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Al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri The Coordinator 2015 Part 19-138-Caliphate- The State of al-Qaeda-8

Zawahiri’s Strategic Window of Opportunity; Quietly, al-Qaida offshoots expand in Yemen and Syria. Although the birth of the Islamic State and the herald of the caliphate are often regarded as some of 2014’s “big shockers,” they were foretold in striking detail and with an accurate timeline by an Al Qaeda insider nearly one decade ago

Al-Qaeda’s leaders “are attempting to operate under the radar as part of an adaptive strategy that they see as a way to compete with and outlast ISIS,” Gerges said

Though AQ central leadership has been weakened, the organization continues to serve as a focal point of "inspiration" for a worldwide network of affiliated groups, Siberell told the Committee. They include al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula - a long-standing threat to Yemen, the region, and the US; al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb; al-Nusrah Front; and al-Shabaab. --Justin Siberell, Principal Deputy Coordinator at the State Department's Bureau of Counterterrorism, was testifying Tuesday on the Buerau's Budget, Program, and Policies before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade.

Al-Qaeda affiliates are significantly expanding their footholds in Syria and Yemen, using the chaos of civil wars to acquire territory and increase their influence, according to analysts, residents and intelligence officials

Quietly, al-Qaeda offshoots expand in Yemen and Syria

“What we’re seeing today in eastern Yemen is much more similar to what Jabhat al-Nusra is doing in Syria,” Zimmerman said

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She said that AQAP’s leader, Nasir al-Wuhayshi, who once worked as Osama bin Laden’s secretary, maintains ties with al-Qaeda’s senior leaders.

The Coming of the Islamic State was Foretold 10 Years Ago. And No One Listened.

June 8, Although the birth of the Islamic State and the herald of the caliphate are often regarded as some of 2014’s “big shockers,” they were foretold in striking detail and with an accurate timeline by an Al Qaeda insider nearly one decade ago. Raymond Ibrahim is author of the new book Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians

On August 12, 2005, Spiegel Online International published an article titled “The Future of Terrorism: What Al Qaeda Really Wants.” Written by Yassin Musharbash, the article was essentially a review of a book written by Fouad Hussein, a Jordanian journalist with close access to Al Qaeda and its affiliates, including the late Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who pioneered the videotaping of beheadings “to strike terror into the hearts” of infidels (Koran 3:151).As Hussein explained in the introduction of his book “Al Zarqawi: Al Qaeda’s Second Generation”: “I interviewed a whole range of Al Qaeda members with different ideologies to get an idea of how the war between the terrorists and Washington would develop in the future.” And in fact the book details the master plan of Al Qaeda—in its “second generation” manifestation known as the “Islamic State” which follows much of Zarqawi’s modus operandi—to resurrect a caliphate. This plan is sufficiently outlandish that Yassin Musharbash, the author of the Spiegel article reviewing Hussein’s book, repeatedly casts doubt on its feasibility. Thus Al Qaeda’s plan is “proof both of the terrorists’ blindness as well as their brutal single-mindedness”; there is “no way” Al Qaeda can follow the plan “step by step”; “the idea that Al Qaeda could set up a caliphate in the entire Islamic world is absurd”; and the following “scenario should be judged skeptically.” Yet it is all the more remarkable that much of this plan—especially those phases dismissed as infeasible by Musharbash (four and five)—have come to pass.

In what follows, I reproduce the seven phases of Al Qaeda’s master plan as presented in Musharbash’s nearly 10-year-old article, (emphasis added in bold) with my commentary interspersed for context. Phases four and five are of particular importance as they describe the goals for recent times, much of which have come to fruition according to plan.

The First Phase. Known as “the awakening”—this has already been carried out and was supposed to have lasted from 2000 to 2003, or more precisely from the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 in New York and Washington to the fall of Baghdad in 2003. The aim of the attacks of 9/11 was to provoke the U.S. into declaring war on the Islamic world and thereby “awakening” Muslims. “The first phase was judged by the strategists and masterminds behind al-Qaeda as very successful,” writes Hussein. “The battle field was opened up and the Americans and their allies became a closer and easier target.” The terrorist network is also reported as being satisfied that its message can now be heard “everywhere.” Much of this is accurate and makes sense. Sadly, if any eyes were opened after the Sept. 11 attacks on American soil, they weren’t Western eyes—certainly not the eyes of Western leadership, mainstream media, and academia. But to many Muslims, the strikes of Sept. 11 were inspiring and motivating, giving credence to Osama bin Laden’s characterization of America as a “paper tiger.”A few years after the Islamic strikes of Sept. 11, Americans responded by electing a man with a Muslim name and heritage for president, even as he continuously empowers in a myriad of ways—including banning knowledge of Islam—the same ideology behind the strikes of Sept. 11. Meanwhile, the average Muslim relearned the truths of their religion, namely that the

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“infidel” is an existential enemy and jihad against him is a duty, as Al Qaeda and others had successfully shown.

