Is Al-Nusra Being Presented To The West As A Moderate Force?

Rebel fighters, one of them carrying a flag used by al Qaeda's Nusra Front, celebrate at the Mihrab roundabout in the Idlib city centre, after they took control of the area on March 28, 2015. Reuters/Khalil Ashawi

Robert Fisk, The Independent: After splitting with Al-Qaeda, Al-Nusra is being presented to the West as a moderate force. It’s nothing of the sort

The jihadist force's reputation is being cleaned up, to suggest it is deserving of CIA support

So ol‘ Doc Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden’s chief executive successor, has told the Syrian Jabhat al-Nusra that it can dissociate itself from Al-Qaeda. Good public relations: Nusra doesn’t like the Isis “caliphate” very much, but as long as it remains a Qaeda clone, it can’t get off America’s terrorist list and qualify to join the (non-existent) 70,000 Syrian “moderates” dreamed up by David Cameron and a lot of American television networks.

Qatar's relations with Nusra raises questions. It denies direct ties with the group, and yet six months ago the Qatari Al-Jazeera channel interviewed Nusra’s leader, Mohamed al-Jolani, who said that it had nothing against Christians, Alawites or Americans – only that pesky president in Damascus who’s got Hezbollah, Iran and Russia on his side.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: I hope Robert Fisk is wrong .... but the U.S. and the Persian Gulf states are looking for a way to influence events on the ground in Syria, and since their moderate forces have proven to be entirely ineffective .... why not a "cleaned-up version" of Al Nusra.

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