant Islamist group Nusra Front, who are not observing a ceasefire, but the United States responded coolly on Friday.

Russia has proposed to the U.S.-led coalition that they stage joint air strikes on Syrian rebels, including militant Islamist group Nusra Front, who are not observing a ceasefire, but the United States responded coolly on Friday. Such action would begin as of May 25 and be coordinated with the Syrian government, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told a Defence Ministry meeting broadcast on state television, adding Moscow reserved the right to stage strikes unilaterally. He said joint air strikes should also target convoys carrying weapons and ammunition crossing into Syria from Turkey. "We believe the adoption of these measures will allow a transition to a peaceful process to be achieved in the entire territory of Syria," he said. "Of course, these measures have been coordinated with the leadership of the Syrian Arab Republic." Shoigu said discussions with U.S. military experts based in Jordan and other counterparts in Geneva had begun on Thursday.

But the United States made clear on Friday it had little interest in the idea, noting Russia has floated similar proposals in the past and stressing that it expected Moscow to pressure its Syrian government ally and to avoid unilateral strikes. Washington has consistently refused to join forces with Russia in Syria ever since Moscow launched its campaign of air strikes in September last year, accusing it of acting solely to prop up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The United States has called on Assad to step down.

Communication between the U.S. and Russian militaries on Syria has been limited to contacts aimed at avoiding an accidental clash as they carry out rival bombing campaigns and small numbers of U.S. forces operate on the ground. Western officials suggested that the proposal, which the Pentagon said had not been formally presented to the U.S. Defense Department, was an attempt by President Vladimir Putin to raise Russia's profile on the international stage. ‎"There is no agreement to conduct joint air strikes with the Russians in Syria," said U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby. He added that the United States believed that Assad's government was responsible for most of the violations of the fitful ceasefire that began on Feb. 27. "We look to Russia to end such (government) violations, which includes strikes that have hit civilians and civilian facilities," he said. While Russia supports the Assad government, the United States and its allies support rebels trying to overthrow him in a civil war that has burned for more than five years and killed at least 250,000 people.

However, both sides oppose the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, which was not included in a ceasefire deal which has failed to prevent widespread violence. A U.S. military strike killed Nusra Front's leader, Abu Firas al-Suri, in April. White House spokesman Eric Schultz said the U.S. aim remains for Russia to persuade Assad to abide by the cessation of hostilities in Syria, saying it was not the first time Russia had made such a proposal. "You've seen Russia show an eagerness to cooperate with us militarily. This is not something that's new," Schultz said. In private, U.S. officials said the idea was a non-starter. "Don't see it happening," a U.S. official said, adding the U.S. military "will ensure safety of flight but nothing else." A Western official from a coalition country also played down the proposal. "Putin has long had a strategy regarding Syria of trying to share the geopolitical stage with the United States and its allies, and his latest proposal appears to reflect that goal," the official said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-russia-usa-syria-idUSKCN0YB1HB
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See also:

Pentagon Rejects Joint Strikes With Russia
May 20, 2016 The Pentagon is dismissing a Russian proposal to carry out joint airstrikes against al Qaida-linked terrorists in Syria.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu floated the notion Friday during a meeting that was broadcast on Russian state television, adding that the strikes could begin as early as May 25, and would be coordinated with the government of Syrian President Bashar al Assad. We believe the adoption of these measures will allow a transition to a peaceful process to be achieved in the entire territory of Syria," said Shoigu. Nothings formally been presented to us, Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters Friday. I can only tell you from where I sit, and from where we sit today that we do not collaborate or coordinate with the Russians on any operations in Syria, Davis said. We dont have military-to-military relations with Russia.