The Second Phase. “Opening Eyes” is, according to Hussein’s definition, the period we are now in [writing in 2005] and should last until 2006. Hussein says the terrorists hope to make the western conspiracy aware of the “Islamic community.” Hussein believes this is a phase in which al-Qaeda wants an organization to develop into a movement. The network is banking on recruiting young men during this period. Iraq should become the center for all global operations, with an “army” set up there and bases established in other Arabic states.

This too is accurate. Among other things, the “Islamic community,” the umma, began to be more visible and vocal during this time frame, including through a rash of attacks and riots following any perceived “insult” to Islam, growing demands for appeasement, and accusations of “Islamophobia” against all and sundry.

If there weren’t any spectacular terror attacks on the level of Sept. 11, young Muslim men were quietly enlisting and training in the jihad—or in western parlance, “radicalizing.” Al Qaeda went from being an “organization” to a “movement”—international “radicalization.” Most importantly, Iraq, as the world now knows, certainly did become the “center for all global operations” with an “army” of jihadis set up there.

The Third Phase. This is described as “Arising and Standing Up” and should last from 2007 to 2010. “There will be a focus on Syria,” prophesies Hussein, based on what his sources told him. The fighting cadres are supposedly already prepared and some are in Iraq. Attacks on Turkey and—even more explosive— in Israel are predicted. Al Qaeda’s masterminds hope that attacks on Israel will help the terrorist group become a recognized organization. The author also believes that countries neighboring Iraq, such as Jordan, are also in danger.

Much of this third phase as described and transpired seems to have been an extension of phase two. In retrospect, there certainly appears to have been a focus on Syria, even if the jihad started there one year behind schedule (2011). And many of the jihadis were “already prepared” and “some are in Iraq.” None of this was a surprise, of course, as U.S. intelligence always indicated that if American forces withdrew from Iraq, the jihadis would take over.

The Fourth Phase. Between 2010 and 2013, Hussein writes that Al Qaeda will aim to bring about the collapse of the hated Arabic governments. The estimate is that “the creeping loss of the regimes’ power will lead to a steady growth in strength within Al Qaeda.” At the same time attacks will be carried out against oil suppliers and the US economy will be targeted using cyber terrorism.

This is immensely prophetic. Recall that the timeline given (2010-2013) coincides remarkably well with the so-called “Arab Spring,” which culminated with Islamic terrorists and their allies taking over the leadership of several Arab countries formerly ruled by secularized autocrats: Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood (which plays Dr. Jekyll to Al Qaeda’s Mr. Hyde); Libya, Al Qaeda/Islamic jihadis; ongoing Syria, Al Qaeda/Islamic jihadis (or their latest manifestation, the Islamic State, Al Qaeda’s “second generation”), etc. It should be remembered that in each of these nations—Egypt, Libya, Syria—the Obama administration played a major role in empowering the jihadis, though in the name of “democracy.”

The Fifth Phase. This will be the point at which an Islamic state, or caliphate, can be declared. The plan is that by this time, between 2013 and 2016, Western influence in the Islamic world will be so reduced and Israel weakened so much, that resistance

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will not be feared. Al Qaeda hopes that by then the Islamic state will be able to bring about a new world order.

Again, right on time: the “Islamic State” declared itself the “caliphate” in 2014, with many Muslim organizations and persons around the world pledging their allegiance, if not imitating their slaughter, with inspired “lone wolves” already beheading “infidels” in Western nations.And if the administration helped empower jihadis during the “Arab Spring” and in the name of “democracy” in Egypt, Libya, and Syria, it helped the creation of the Islamic State by withdrawing U.S. military forces that were keeping Al Qaeda at bay in Iraq.Recall that in 2007 George W. Bush said that “To begin withdrawing [military forces] before our commanders tell us we are ready would be dangerous for Iraq, for the region and for the United States. It would mean surrendering the future of Iraq to Al Qaeda. It would mean that we’d be risking mass killings on a horrific scale. It would mean we allow the terrorists to establish a safe haven in Iraq to replace the one they lost in Afghanistan. It would mean we’d be increasing the probability that American troops would have to return at some later date to confront an enemy that is even more dangerous.”All of these predictions have proven remarkably prescient—not because Bush was a prophet but because U.S. intelligence clearly understood the situation in Iraq, and briefed Obama on it just as it did Bush. Yet, in 2011, Obama declared the Iraq war a success and pulled out American troops, leaving the way wide open for the jihadi master plan of resurrecting the caliphate to unfold.

The Sixth Phase. Hussein believes that from 2016 onwards there will a period of “total confrontation.” As soon as the caliphate has been declared the “Islamic army” it will instigate the “fight between the believers and the non-believers” which has so often been predicted by Osama bin Laden.

This needs clarification. While many assume that the “fight between the believers and the non-believers” is between Muslims and non-Muslims, this is not always the case. Soon after the announcement of the caliphate, the Islamic State made clear that it was in the phase of waging jihad on “apostates” and “hypocrites,” meaning all the “apostate” or “infidel” Arab leaders like Bashar al-Assad, as well as Muslim populations that are insufficiently “Islamic.” It is for this reason that the new caliph took on the name of “Abu Bakr”—the name of the first historic caliph (632-634) whose caliphate was characterized by fighting and bringing back into the fold of Islam all those Arabs who broke away after Muhammad died. Afterwards, when all the Arab tribes were unified under the banner of Islam, the great historic conquests, or jihads against neighboring “infidels,” took place.

