Al-Qaeda has backfired on the United States - Putin

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Rise of al-Qaeda backfired on the United States, Putin says

President Vladimir Putin spoke frankly about the quandary the U.S. finds itself in Syria. Responding to a specific question about the controversial policy of some Western nations for their sponsorship of terrorism and certain terrorist groups in Syria, Putin had this to say:

"You know when someone aspires to attain an end they see as optimal any means will do. As a rule they will try and do that by hook or by crook and hardly even think of the consequences. That was the case during the war in Afghanistan , when the Soviet Union invaded in 1979. At that time our present partners supported a rebel movement there and it basically gave rise to al-Qaeda – which later back fired on the United States itself", he said (see video link in article: Putin Suggests West Uses Al Qaeda to Bring Down Assad Putin Suggests West Uses Al Qaeda to Bring Down Assad | Atlantic Sentinel ).

Applying that same example to the current situation in Syria Putin said: "Today someone want to use militants from al-Qaeda or some other organization with equally radical views to accomplish their goals in Syria. This policy is dangerous and very short sighted. In that case, one should unlock Guantanamo, arm all the inmates and bring them to Syria to do the fighting. They are practically the same kind of people. But what we should bear in mind is that one day these people will get back at their former captors. On the other hand, these same people should bear in mind that they would eventually end up in a new prison, very much like the ones off the Cuban shore."

The Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a controversial detainment and interrogation facility of the United States military located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba.

The interview ended with Putin warning those nations that support al-Qaeda of "dire consequences" for their short sighted policy in this regard.

Russian president Vladimir Putin speaking on RT television, September 6, 2012.

Rise of al-Qaeda backfired on the United States, Putin says - Wichita Military Affairs | Examiner.com
 
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'Foreign Islamists seek to turn Syria into Sharia state'

Around half of the rebel fighters in Syria are foreign Islamists who aren't interested in toppling the Assad regime. Instead, they're seeking to implement Sharia law throughout the country, according to a prominent French doctor.

The co-founder of the medical charity Doctors Without Borders, Jacques Beres, discovered some interesting information while treating Syrian rebels in the besieged city of Aleppo.

According to Beres, 60 per cent of his patients during his two week service in Syria were rebels– and about half of those were foreign. He says the fighters aren't focused on the fall of the Assad regime. Instead, they have their eyes on a different kind of prize – implementing Sharia law throughout the country.

"It's really something strange to see. They are directly saying that they aren't interested in Bashar Assad's fall, but are thinking about how to take power afterward and set up an Islamic state with Sharia law to become part of the world Emirate," the French doctor told Reuters.

The foreign jihadists include Frenchmen who believe they are waging a "holy war," claiming they're inspired by Mohammed Merah, an Islamist militant from the French city of Toulouse. Merah killed seven people in March, in the name of Al-Qaeda.

"Some of [the patients] were French and completely fanatical about the future," he said. "They are very cautious people, even to the doctor who treated them. They didn't trust me, but for instance they told me that Mohammed Merah was an example to follow," Beres said.

The Syrian government has consistently maintained that the uprising against Assad is being orchestrated from outside the country and is the work of "foreign-backed terrorists."

It's a claim that Beres denied until his recent two-week stint in Aleppo.

Beres spoke of treating rebel fighters from other Arab countries as well, but says his list of patients included at least two Frenchmen.

But the list of nationalities continues to grow – jihadist fighters from Britain have joined the fight as well.

The inflow of foreign fighters has even worried some Syrian rebels, who have accused them of being "too extreme."

As the uprising enters its 18th month, the home countries of foreign rebels are worried, too.
Paris has expressed concern in recent years that French radical Islamists who have traveled to lawless zones would return to plot terrorist attacks at home. This was the case for Mohammed Merah, who traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan before organizing the Toulouse shooting.

'Foreign Islamists seek to turn Syria into Sharia state' — RT
 

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Big mistake of this article Russians were in afghanistan from 1979-1989 to quell islamic fundamentalism which had geopolitical implications.

The West specially in the US administration you still have people who run the Operation Cyclone and who believe in this strategy of arming fundamentalist to throw their adversaries. while they know its a gamble to arm radicals they think its worth taking this risk because according to them the fanatics have a "nuisance" value.