An image taken from video footage made available on the Russian Defense Ministry's official website purports to show an explosion after airstrikes carried out by Russian air force on what Moscow says was an Islamic State facility in the Syrian province of Idlib

The U.S. suspended all military ties with Moscow following Russias invasion of Ukraine and subsequent annexation of Crimea. U.S. and Russian military officials have engaged in deconfliction talks, however, to make sure U.S. and Russian forces operating in Syria do not accidentally engage each other. They [the Russians] are certainly aware in a broad sense of where we are on the ground and have been advised not to do anything that would put our personnel at risk, Davis said. The U.S. and Russia are both part of the multi-nation International Syria Support Group (ISSG), which met earlier this week in Vienna.

The group has been working to enforce a cease-fire in Syria and speed up the delivery of humanitarian aid to areas hit hard by ongoing fighting. It also this week urged rebels groups to end any associations they have with Jabhat al Nusra, the al Qaida affiliate in Syria, as well as with the Islamic State terror group. Neither Jabhat al Nusra nor Islamic State are covered under the cease-fire agreement, and both have been targeted by U.S. and Russian airstrikes. Still, the Pentagons Capt. Jeff Davis said it made little sense for the U.S. and Russia to join forces. Russian operations are supporting and enabling the Assad regime, and our focus is solely on degrading and defeating ISIL, he said, using an acronym for Islamic State.

http://www.voanews.com/content/pentagon-rejects-joint-strikes-with-russia/3339269.html
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waltky · Jul 29, 2016

Why did the Nusra Front break from al-Qaeda?...

What drove Syria's Nusra Front to detach itself from al-Qaeda?
Fri, 29 Jul 2016 - Syrian jihadists Jabhat al-Nusra's decision to detach itself from al-Qaeda could end up strengthening the group, says David Roberts of King's College, London.

Jabhat al-Nusra, one of the more powerful jihadist groups in Syria, has rebranded itself. It officially announced its separation from al-Qaeda and "any other external entity" in a video broadcast on 28 July 2016. The group changed its name to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (Front for the Conquest of Syria/the Levant) and its leader, Abu Mohammed al-Julani, was seen with his face uncovered for the first time. Al-Nusra has, since 2012, been one of the largest and most influential groupings in the Syrian conflict. Its ranks have long been dominated by Syrians, although the higher echelons are more international, and it has tended to focus more on ousting President Bashar al-Assad in Syria than on wider, international goals.

Al-Nusra supporters in Aleppo

This was part of the reason that Nusra refused Isis' (the previous incarnation of the so-called Islamic State) attempts to merge the two groups in 2013. The twin lures of a Syria-focus (as opposed to an internationalist concept threatening Western and other Middle Eastern states) and relative cohesiveness and strength in pursuing its goals have long made it a key player. As such, it attracted significant support from those who wanted to harness the group's strength against Mr Assad. Qatar and Turkey are long rumoured to have supported the group. Neither seek to support its extremism out of choice. Rather, they see Nusra as too important to ignore and thus a "least worst" option. And both have arguably sought to convince the group to de-link itself from al-Qaeda to make it more palatable.

Broader appeal

Jabhat's leadership has key local and international audiences to win over with this rebranding. Without the al-Qaeda tag and with a new name, Jabhat hopes to ditch its previous reputation for brutality and start afresh. There is, however, no reason to expect that it will change the tactics or the strategic goals that earned it renown as a dangerous group. Nevertheless, this fig-leaf of cover - that the group officially renounced its al-Qaeda affiliation - may be enough for it to obtain more external support. The group also seeks to eschew its al-Qaeda affiliation as a way to remove itself from the target list for US and Russian air strikes.

There is no chance whatsoever that this rebranding will affect Russia's calculations, and initial comments from the US administration suggest that the US will continue as before too. In reality, Jabhat probably does not really expect a change in targeting policy. But now that it has explicitly and exclusively committed to the Syrian jihad, it will use future air strikes to "prove" that the US and the international community are against this goal and in fact seek to defend the Assad government in Damascus.

Pragmatic logic
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US kills leader of al-Qaeda linked Al-Nusra Front in Syria

Clausewitz Active Member

Strasser Banned

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US kills leader of al-Qaeda linked Al-Nusra Front in Syria

Clausewitz Active Member

Strasser Banned

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waltky Well-Known Member

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