The Seventh Phase. This final stage is described as “definitive victory.” Hussein writes that in the terrorists’ eyes, because the rest of the world will be so beaten down by the “one-and-a-half billion Muslims,” the caliphate will undoubtedly succeed. This phase should be completed by 2020, although the war shouldn’t last longer than two years.

Phase seven remains to be seen, as it is has another five years to go. As for the world being “so beaten down by the one-and-a-half billion Muslims,” actor Ben Affleck famously reflected this sentiment when he kept apologizing for Islam by saying Muslims “are a billion and a half.” At any rate, considering that the preceding phases have all largely come to pass—with a passive West doing nothing to prevent them, that is, when the Obama administration is not actively aiding them—there is certainly no good reason to think Western leadership will stop the final phase from occurring: a unified, aggressive, expansionist, and eventually

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possibly even nuclear armed caliphate preparing to terrorize its neighbors on a grand scale—just like its historic predecessor did for centuries.

Quietly, al-Qaeda offshoots expand in Yemen and Syria

By Hugh Naylor June 4 BEIRUT — Al-Qaeda affiliates are significantly expanding their footholds in Syria and Yemen, using the chaos of civil wars to acquire territory and increase their influence, according to analysts, residents and intelligence officials. The gains have helped the terror group’s affiliates become major players in the countries and have complicated efforts to resolve the conflicts. Al-Qaeda offshoots could also be gaining sanctuaries to eventually plan attacks against the United States and Europe, analysts say.

In Syria, al-Qaeda’s wing, Jabhat al-Nusra, plays a leading role in a new rebel coalition that has captured key areas in the northwestern part of the country. In Yemen, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has seized parts of the country’s largest province, territory that includes military bases, an airfield and ports. “Al-Qaeda is becoming more deeply entrenched in Syria, and it is gaining significant momentum in Yemen, and the global focus on ISIS has distracted from the expansion of this other radical, transnational group,” said Fawaz Gerges, professor of Middle Eastern politics at the London School of Economics, using an acronym for the Islamic State. Although there is little evidence that the two al-Qaeda affiliates are collaborating, both are adopting similar strategies of expanding where they can in the shadows of more powerful insurgent groups, analysts say. At the same time, the two branches of al-Qaeda are trying to position themselves as more palatable brands of radical Islam among citizens in Yemen and Syria who feel threatened by the Houthi rebels and the Islamic State.

Though U.S. aircraft are targeting both affiliates, only AQAP is known to have carried out attacks against the West. Jabhat al-Nusra has concentrated most if not all of its energy on the Syrian civil war. The militants in Syria and Yemen are avoiding the sort of brutality that has distinguished the Islamic State, which split from al-Qaeda last year. The shift appears to be an attempt to win local support and avoid the kind of international military action that the Islamic State is facing, analysts say.

Al-Qaeda’s leaders “are attempting to operate under the radar as part of an adaptive strategy that they see as a way to compete with and outlast ISIS,” Gerges said.

A U.S.-led coalition targeted the Islamic State after it captured a vast swath of territory in Iraq and Syria, declared a caliphate and provoked global outrage with beheadings and other vicious acts. The proclamation of a caliphate was a direct challenge to al-Qaeda, which has aspired to lead Muslims around the world.

Al-Qaeda push in Yemen In Yemen, AQAP has quietly exploited a war between pro-government forces and Shiite rebels to seize chunks of the southern Hadramaut province, including its capital, Mukalla. AQAP fighters also are battling the rebels, known as Houthis, farther east in Bayda province, although they have not taken control of much territory there. AQAP is perhaps al-Qaeda’s most powerful affiliate, tied to several bomb plots aimed at the United States, including an unsuccessful effort to blow up a Detroit-bound plane in 2009. In recent years, the Yemeni military had launched offensives against AQAP, often with the help of the United States. But the Yemeni army has split, with some units siding with the Houthis. The remaining pro-government forces are focused on fighting the Houthis, not AQAP. The

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complex war in Yemen now also involves the Saudis, who have been bombing Yemen to try to drive back the Shiite Houthis, whom they see as proxies of their rival, Shiite Iran. But the Saudis are not targeting AQAP, which comprises Sunnis. “Why would Saudi attack them if they’re effectively on the same side in this war?” said a Yemeni intelligence official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing security concerns.

AQAP took over Mukalla and surrounding areas without a fight. In the chaos after the fall of the Yemeni government in February and the start of the Saudi air war two months ago, military units in the area abandoned their positions, residents said. Yemen’s president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, fled to Saudi Arabia but is still recognized internationally as Yemen’s leader. Residents of Mukalla say that AQAP’s militants have seized banks and gained control over the town council, the judiciary and nearby military installations, which hold battle tanks and heavy artillery. The residents of Mukalla said AQAP has refrained from imposing strict interpretations of Islamic law, such as banning Arabic music and Western fashions, as the group did when it briefly established an “emirate” in the Yemeni province of Abyan in 2011. The following year, the Yemeni army expelled the AQAP militants with the help of U.S. military advisers and drone strikes.