I hope that one day they can surmount their myopic vision
 

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US position on Syria directly endorses terrorism - Lavrov

Washington's reaction to blasts in Damascus is a downright justification of terrorism, slams Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. US State Department announced that terror acts in Syria are not surprising in light of the Assad regime's actions.

"This is direct endorsement of terrorism. How are we supposed to understand that?" Sergey Lavrov shared his astonishment at a press conference in Moscow. "This is a sinister position, I cannot find words to express our attitude towards that."

Lavrov also expressed his surprise that the UN Security Council refused to condemn acts of terror in Syria. The US permanent representative to the UN Susan Rice has stated that terror acts in Damascus contribute to speeding up the adoption of a resolution on Syria according to the Chapter 7 of the UN Statute, which implies harsh sanctions, including resorting to force.

"In other words this means 'We are going to support such acts of terrorism until the UNSC does what we want'," Lavrov commented on the US representative's actions.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said recently that there should be closer work with opposition in Syria as it captures more and more territories to prepare new actions of resistance to the government in Damascus.

Lavrov noted that there were reports that the opposition has taken control over border posts on the Iraqi and Turkish border with Syria and reportedly, there were cases of looting of Turkish property. According to some sources it was not Free Syrian Army militants that captured those posts, but by groups linked to Al-Qaeda, and Russian diplomats are verifying this information.

"If such actions of taking territories by terrorists are supported by our partners, we would like to ask them what their position on Syria is. What do they want to achieve in this country?" Russian FM demanded.

As for the EU unilateral sanctions against Damascus, they contradict the decisions taken by the UN Security Council and agreements reached at the Geneva talks, stated Lavrov.

"We believe the chosen unilateral way contradicts the principal of shared management of affairs accorded with the Geneva agreement," Lavrov said, adding that Russia advocates collective discussion of any questions.

"Unfortunately, when the EU, US and some other states began to adopt sanctions on Syria they did not consult with us at all," Lavrov observed.

Now that the Syrian crisis is over a year and a half old it is not exactly correct to appeal to the Security Council to adopt sanctions, shared the Russian diplomat.

Lavrov stressed that should the international community intended to address the Syrian crisis collectively – it should have been done that way from the very beginning, dealing with both combatant sides equally.

The heads of the EU foreign ministries have made a decision to broaden the list of Syrian officials banned from EU, also freezing their bank accounts and assets in EU countries.

Additional measures have also been adopted to ensure arms embargo on Syria. Henceforth, sea vessels and cargo aircraft heading for Syria are subject to compulsory inspection in case there are grounds to suspect they carry arms and prohibited equipment to Syria.

US position on Syria directly endorses terrorism - Lavrov — RT
 

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'US-backed Libyan militias are turning on each other'

Washington continues to support militant Islamist groups as long as it's politically expedient to do so, says global affairs researcher Benjamin Schett.

**US military adventurism, and the war crimes committed by the country's forces, impoverish the entire region and ultimately lead to a rise in the number of Islamic militant groups, he told RT. Such groups, he says, can end up posing a threat to US citizens.

Schett spoke to RT about the killing of American Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other embassy staff in Libya.

RT: Ambassador Stevens was responsible for building Washington's relations with the Libyan post-revolution interim leadership. Does that indicate that the people behind the attack are of a very different mindset to Libya's current rulers?

Benjamin Schett: Not necessarily. The United States supported militant extremist Islamic groups in order to topple the government of Muammar Gaddafi last year. And one example is the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group. It is, according to the Washington Post, a terrorist organization with links to al-Qaeda. Nevertheless, in 1996, they received support from British Secret Service MI6 to kill Gaddafi, which did not work out, as we know. :tsk: After 9/11, in 2001, they still got support from Western powers during the so-called uprising in Libya last year and the NATO bombing campaign. They got support from the US and Saudi allies, so obviously the US never stopped supporting militant Islamist groups as long as it's in their geopolitical interests.

RT: What does this attack say about the authorities' grip on security in post-Gaddafi Libya?

