Main Syrian Rebel Group: We’ll Attack America Later:
The West seems to be moving towards directly arming and training Syrian rebels, even though 10 of 12 groups are Islamist. Since the largest single fighting force is Al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, it would be wise to listen to its future plans.
In an interview with the Economist, a Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist is asked if the group “plan[s] to carry out operations against the West in the future.” Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists aren’t known for their diplomatic language, but the al-Nusra fighter is careful to avoid an overly incriminating quote. He answers:
“There is no permanent friendship and no permanent enemy. We’ll do whatever is in the interest of Muslims. The first duty on us is to fight the kuffar among us here in the occupied Muslim lands. The next duty will be decided later.”
Look at the qualifier: It is al-Nusra’s “first duty” to fight Islam’s enemies in Islam’s lands. In other words, defeat the near-enemy first. Then you decide how to strike the far-enemy.
Observers who argue that Al-Qaeda and Islamic terrorism as a whole are driven by local political struggles misinterpret a jihad in Syria or complaints about U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia as being the causes of terrorism. In fact, they are battlefields in a broader war.
These regional or local “grievances” stem from the Islamist ideology. Elsewhere in the interview, the terrorist explains that this isn’t a jihad solely about Assad’s oppression. “We are not just fighting against tyranny; Bashar Assad is only part of our fight. The other groups are only a reaction to the regime, whereas we are fighting for a vision,” he explains.
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