Now, AQAP’s mostly Yemeni militants are trying to build relationships in Hadramaut by promoting the group’s fighters as a bulwark against Houthi rebels, said Saleh al-Dwaila, a tribal leader in Mukalla who opposes AQAP. Dislike of the Houthis runs especially deep in Yemen’s predominantly Sunni south. “AQAP have been trying to play it carefully here in Mukalla,” Dwaila said. Katherine Zimmerman, an expert on AQAP at the American Enterprise Institute, said the group has gradually asserted control over parts of Yemen, such as Hadramaut, where the Houthi rebels are not fighting. In other provinces, such as Bayda, AQAP militants are trying to win favor with locals by battling the insurgents, she said. “What we’re seeing today in eastern Yemen is much more similar to what Jabhat al-Nusra is doing in Syria,” Zimmerman said, adding that it is “a safe assumption” that the affiliates are coordinating with al-Qaeda’s senior leadership. She said that AQAP’s leader, Nasir al-Wuhayshi, who once worked as Osama bin Laden’s secretary, maintains ties with al-Qaeda’s senior leaders. In an interview last month, the leader of the Syrian al-Qaeda affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, acknowledged that he takes orders from Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian who replaced bin Laden as al-Qaeda’s chief. Those orders include refraining from attacking the West “for the moment,” said Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, a nom de guerre.

Jabhat al-Nusra In Syria, his group — also known as the al-Nusra Front — has fought as part of a new rebel coalition called the Army of Conquest, which has seized key territory in northwestern Idlib province from government forces. Gains in Idlib have brought the rebels to the border with Turkey, a NATO member, and within reach of the Syrian government’s coastal strongholds to the west. Nusra militants also are fighting alongside rebel groups in areas near the borders with Jordan, Lebanon and Israel.

The Army of Conquest has benefited from enhanced coordination among Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar to overthrow Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad. In recent weeks, those countries have provided weapons and logistical support to the rebel coalition, which also includes other Islamists as well as moderate rebels.

Nusra started to acquire significant territory in northern Syria last year, defeating moderate rebel groups that had lost popularity because of reputations for corruption and ineffectiveness.

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Nusra, which fields predominantly Syrian fighters, is seen by many in the country as more honest and potent against Assad’s forces.

Those attributes have helped Nusra weather the challenge posed by the Islamic State, which fields many foreign fighters who are often unfamiliar with local customs. The Obama administration has watched with alarm the expanding influence of Nusra, according to a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the policy issues are sensitive. “The advance in the north worries us. Our goal is not for the regime to lose ground to the benefit of Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham,” he said, referring to another major group that coordinates closely with Nusra but is not an al-Qaeda affiliate. There are moderate groups represented in the coalition seizing territory in the north, he noted. But Nusra is clearly a major player, if not the leading one. Before Nusra joined the Army of Conquest, it had often imposed harsh measures in the areas it controlled, executing adulterers and arresting people for blasphemy. Other Army of Conquest members have pressured Nusra to rein in its extremist behavior, said Charles Lister, an expert on the al-Qaeda affiliate at the Brookings Doha Center. Abu Khalil, an anti-regime activist who monitors fighting in Idlib province, said protests broke out in the northwestern village of Salqin last year after Nusra fighters imposed conservative dress requirements on women and exerted control over village councils. The demonstrations helped persuade the group to soften its policies, added the activist, who asked that his real name not be used, citing safety concerns. Ali al-Mujahed in Sanaa, Yemen, Sam Alrefaie and Suzan Haidamous in Beirut, and Liz Sly and Greg Miller in Washington contributed to this report.

Salafists Gaining Ground, Throughout the Middle East, Thanks to US Intervention

by Dan Sanchez, June 02, 2015

The main impact of US intervention in the Middle East has been to destabilize, polarize, and radicalize the region. Especially, it has fomented a vast, multi-country, new sectarian civil war between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. On each side, the most sectarian forces have gained from the conflict. And benefiting the most have been fanatically intolerant and murderous Salafist

groups like Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. Recent events show this pattern continuing apace. In Iraq, the town of Ramadi, capital of Anbar Province, fell to the Islamic State in mid-May. In Syria, the last government-held town in Idlib province fell to that country’s branch of Al Qaeda (Jabhat al-Nusra) on Friday. In Libya, the town of Misurata, plus the bombed-out Gardabya air base, were abandoned to the Islamic State after a deadly suicide bombing, as it was revealed on Sunday. In Yemen, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) seized an airport and an oil refinery in April. Even in Saudi Arabia, the Islamic State suicide bombed a Shiite mosque on Friday (the second such deadly attack in recent weeks).

