Al Qaeda Goes to Syria: How to Build an Islamic Emirate Overnight

[valley ranch]

Al Qaeda Goes to Syria: How to Build an Islamic Emirate Overnighthttp://www.globalresearch.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/16QAEDA-jumbo-300x240.jpgLet’s try a thought experiment. Suppose you want to create your own army in say, Syria. You live in Pakistan. You are also a listed terrorist organization allegedly being hunted by multiple nations around the world including both the United States and the EU. How do you suppose you “move” to Syria and build your army or even something as grand as an “emirate?”With what money? With what political support? How do you pass the various borders between Pakistan and Syria to even arrive in your new “emirate?”Like a narrative of a Saturday morning cartoon, the New York Times article, “Al Qaeda Turns to Syria, With a Plan to Challenge ISIS (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/16/world/middleeast/al-qaeda-turns-to-syria-with-a-plan-to-challenge-isis.html?_r=1),” asks us to suspend belief, reporting:
Al Qaeda’s top leadership in Pakistan, badly weakened after a decade of C.I.A. drone strikes, has decided that the terror group’s future lies in Syria and has secretly dispatched more than a dozen of its most seasoned veterans there, according to senior American and European intelligence and counterterrorism officials.

The NYT also claims:
The operatives have been told to start the process of creating an alternate headquarters in Syria and lay the groundwork for possibly establishing an emirate through Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front, to compete with the Islamic State, from which Nusra broke in 2013. This would be a significant shift for Al Qaeda and its affiliate, which have resisted creating an emirate, or formal sovereign state, until they deem conditions on the ground are ready. Such an entity could also pose a heightened terrorist threat to the United States and Europe.
It is extraordinary that Al Qaeda can openly announce this, so openly it is covered in the New York Times, and that there is any chance of it actually taking place (assuming the Western World really is fighting a “War on Terror”). It is equally extraordinary that the New York Times would make such an announcement without enumerating just what this “emirate” entails or with what resources Al Qaeda had to implement it with.DIY Emirate The NYT describes Al Qaeda’s “emirate” as a “formal sovereign state,” and little else. A formal sovereign state requires many things the New York Times failed to mention, among which are:

Energy production;
Schools;
Manufacturing;
Money;
Healthcare;
Police;
Army;
Government (national, provincial, and municipal);
and much, much more.
Even for existing nation-states, getting all of this right is an immense challenge. Yet Al Qaeda and its Syrian franchise Al Nusra seem to have made great progress already laying such groundwork. For instance, Al Nusra has police, runs schools, has hospitals and clinics, obviously has an army, and clearly has no trouble finding money. The real question is, how have they managed to do this?This is a particularly easy question to answer if one reads between the lines of even US and European newspapers. For example, in its 2013 article titled, “Islamist Rebels Create Dilemma on Syria Policy (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/world/middleeast/islamist-rebels-gains-in-syria-create-dilemma-for-us.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0),” the New York Times admits:

Nusra’s hand is felt most strongly in Aleppo, where the group has set up camp in a former children’s hospital and has worked with other rebel groups to establish a Shariah Commission in the eye hospital next door to govern the city’s rebel-held neighborhoods. The commission runs a police force and an Islamic court that hands down sentences that have included lashings, though not amputations or executions as some Shariah courts in other countries have done.

Nusra fighters also control the power plant and distribute flour to keep the city’s bakeries running.
While the NYT attempts to claim this is all funded by stolen oil, it must be remembered that someone must buy that stolen oil. The Syrian government is not buying it, so who is? The answer is given by NYT’s admission of Al Nusra’s strongest influence being in Aleppo, right across the border from Turkey who clearly is both buying stolen oil from Al Nusra (and the Islamic State) as well as subsidizing their occupation of Syria in many other ways.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/al-qaeda-goes-to-syria-how-to-build-an-emirate-overnight/5526297?utm_campaign=magnet&utm_source=article_page&utm_medium=related_articles

[valley ranch]