BS: It shows that Libya is part of a broader organization of the Middle East and South and Central Asia, which is a direct result of US policies. We saw what happened in Afghanistan and Iraq after the US invasion – the clashes between Sunnis and Shias. We see what's happening now in Syria, where the sectarian violence is being supported from the outside :meeting: – from the Gulf states, from the US, and from France. And it's what's happening in Libya – all these different militias that received support in order to fight against Gaddafi are now turning against each other and are pushing for a tribalization of Libya.

RT: It's believed the attacks were a response to this US film deemed offensive to Islam. But could it also be a side effect of US foreign policy in the region?

BS: Definitely. The whole story of the clash of civilizations and Christianity versus Islam – all these stories, they don't show the real picture. The real picture is that the majority of Muslims are as peaceful as the majority of Christians or Jews or whoever. The policy of supporting militant extremist Islamist groups as long as it serves geopolitical interests and fighting secular independent governments in the Middle East, or direct military intervention and war crimes, impoverishing of the whole region – certainly this leads to an increase of Islamic militant movements, which can turn out to be a threat to US citizens, as we've just seen.

RT: It's the first death of a high-profile US diplomat on duty abroad since 1979. Could this killing affect future policymaking in the State Department?

BS: The US official propaganda has a very cynical term regarding civilian deaths during a bombing campaign, called "collateral damage." Of course, they wouldn't use this term when it comes to the death of a US citizen. But I think in the mindset of the US establishment, in a certain way this also was collateral damage because it won't make them stop their policies in the Middle East, even if it threatens the lives of American citizens.

'US-backed Libyan militias are turning on each other' — RT
 
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Hillary Clinton Admits US and Al-Qaeda On Same Side in Syria
Paul Joseph Watson

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has admitted that Al-Qaeda and other groups on the State Department's terror list are on the same side as the United States in Syria and that they are aiding opposition rebels.

In an interview with BBC News (watch video), Clinton states, "We have a very dangerous set of actors in the region, Al-Qaeda, Hamas, and those who are on our terrorist list, to be sure, supporting – claiming to support the opposition [in Syria]."

Clinton's admission that Al-Qaeda is supporting the armed insurrection in Syria dovetails with reports that the same Al-Qaeda terrorists who helped overthrow Colonel Gaddafi in Libya were airlifted into Syria by NATO forces.

Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri's has also publicly expressed support for Syrian rebel forces.

These terrorists have been blamed for bloody attacks that have killed both Syrian regime officials and innocent civilians, including a bombing earlier this month in Syria's second city of Aleppo which killed 28 people.

The recent Arab League report, which was almost universally ignored by the mainstream media, also concluded that both sides of the conflict were responsible for indiscriminate violence and that terrorist groups were helping the rebels carry out attacks.

Despite the admission that terrorists are aiding opposition forces in Syria, the establishment media has attempted to pour cold water on the issue, primarily through mouthpieces like 'Syria Danny' – an "activist" who has been afforded ample time by the corporate press to beg for a military invasion.

"It is richly ironic that the unelected fundamentalist Sunni regimes of the Persian Gulf are supporting Al Qaeda affiliated groups within Syria purportedly to "bring about democratic reforms," writes Professor Michel Chossudovsky. "This is the same dynamic that prevailed in Libya where the overthrow of that country's government by Western and Gulf Arab powers has now led to a collapse in human rights and social conditions."

Despite claims to the contrary, a general in the Free Syria Army, the opposition militia, has told journalists that the rebels are being armed with anti-aircraft missiles by the United States and France. :facepalm:

"In Homs on Tuesday, a general claiming to be from the rebel group appeared on camera and told a journalist from Reuters news agency that "French and American assistance has reached us and is with us." When asked to elaborate on the nature of the assistance he added, "We now have weapons and anti-aircraft missiles and, God willing, with all of that we will defeat Bashar [President Assad]," reports RT.

Former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds also reported that US troops landed on the Jordanian and Syrian border back in December for the purpose of training militants to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.

It was also revealed earlier this month that British Special Forces are already on the ground in Syria advising and directing the rebel army.