It is important to remember how we got to this point. The 2003 US invasion of Iraq and complete dismantling of the Iraqi government completely destabilized the country, leading to a civil war between the Sunnis and Shiites. The US entirely took the Shiite side, and in particular backed the most sectarian and pro-Iran Shiite factions, which were then installed as the new government, following the ethnic cleansing of Sunnis in Baghdad. The war raised the prestige and expanded the operations of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s organization,

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which later became Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), and ultimately the Islamic State. The Sunni tribes were only willing to ally with AQI because the brutal US forces and the virulently anti-Sunni Shiite brigades had proven to be an even worse threat. However, in 2006 the Sunni tribes turned on AQI, which then became marginalized. However, the very next year the US, the Saudis, and their regional allies launched the “Redirection,” a strategic shift toward Sunni insurgents to counter the perceived “Shia Crescent” stretching from Iran to Syria that the US-installed Shiite government in Baghdad had filled in. This was largely at the behest of the Sunni Saudis and Israel, both of whom hate Iran.After the Arab Spring emerged in 2011, the Redirection chiefly meant backing the revolutionaries then seeking to overthrow the secular government of Bashar al-Assad (a member of the Shiite Alawite sect) in Syria. The chief fighters in that insurgency were fanatic Salafist groups like Jabhat al-Nusra (Syrian Al Qaeda) and AQI/Islamic State. Backing the rebellion meant empowering those groups. As Justin Raimondo recently wrote: “The policy of the Obama administration, and particularly Hillary Clinton’s State Department, was — and still is — regime change in Syria. This overrode all other considerations. We armed, trained, and “vetted” the Syrian rebels, even as we looked the other way while the Saudis and the Gulf sheikdoms funded groups like al-Nusra and al-Qaeda affiliates who wouldn’t pass muster. And our “moderates” quickly passed into the ranks of the outfront terrorists, complete with the weapons we’d provided.” As a recently surfaced Defense Intelligence Agency report shows, the US government was fully aware of these realities even while it was pursuing this policy. All this is what led to the expansion of Syrian Al Qaeda we are seeing now.The US also co-opted the Arab Spring in Libya by backing the revolution there against Moammar Gadhafi with military aid and airstrikes in 2011. Here too, the insurgency was rife with Islamist mujahideen, and here too they were empowered by US support. Another DIA report has confirmed that a rat line of arms shipments to the Syrian rebels was running out of the Libyan city of Benghazi, watched over (if not directed) by the CIA. This ended around the time the US embassy in that city was sacked in 2012 and the US Ambassador was killed by the very Islamists Washington had been backing, many of whom were later photographed enjoying the embassy swimming pool. Since then, Libya has been mired in a many-sided civil war. All this is what led to the expansion of the Islamic State in Libya we are seeing now.Eventually, the support for the Syrian insurgency made AQI/ISIS strong enough to stage a conquest of Sunni Iraq in 2014. This was combined with territory already conquered in Syria to form the Islamic State’s “Caliphate.” By this point, the US-backed sectarian Shiite government in Baghdad had alienated the Sunni tribes so much that they put up little resistance to coming under the rule of the Salafists. The first DIA document mentioned above also reveals that the US government saw the establishment of a “Salafist principality” in Syria and the return of AQI/Islamic State to Iraq as probable consequences of foreign support for the Syrian rebellion. Yet, it continued down this mad path nonetheless. All this is what led to the expansion of the Islamic State in Iraq we are seeing now.The US has been long radicalizing Yemen with its drone warfare, leading to the rise of AQAP in that country. Then the US hijacked the Arab Spring in Yemen as well, setting up a phony election in 2012 through which one American-backed dictator was replaced by another. The new ruler was recently overthrown by the Shiite Houthis, who had been long persecuted by the US-armed Yemeni government. The Saudis, with US support, are now bombing the Houthis (and anyone in their vicinity), justifying it as part of their proxy war against Iran and the Shiite Crescent. This has been to the great benefit of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, as the Houthis are AQAP’s chief nemesis. The Saudis recently bombed the

