"A Salafi shindig" The Economist

"The rate at which foreign fighters, both seasoned jihadis and inexperienced young men, have headed for Syria eclipses that of recent conflicts in Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen; and rivals the pull of the battle against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s and that against American-led forces in Iraq in the last decade. Exact numbers are not available, but they have been growing steadily since the start of the conflict, and some say there has been a big jump since the latter half of last year. Turkish flights from Istanbul to Antakya, the entry point to Syria, are something of a jihadi express—though men now travel with women to avoid arousing suspicion from the authorities. Salafi networks from Chechnya to Jordan, Brussels to Tunis arrange the logistics for fighters to transit into the country. Most, but not all, fight with Jabhat al-Nusra, an extremist group with links to al-Qaeda. There are brigades led by Chechens and Libyans."  The Economist

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The jihadis in Syria have now declared that the FSA are as much the enemy as the Syrian government.  They have backed that up by killing one of the senior leaders of the FSA and declaring in telephone calls that they intend to kill all the lleaders of the FSA in order to insure the creation of an Islamic emirate in Syria.  The Afghan Taliban have set up a base in Syria.  Jihadis are pouring int othe country.

At the same time Russia has now formally accused the US, Britain and France of obstructing the work of a UN mission sent to Syria to discover the truth about the use of Sarin gas.  Syria has invited the UN in and the UN has accepted the offer.

Does Obama really want to go down the road of arming our jihadi enemies?  Does Congress wish to allow him to do so?  pl 

http://www.economist.com/blogs/pomegranate/2013/06/jihadis-syria

Comments

[twv]

Do you think that Obama (and his sycophantic academic children) have ANY idea of how to address this?

I don't think that this situation ever came up in the faculty lounge home of Obama "policies."

[DH]

I would think Israel would be frantic to hear that al-Nusra is killing off FSA leaders.

[Medicine Man]

It really is a pity they can't put the shoe on the other foot and arm the Syrian government. GWB's "flypaper" strategy executed by proxy in a war the US didn't start.

[The beaver]

According the BBC, Pakistani Taliban also:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23285245

[Mark Logan]

All:

Any chance this killing is another scam? I'm not questioning there is and will be strife between the factions, it just seems odd they would do this right now, considering the butt-kicking the Army and Hezb'allah are currently giving them, and the FSA desperately wants to present itself as the "alternative".

[FkDahl]

Mon colonel, is this a Saudi military ID?
At 1:12 in this graphic video
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bed_1373652652

This http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuNXQVX7Xhs proclaims to show AQ in Iraq sending reinforcements to the rebels in Syria. Will they get weapons or drone strikes from the US?

[The Twisted Genius]

Since Morsi declared his undying love for the rebels in Syria mere days before he became the unemployed Mr. Morsi, I if some of those jihadis might return the love and bring the fight to Egypt?

[breathdair]

Maybe thinking too much into this, but this is a really strange move.

I'm very curious as to the motivations of the Islamists. By killing rival leaders they actually legitimize the beliefs of folks like McCain, who have argued that the US needed to arm the moderates.

I don't want to go too tin-foil hat, but are the Islamist fighters and their Gulf and Peninsular allies playing a deep game here? The late OBL's goal was to keep the US bogged down in the MidEast, getting dirty and resented in post-invasion occupations. Another goal for the Sunni powers has been to keep the US around to thwart the Shiites. Am I giving them too much credit here? By killing moderates, are they ensuring that the US will try its best to support said moderates, leading to slow mission creep? Are they, like the pro-Israeli factions, truly worried over the thought of a more isolationist US and decided to help the interventionists' cause. A President Rand Paul would cause consternation in many a back room in the ME. Depending on whose back room, it would be a case of no more Daddy Warbucks or convenient scapegoat.

Or is it simply a case of hubris on the part of the Islamist fighters, leading to a hasty move. The moderates aren't a real rival now, and they won't be a real rival in the future. This isn't Egypt.

[Tyler]

Is there a way Christians can go into Syria in a like manner?

[Fred]

I think that if a Christian movement were to arise with the intent to actually defend Christian communities in Syria we would see real panic in the capitals of secular Western governments. Starting with our own. Don't the liberals of the far left think they defeated God in the '60's?

[Medicine Man]

Not since Varna.

[Charles I]

Time to occupy former FSA space kinetically opened up by the Syrian gov't, this ain't about presentation.

[Poul]

Prime Minster Cameron is apparently backing down from shipping weapons to the rebels.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2363803/PM-ditches-plan-arm-Syrian-rebels-military-chief-says-hardly-worth-unless-launches-war.html

"David Cameron has ditched plans to arm the Syrian rebels after being warned by military chiefs that there is little point sending weapons unless he is prepared for all-out war with the Assad regime.

Defence chiefs told the Prime Minister that sending small arms or ground to air missiles is ‘hardly worth it’ since it would make little difference to the outcome of the conflict."