An Al-Qaeda Alliance in Syria Demands a Response From U.S.

[Purveyor]

An Al-Qaeda Alliance in Syria Demands a Response From U.S.: View

The al-Nusra Front in Syria pledged formal allegiance to al-Qaeda last week. Together with the alarming escalation in refugees fleeing the country, this pact demands a forceful change in the diffident strategies of the U.S. and Europe toward the conflict.

The U.S. has good reasons for not wanting to own another war in the Middle East, and we support them. But does anyone believe the U.S. could stand aside if al-Qaeda were to gain control of all or part of a state that has chemical weapons and Scud missiles and shares borders with Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey?

Al-Nusra’s pledge to al-Qaeda offers an opportunity, however. The group’s terrorist bombing tactics and imposition of radical Islamist rules have begun to erode its popular support and ties to other fighters. Last month al-Nusra began to fight with another less radical rebel group in northern Syria. The more al-Qaeda and non-al-Qaeda rebels define themselves against each other, the less difficult it will be for the U.S. and its allies to identify fighters they can arm and work with.

Other pieces now falling into place may ease the path to action. The Syrian opposition is forming a government, which may help with legal hurdles to greater intervention. The European Union’s arms embargo will expire at the end of May and, thanks to opposition by France and the U.K., is unlikely to be renewed. Opposition groups not linked to al-Qaeda are gaining control over a patch of southern Syria that borders Israel and Jordan.

The U.S. is shifting its position, but late and slowly. It is an open secret that U.S. personnel are training rebels in Jordan, and Secretary of State John Kerry has said the U.S. will start sending nonlethal aid directly to the Free Syrian Army, though exactly what the U.S. will provide remains unclear.

MORE...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-14/an-al-qaeda-alliance-in-syria-demands-a-response-from-u-s-view.html

[David__77]

1. Perhaps the US should not have winked and nodded as its allies passed weapons to the terrorists.

Early support for a political solution and opposition to escalation would have been helpful. Specifically, the US could have acted to interdict the supply of NATO/US-funded arms into Syria from neighboring states.

[randome]

2. Which might be tantamount to war with those neighboring states?

I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just wondering how complex a situation it might be if we had done that.

[David__77]

3. Well, now the US should press for a settlement between the Syrian gov't and secular opposition.

The existing Syrian constitution bans political parties based on sectarianism. I think that's reasonable in a democratic system. If only now a pluralistic secular state can emerge, safe for Sunnis, Shiites, Alawites, Christians, and even atheists! If the Salafists or MB come to power, so much for that, and so much for Israeli's security as well.