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Houthi-controlled international airport to enforce their baby-killing blockade of Yemen, but have left Al Qaeda’s airport untouched. All this is what led to the expansion of Al Qaeda in Yemen we are seeing now.The US has been arming Al Qaeda and the Islamic State (America’s alleged “mortal enemies” in the Global War on Terror) six ways from Sunday. The weapons it delivered to Gaddafi when he was a US ally ended up in the hands of Al Qaeda-linked rebels in Libya, and then in the hands of Syrian rebels via the Benghazi rat line. These and other weapons delivered (whether directly or laundered through its regional allies) to its “moderate rebels” ended up being passed on to Syrian Al Qaeda or the Islamic State, through mergers, defections, or combat. For example, Syrian Al Qaeda fighters have been video-recorded using US-supplied anti-tank TOW missiles. And the heavy weapons and gear the US has been providing to the Iraqi military are generally abandoned every time the Islamic State conquers a town. The recent fall of Ramadi, for example, netted them 2,300 Humvees.What further consequences could all this lead to? Could things get worse? Much worse, unfortunately. The Islamic State in Saudi Arabia followed up its suicide bombings with a call for “purifying” the Arabian Peninsula of Shiite “filth.” The US Military has announced it is not worried about this at all. However, the land on which the Arabian Shiites live contains most of the country’s oil, although they see very little of the revenue it generates. This manifest injustice, combined with Sunni persecution and terrorism against the Shiites could send that country spiraling into civil war as well. Imagine what would happen to the price of oil and the world economy in that case. The Islamic State could also win the loyalties of the Sunni population (whose Wahhabi doctrine is similar to Salafism) away from the House of Saud.In an interview last Wednesday, the leader of al-Nusra also gave a foreboding indication of what the fate of religious minorities (including many Christians) would be in Syria if Assad’s government were to fall to the American-backed rebels. There is a severe risk that a massive wave of pogroms and ethnic cleansing could sweep through Syria should the secular Baathist regime fall. Also, the US could get drawn into re-invading the region with ground troops, or into attacking Iran (a country far larger and more populous than Iraq), causing even more death, destruction, and chaos. The cauldron could boil over into Israel, and perhaps even cause that neurotic regime to freak out and adopt its nuclear Samson Option. Whether by warring against them or against their chief enemies, US intervention has only helped Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and similar groups grow stronger and stronger. As Scott Horton has said, “War is the health of the Islamic State.” The only way the region can gradually reverse the destabilization, polarization, radicalization, and havoc already wreaked is if the US stops distorting power relations and flooding the region with weapons and blood. Only then will the fanatics again be marginalized, and only then can the various sects and factions again develop a basically peaceful and sustainable modus vivendi. For the sake of the millions of victims in the region, and for our own security, Americans need to loudly demand: US out of the Middle East now.

June 3, The Saudi regime has sent large quantities of weapons and ammunition to al-Qaeda terrorists operating in Yemen, local media say.

According to Yemeni media reports on Tuesday, Riyadh funded and armed al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the Yemen-based branch of the terror group, in a bid to help it fight against the Ansarullah fighters of the Houthi movement. The Saudi regime smuggled 36 trucks through the Wadia border crossing in the eastern Yemeni province of Hadhramaut, 16 of them were loaded with arms and ammunition. The terrorists were also provided with medicine and funds, the reports added. Back in May, reports said Saudi air force also dropped weapons to al-Qaeda militants in the southwestern Yemeni province of

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Ta’izz. Meanwhile, Mohammed al-Attab, Press TV's correspondent in the Yemeni capital Sana’a, reported that some elements affiliated with the Riyadh regime have released al-Qaeda terrorists from prisons in Hadhramaut and the southern province of Aden.

Israel’s Alliance with al-QaedaBy Asa Winstanley Global Research, May 30, 2015 Middle East MonitorRegion: Middle East & North Africa

Since January, I have been ploughing a lonely furrow in this column by covering what is certainly one of the most under-reported stories in the world right now: Israeli involvement in the war in Syria. Almost unnoticed by the mainstream media, Israel’s occupation forces in the Golan Heights have been in alliance with the Nusra Front, al-Qaeda’s official franchise in Syria. This alliance certainly includes logistical support and may even extend as far as arming al-Qaeda rebels in south-western Syria.In January, I showed how the reports of UN peacekeepers in the Golan had talked of regular contacts between rebel forces in that Israeli-occupied sector of Syria. They also observed, according to a June report, Israeli soldiers “handing over two boxes to armed members of the opposition” from the Israeli-occupied side to the Syrian-controlled side.According to further reports by UN peacekeepers, such interactions continued after Quneitra (a town containing a key checkpoint between the Israeli-occupied and Syrian-controlled sectors of the Golan) was overrun by the Nusra Front.In March, I wrote on how an Israeli army spokesperson had now confirmed these reports. He clarified that this extended to logistical support in the form of medical aid to al-Qaeda rebels. “We don’t ask who they are, we don’t do any screening,” the unnamed Israeli military official told the Wall Street Journal. “Once the treatment is done, we take them back to the border [sic - ceasefire line] and they go on their way [in Syria],” he said.For several years now there have been propaganda reports in the Israeli press about how Israel is supposedly playing a purely “humanitarian” role in the Syrian war, by treating civilians and sending them back. But this has now been exposed as propaganda. If that were really the case, Israel would be treating combatants from all sides in the Syrian war and furthermore it would arrest suspected al-Qaeda militants. But in reality, all reports confirm that the Israelis are treating only the “rebel” side, including the al-Qaeda militants that lead the armed opposition in that area of Syria (as indeed they do in much of the country). The key difference that disproves the propaganda line, and proves an active Israel-al-Qaeda alliance is that, after treatment, instead of arresting them, the al-Qaeda fighters are sent back to fight in Syria. There is no chance at all that, in the event that Israel captures injured Hamas, Hizballah or Iranian combatants alive, it would send them back to Gaza or Syria to “go on their way”, as the unnamed Israeli official put it.After all, Israeli forces in that area have, during the course of the war, made several air-strikes on what they claimed were Hizballah targets in Syria. If Israel were genuinely opposed to al-Qaeda, it would hit their positions too. But it seems that Israel prefers al-Qaeda over Hizballah and Iran.