It is interesting that NYT mentions Al Nusra’s control over bakeries. Controlling bakeries and distributing bread to locals is one of the key activities prescribed by US strategy papers in winning over local populations. It should then be no surprise to find out who is providing these Al Nusra-controlled bakeries with a steady supply of flour, the United States.https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MIObsmdhAe4/VzslRzv8_CI/AAAAAAAANTM/VChZ_aNGLLseMQgVEUprV3anhC4dnB5FACLcB/s400/Syria_bread_2475484c.jpgIn the Washington Post’s article, also published in 2013, “U.S. feeds Syrians, but secretly (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/us-feeds-syrians-but-secretly/2013/04/14/bfbc0ba6-a3b3-11e2-bd52-614156372695_story.html),” it is stated that:
In the heart of rebel-held territory in Syria’s northern province of Aleppo, a small group of intrepid Westerners is undertaking a mission of great stealth. Living anonymously in a small rural community, they travel daily in unmarked cars, braving airstrikes, shelling and the threat of kidnapping to deliver food and other aid to needy Syrians — all of it paid for by the U.S. government.
The Washington Post, in the same article, even admits that most of the residents believe the flour is from Al Nusra, since it is Al Nusra passing out the bread it is made from:
The bakery is fully supplied with flour paid for by the United States. But [local resident] Waisi credited Jabhat al-Nusra — a rebel group the United States has designated a terrorist organization because of its ties to al-Qaeda — with providing flour to the region, though he admitted he wasn’t sure where it comes from.
Reading either the NYT article or the Washington Post piece separately would leave readers confused. Reading them together makes it clear that Al Nusra’s ability to create the groundwork for Al Qaeda’s upcoming “emirate” is owed entirely to the United States and its coalition allies, including Turkey.Al Qaeda Exists Because it is Allowed, Even Encouraged to Do So… Jubhat Al Nusra, a US State Department listed foreign terrorist organization, is considered one of the largest and most influential forces on the battlefield in Syria fighting Damascus, second only to the self-proclaimed Islamic State. Stanford University in its report titled, “Mapping Militant Organizations: Jabhat al-Nusra (http://web.stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/groups/view/493),” admits that:
Al-Nusra is one of the best-equipped rebel groups in Syria…

…Second only to ISIS, al-Nusra attracts the most foreign fighters among rebel groups in the Syrian civil war. These fighters mostly come from the Middle East, but also from Chechnya and European states, with a smaller number from more distant countries like Australia and the United States.
Considering the immense resources admitted by the United States, the European Union, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar pledged to rebel groups in Syria, an alarming question arises when considering how much better equipped and funded Al Nusra appears to be. Where precisely are they getting more funding to be so much better equipped than rebel groups the US and its allies are pouring billions of dollars into? How is Al Nusra able to acquire more resources than the combined efforts of America, Europe and the Persian Gulf?The answer is just as alarming. It is not a coincidence that the US has spent billions on training programs for rebel groups that do not exist and are not currently fighting on the Syrian battlefield. The money was truly spent, but not on “rebels.” Instead, the money, through Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar, has gone straight into Al Nusra’s war chests, armories and administrative budgets. The proof stares the world in the face each day with headlines of Al Nusra’s spanning exploits amid Syria’s grinding war.And as much has even been admitted.Articles like the Independent’s, “Turkey and Saudi Arabia alarm the West by backing Islamist extremists the Americans had bombed in Syria (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-crisis-turkey-and-saudi-arabia-shock-western-countries-by-supporting-anti-assad-jihadists-10242747.html),” the New York Times’, “U.S. Relies Heavily on Saudi Money to Support Syrian Rebels (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/24/world/middleeast/us-relies-heavily-on-saudi-money-to-support-syrian-rebels.html),” and the BBC’s, “Arming Syrian rebels: Where the US went wrong (http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33997408),” add up to paint a stark picture of a United States and the coalition of allies it leads, intentionally building up Al Nusra and sustaining its occupation and entrenchment in Syria.This groundwork, courtesy of the United States and its allies, is what Al Qaeda is building its “emirate” on.
read more:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/al-qaeda-goes-to-syria-how-to-build-an-emirate-overnight/5526297?utm_campaign=magnet&utm_source=article_page&utm_medium=related_articles

[exotix]

'Be frightened ... be very very frightened'


http://i65.tinypic.com/m7rxh5.gif

[Kurmugeon]

'Be frightened ... be very very frightened'


http://i65.tinypic.com/m7rxh5.gif


Fool.

[MMC]

Al-Qaeda's Zawahiri pledges loyalty to new Taliban chief.....

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has pledged allegiance to the new Afghan Taliban chief in an audio message posted online.

The pledge to Mullah Akhtar Mansour was issued by al-Qaeda's media arm al-Sahab and was Zawahiri's first message since September last year.

Al-Qaeda and Zawahiri considered Mullah Omar to be the leader of the global jihadist movement.

In the recording, released on jihadist websites and accompanied by a still image of Zawahiri, he said: "As emir of al-Qaeda, I pledge to you our allegiance, following the path of Sheikh (Osama) bin Laden and his martyred brothers in their allegiance to Mullah Omar."

The death of Mullah Omar has been exploited by IS to try to drive defections from al-Qaeda, analysts say.

Pledges of allegiance are key to a Taliban leader's legitimacy, as breaking an oath is viewed as a sin, experts say.....snip~

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33907666


Z-man told the Taliban that the True Caliphate is with them and Afghanistan.