Prison Planet.com » Hillary Clinton Admits US and Al-Qaeda On Same Side in Syria
 

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Al-Qaeda-linked group could have advanced weapons after extremists join Syria rebels in seizing missile defence base
Oct 12, 2012 9:24 PM

Fighters from a shadowy group with suspected links to al-Qaeda joined Syrian rebels in seizing a government missile defence base in northern Syria on Friday, according to activists and amateur video.

It was unclear if the rebels were able to hold the base after the attack, and analysts questioned whether they would be able to make use of any of the missiles they may have spirited away.

Nevertheless, the assault underscored fears of advanced weaponry falling into the hands of extremists playing an increasingly large role in Syria's civil war.

Videos purportedly shot inside the air defence base and posted online stated that the extremist group, Jabhat al-Nusra, participated in the overnight battle near the village of al-Taaneh, five kilometres east of the country's largest city, Aleppo. The videos show dozens of fighters inside the base near a radar tower, along with rows of large missiles, some on the backs of trucks.

A report by a correspondent with the Arabic satellite network Al-Jazeera who visited the base Friday said Jabhat al-Nusra took the lead in the attack, killing three guards and taking others prisoner before seizing the base. The report showed a number of missiles and charred buildings, as well as fighters wearing black masks.

Two Aleppo-based activists and Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, also said Jabhat al-Nusra fought in the battle with other rebel groups. They disputed the notion that the extremist group had the lead role in the attack, however.

Despite Western opposition to President Bashar Assad's regime, the U.S. and other countries have cited the presence of extremists among the rebels as a reason not to supply the Syrian insurgents with weapons. They have repeatedly cited concerns of heavy weaponry falling into wrong hands.

Rebel leaders argue that arms shortages mean they'll take aid from whoever offers it, regardless of their ideology.

The base's capture also plays into fears about extremists acquiring Syria's chemical and biological weapons — particularly if the Assad regime collapses and loses control of them.

Little is known about Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Support Front, which began claiming attacks in Syria earlier this year in postings on jihadi forums often used by al-Qaeda.

Meanwhile, the fallout deepened from a Syrian passenger jet forced to land in neighbouring Turkey, as Russia said the plane travelling from Moscow to Damascus was carrying radar parts that were being transported legally.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the plane was carrying a legitimate cargo of "electric equipment for radars," but he added it was of "dual purpose," meaning it could have civilian and military applications.

Turkey's prime minister has said the plane was carrying ammunition and military equipment for the Syrian Defence Ministry.

Fears al-Qaeda-linked group could have advanced weapons after extremists join Syria rebels in seizing missile defence base | World | News | National Post
 

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US "Military Aid" to Syrian Opposition Goes to Al Qaeda
October 16, 2012

American Intelligence officials are acknowledging that the bulk of the weapons flowing into Syria for the US-backed war to topple the regime of Bashar al-Assad are going into the hands of Al Qaeda and like-minded Islamist militias.

A lead article appearing in the New York Times Monday confirms the mounting reports from the region that jihadist elements are playing an increasingly prominent role in what has become a sectarian civil war in Syria.

"Most of the arms shipped at the behest of Saudi Arabia and Qatar to supply Syrian rebel groups fighting the government of Bashar al-Assad are going to hard-line Islamic jihadists, and not the more secular opposition groups that the West wants to bolster, according to American officials and Middle Eastern diplomats," the Times reports.

The article reflects the growing disquiet within US ruling circles over the Obama administration's strategy in Syria and, more broadly, in the Middle East, and adds fuel to the deepening foreign policy crisis confronting the Democratic president with just three weeks to go until the election.

In the distorted public debate between Democrats and Republicans, this crisis has centered around the September 11 attack on the US consulate and a secret CIA headquarters in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi that claimed the lives of the US ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans.

Republicans have waged an increasingly aggressive public campaign, indicting the Obama administration for failure to protect the American personnel. They have also accused the White House of attempting to cover up the nature of the incident, which the administration first presented as a spontaneous demonstration against an anti-Islamic video, before classifying it as a terrorist attack.