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In April, I reported how Israel had started to cover up its alliance with al-Qaeda. It seems that the propaganda line about their humanitarianism had not been bought by many, so they took measures to stop too much being revealed. Sedqi al-Maqet, a pro-government Syrian activist from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, was arrested, with a military gag-order initially banning the Israeli press from reporting the case. Al-Maqet had used his residence in the Golan to report from his Facebook account in Arabic about contacts he said he had witnessed between Israeli armed forces and what he termed terrorists active in the Syrian-controlled sector of the Golan. One of these videos, aired on Syrian state TV, was used to charging him with “spying”.Since those reports, there have been further confirmations of the Israeli-al-Qaeda alliance. The most oblique of these came from David Ignatius, the Washington Post associated editor and foreign affairs columnist. Earlier this month he wrote that ”Jordan and Israel have developed secret contacts with members of the Jabhat al-Nusra group along their borders.”The second new confirmation came from the Israeli press in the form of Ron Ben Yishai, an Israeli war reporter for Yediot Ahronot, a popular Israeli tabloid. The report, which included video (vetted by the Israeli military) of a hospitalised Syrian rebel (possibly an al-Qaeda militant) with a obscured face, mostly took the usual propaganda line, singing the praises of the wonderful morality of the glorious Israeli army.In the video, Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Itzik Malka claims of the 1,600 wounded he said have arrived in Israel from Syria, “the majority are women, children and elderly people” (my emphasis). That’s another implicit acknowledgement that Israel is treating wounded militants from Syria (the majority of whom in that area are al-Qaeda). And Ben Yishai himself in the article accompanying the footage states that “wounded Syrians have been arriving almost daily to the security fence, seeking medical help. It is likely that most if not all of these nationals are rebels from the rival jihadist Islamic State and al-Nusra Front groups”.All this would be a massive scandal were an official “enemy” of the West, like Iran, or the Syrian government, credibly reported to have aided a terrorist group like al-Qaeda. We would have been bombarded with headlines about it, much like we are currently bombarded with headlines about the evils of the “Islamic State”.But why has all this been pretty much ignored by the mainstream press? Last month, I tried to draw some of the strands together, and suggest how this Israeli-al-Qaeda alliance fits into the wider fight in Syria and the region, especially the latest al-Qaeda offensive in Syria.We can say with confidence that the mainstream press in the West supports Israel, and so does not find it convenient to report on this scandalous Israeli-al-Qaeda alliance in Syria. But it’s crucial to understand that this is part of a wider pattern in which the West’s alliances with (to say the least) morally-dubious regional actors are ignored, downplayed or actively disguised by the media.As I have argued previously, the US and the UK were in large part to blame for the rise of the forces that eventually became the “Islamic State”. They can be said to have created “Islamic State,” since the 2003 invasion of Iraq (and especially the very consciously sectarian policy of divide and rule that the occupation regime enforced there) created the swamp in which al-Qaeda in Iraq (which later became the “Islamic State in Iraq,” which in turn re-branded and became the “Islamic State of Iraq and Sham” when it expanded into Syria and is now know as just the “Islamic State”) was born.But, reports the sterling investigative journalist Nafeez Ahmed, a newly-declassified Pentagon report has now proven that Western intelligence agencies were aware, as far back as August 2012, that “Islamic State” could arise and furthermore they even wanted it to happen.The Defense Intelligence Agency report stated that “there is the possibility of establishing a declared or undeclared Salafist Principality in eastern Syria (Hasaka and Der Zor), and this is exactly what the supporting powers to the opposition want, in order to isolate the Syrian

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regime”. Today, the so-called Islamic State’s power base is in the east and north of Syria, and it controls most of the regions around Deir al-Zor, the regional capital of that eponymous eastern region. The city itself is still contested between regime and ISIS forces.The report (revealed by an American conservative group’s freedom of information request) clarifies in a preceding paragraph that “supporting powers” is a reference to “Western countries, the Gulf states and Turkey”. The term “western countries” here is likely supposed to include Israel. In any event, such intelligence is likely to have been shared with Israel.So with Israel aware that the West was engaged in such cynicism with al-Qaeda-type groups in Iraq and Syria, it’s no wonder Israel feels itself permitted to engage in an active alliance with al-Qaeda in Syria.An associate editor with The Electronic Intifada, Asa Winstanley is an investigative journalist who lives in London. Note: This article was amended at 17.29 BST on May 28, 2015 to make it clearer that Deir al-Zor city itself is still contested between regime forces and ISIS.

Regards Cees; Bin Ladens and al Zawahiri strategic and directives at work; full interviews published in my 2015 Part 4-1-Syria- Nusra-Front-7

Al Jazeera aired the second part of its interview with Abu Muhammad al Julani earlier this week. Julani again made it clear that Al Nusrah is a part of al Qaeda and referenced Ayman al Zawahiri's "directives" following the beginning of the Arab revolutions in late 2010 and early 2011.

Over the course of the two-part interview, Julani also repeatedly referenced Zawahiri’s “orders” and “directives.”