[donttread]

Al Qaeda Goes to Syria: How to Build an Islamic Emirate Overnight

http://www.globalresearch.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/16QAEDA-jumbo-300x240.jpgLet’s try a thought experiment. Suppose you want to create your own army in say, Syria. You live in Pakistan. You are also a listed terrorist organization allegedly being hunted by multiple nations around the world including both the United States and the EU. How do you suppose you “move” to Syria and build your army or even something as grand as an “emirate?”With what money? With what political support? How do you pass the various borders between Pakistan and Syria to even arrive in your new “emirate?”Like a narrative of a Saturday morning cartoon, the New York Times article, “Al Qaeda Turns to Syria, With a Plan to Challenge ISIS (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/16/world/middleeast/al-qaeda-turns-to-syria-with-a-plan-to-challenge-isis.html?_r=1),” asks us to suspend belief, reporting:
Al Qaeda’s top leadership in Pakistan, badly weakened after a decade of C.I.A. drone strikes, has decided that the terror group’s future lies in Syria and has secretly dispatched more than a dozen of its most seasoned veterans there, according to senior American and European intelligence and counterterrorism officials.


The NYT also claims:
The operatives have been told to start the process of creating an alternate headquarters in Syria and lay the groundwork for possibly establishing an emirate through Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front, to compete with the Islamic State, from which Nusra broke in 2013. This would be a significant shift for Al Qaeda and its affiliate, which have resisted creating an emirate, or formal sovereign state, until they deem conditions on the ground are ready. Such an entity could also pose a heightened terrorist threat to the United States and Europe.

It is extraordinary that Al Qaeda can openly announce this, so openly it is covered in the New York Times, and that there is any chance of it actually taking place (assuming the Western World really is fighting a “War on Terror”). It is equally extraordinary that the New York Times would make such an announcement without enumerating just what this “emirate” entails or with what resources Al Qaeda had to implement it with.DIY Emirate The NYT describes Al Qaeda’s “emirate” as a “formal sovereign state,” and little else. A formal sovereign state requires many things the New York Times failed to mention, among which are:

Energy production;
Schools;
Manufacturing;
Money;
Healthcare;
Police;
Army;
Government (national, provincial, and municipal);
and much, much more.
Even for existing nation-states, getting all of this right is an immense challenge. Yet Al Qaeda and its Syrian franchise Al Nusra seem to have made great progress already laying such groundwork. For instance, Al Nusra has police, runs schools, has hospitals and clinics, obviously has an army, and clearly has no trouble finding money. The real question is, how have they managed to do this?This is a particularly easy question to answer if one reads between the lines of even US and European newspapers. For example, in its 2013 article titled, “Islamist Rebels Create Dilemma on Syria Policy (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/world/middleeast/islamist-rebels-gains-in-syria-create-dilemma-for-us.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0),” the New York Times admits:
Nusra’s hand is felt most strongly in Aleppo, where the group has set up camp in a former children’s hospital and has worked with other rebel groups to establish a Shariah Commission in the eye hospital next door to govern the city’s rebel-held neighborhoods. The commission runs a police force and an Islamic court that hands down sentences that have included lashings, though not amputations or executions as some Shariah courts in other countries have done.


Nusra fighters also control the power plant and distribute flour to keep the city’s bakeries running.

While the NYT attempts to claim this is all funded by stolen oil, it must be remembered that someone must buy that stolen oil. The Syrian government is not buying it, so who is? The answer is given by NYT’s admission of Al Nusra’s strongest influence being in Aleppo, right across the border from Turkey who clearly is both buying stolen oil from Al Nusra (and the Islamic State) as well as subsidizing their occupation of Syria in many other ways.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/al-qaeda-goes-to-syria-how-to-build-an-emirate-overnight/5526297?utm_campaign=magnet&utm_source=article_page&utm_medium=related_articles

"Badly weakened" while ISIS grew stronger than ALQ ever was . I think we need a horse race announcer to do the war brodcasting from Syria , because they are used to talking about 10 horses all competing with each other and we must have close to that many factions fighting in Syria now. BTW, how are our comically named "moderate rebels" farring?

[Peter1469]

The Islamic State is discovering that governance is hard. Especially when you are so extreme that your professional citizens bug out. You can't maintain a modern city with too few engineers. You can't execute all of your doctors because they think you are a troglodyte. You can only rule with brute force for so long.

Forget about the forces fighting them currently. The IS will either moderate or it will collapse under its own hatred.

[Peter1469]

"Badly weakened" while ISIS grew stronger than ALQ ever was . I think we need a horse race announcer to do the war brodcasting from Syria , because they are used to talking about 10 horses all competing with each other and we must have close to that many factions fighting in Syria now. BTW, how are our comically named "moderate rebels" farring?

Apples and oranges. Al Qaeda is a transnational organization. Not a proto-state.

ISIL is attempt to be a real nation-state.

Two very different things.