During the first part of his interview, Julani said Al Nusrah was “committed” to Ayman al Zawahiri’s “orders

During the second part of the interview, Mansur asked Julani why Al Nusrah doesn’t spare itself the “international campaign” targeting its locations by leaving al Qaeda’s ranks. Julani made it clear that this wasn’t going to happen

Julani credited Osama bin Laden with devising a strategy to draw America into costly land wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which exhausted US resources to the point that it cannot send its armies and can only engage in “an intelligence war,” and a “spy war.” (AQSL Phase V)

“America wants to drag Iran into a war with us, with the al Qaeda organization and all mujahideen, to fight on behalf of America,” Julani said

Julani continued his answer by pointing to al Qaeda’s true goal: the establishment of an Islamic government based on its version of sharia law. Once such a government is formed, Al Nusrah’s jihadists will be the “first soldiers” in the new ruling body.

This isn’t just his opinion, Julani said, “but the talk of Dr. Ayman [al Zawahiri] himself.”

Julani added another stipulation for the Islamic government he envisions: It must protect the “rights” of the “immigrants” who have traveled “from all over the world,” including Europeans, Chechens, Asians, and a “small number of Americans,” to participate in the revolution

“By the grace of Allah,” Julani said, “we have inherited this banner and this jihad.” The “al Qaeda organization or the Afghan jihad renewed the jihad,” leading it to be “extended to Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Mali, Algeria, and…the Levant.”

Mansur asked Julani for his view of the Arab revolutions that began in late 2010 and early 2011. “The directives issued to us by the al Qaeda Organization, by Dr. Ayman

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[al Zawahiri], stipulated that we should support and guide the revolutions that took place,” Julani responded.

Julani went on to explain al Qaeda’s rationale. The “armies of the region,” including those in Egypt, Syria and Yemen, were not built to protect the people, but instead to quash any rebellion. Therefore, according to Julani, the people “will not find salvation unless they set up their own army.” And, of course, al Qaeda is quite willing to help them do so. The Al Nusrah Front itself “started from scratch,” Julani said.

The Al Nusrah Front is attempting to groom a new generation of Syrians to think as al Qaeda does, and avoid the “deviations” of the past.

Much of the second part of Al Jazeera’s interview was spent discussing Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s organization.

: Al-Qaeda-Aligned Central Asian Militants in Syria Separate from Islamic State-Aligned IMU in Afghanistan

The “directives that come to us from Dr. Ayman [al Zawahiri], may Allah protect him, are that the Al Nusrah Front’s mission in Syria is to topple [Bashar al Assad’s] regime” and defeat its allies, especially Hezbollah, Julani explained. Concurrent with Assad’s planned downfall, Al Nusrah has been ordered to reach “a mutual understanding with other factions to establish a righteous Islamic rule.” “We have received guidance to not use Syria as a base for attacks against the West or Europe so that the real battle is not confused,” Julani said

With Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia supporting this rebel coalition and with a direct supply line open from Turkey’s Hatay Province to Idlib, the rebels may have enough resources to establish a de-facto state in northwestern Syria led by JN and supported by several Central Asian militias (Doha News, April 13).

Central Asian militant groups in Idlib can potentially take advantage of this safe haven in northwestern Syria to recruit and train fighters and collect funding to support their ultimate goal of creating an Islamic caliphate in Central Asia—a goal not all that different from the Islamic State’s.

— Idlib was just the first stage of a more comprehensive plan," claimed one prominent Islamist commander now in Idlib. Some of these concerns made their way to Jabhat al-Nusra, two Salafist sources have confirmed, and came on the heels of a secret order sent from al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in early-2015 that outlined a new and comprehensive strategy for Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria.

According to two well-connected Syrian Islamists with connections into Jabhat al-Nusra, Zawahiri specifically called on Jolani to better integrate his movement within the Syrian revolution and its people; to coordinate more closely with all Islamic groups on the ground; to contribute towards the establishment of a Syria-wide Sharia judicial court system; to use strategic areas of the country to build a sustainable Al-Qaeda power base; and to cease any activity linked to attacking the West.

"Jabhat al-Nusra's disengagement from al Qaeda would be good for the revolution, but Jabhat al-Nusra will always be in dire need of al Qaeda's name to keep its foreign fighters away from IS. Most Jabhat al-Nusra foreign fighters will never accept to fight and die for what looks like an Islamic national project." 

For now, moderation or not, Jabhat al-Nusra must still be viewed as an avowed member of al Qaeda — an organization whose express objective remains to attack and destroy the Western world.

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Should the Assad regime one day fall or be pushed aside in a negotiated political transition, al Qaeda's true colors will surely be revealed.  If for that reason only, the international community must view Jabhat al-Nusra's cunning positioning as part of a long-term plan. Syria is on Europe's doorstep and our 20-year enemy, al Qaeda, is outbidding us and appropriating the support of many of those who could otherwise have been our friends. A number of al Qaeda ideologues, and their allies, have issued a fatwa saying it is “compulsory” for Muslims from Aleppo and elsewhere to drive the Islamic State’s forces back.

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