In Sunday television interviews, Republicans pressed this line of attack while Democrats countered that it was a political "witch-hunt" and that the initial description of the attack was based on available intelligence at the time.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, appearing on the NBC news program "Face the Nation," argued that the description of the fatal attack in Benghazi as a spontaneous event was politically motivated. The Obama reelection campaign, he charged, is "trying to sell a narrative that"¦ Al Qaeda has been dismantled—and to admit that our embassy was attacked by Al Qaeda operatives undercuts that narrative."

What is involved, however, is not merely the disruption of an election campaign "narrative." The events in Benghazi blew apart the entire US policy both in Libya and Syria, opening up a tremendous crisis for American foreign policy in the region.

The forces that attacked the US consulate and CIA outpost in Benghazi were not merely affiliates of Al Qaeda, they were the same forces that Washington and its allies had armed, trained and supported with an intense air war in the campaign for regime-change that ended with the brutal murder of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi one year ago.

Ambassador Stevens, who was sent into Benghazi at the outset of this seven-month war, was the point man in forging this cynical alliance between US imperialism and forces and individuals that Washington had previously branded as "terrorists" and subjected to torture, rendition and imprisonment at Guantanamo.

The relationship between Washington and these forces echoed a similar alliance forged in the 1980s with the mujahideen and Al Qaeda itself in the war fostered by the CIA in Afghanistan to overthrow a government aligned with Moscow and to bloody the Soviet army.

Just as in Afghanistan, the Libyan arrangement has led to "blowback" for US imperialism. Having utilized the Islamist militias to follow up NATO air strikes and hunt down Gaddafi, once this goal was achieved Washington sought to push them aside and install trusted assets of the CIA and the big oil companies as the country's rulers. Resenting being cut out of the spoils of war, and still heavily armed, the Islamist forces struck back, organizing the assassination of Stevens.

The Obama administration cannot publicly explain this turn of events without exposing the so-called "war on terror," the ideological centerpiece of American foreign policy for over a decade, as a fraud, along with the supposedly "humanitarian" and "democratic" motives for the US intervention in Libya.:meeting:

Moreover, it is utilizing the same forces to pursue its quest for regime-change in Syria, which is, in turn, aimed at weakening Iran and preparing for a US-Israeli war against that country. And, as the Times article indicates, an even more spectacular form of "blowback" is being prepared.

The Times quotes an unnamed American official familiar with US intelligence findings as saying, "The opposition groups that are receiving most of the lethal aid are exactly the ones we don't want to have it."

The article points to the role of the Sunni monarchies in Qatar and Saudi Arabia in funneling weaponry to hard-line Islamists, based upon their own religious sectarian agendas in the region, which are aimed at curtailing the influence of Shia-dominated Iran.

It attributes the failure of CIA personnel deployed at the Turkish-Syrian border in attempting to vet groups receiving weapons to a "lack of good intelligence about many rebel figures and factions."

What the article fails to spell out, however, is precisely what "secular opposition groups" exist in Syria that the US wants to arm. The Turkish-based leaderships of the National Syrian Council and the Free Syrian Army have little influence and are largely discredited inside Syria.

A report issued by the International Crisis Group (ICG) on October 12 entitled "Tentative Jihad, Syria's Fundamentalist Opposition" suggests that the so-called "secularist" armed opposition does not exist. It notes that, "the presence of a powerful Salafi strand among Syria's rebels has become irrefutable," along with a "slide toward ever-more radical and confessional discourse and"¦ brutal tactics."

It cites the increasingly prominent role played by groups like Jabhat al-Nusra [the Support Front] and Kata'ib Ahrar al-Sham [the Freemen of Syria Battalions]," both of which unambiguously embraced the language of jihad and called for replacing the regime with an Islamic state based on Salafi principles."

Finally, it attributes the rising influence of these elements to "the lack of moderate, effective clerical and political leadership," under conditions in which more moderate Sunni elements have opposed the so-called "rebels."

"Overall, the absence of an assertive, pragmatic leadership, coupled with spiraling, at times deeply sectarian, violence inevitably played into more hard-line hands," the ICG report concludes.

Increasingly, elements within the US ruling establishment are citing the growing influence of the Islamist militias in Syria as a justification for a direct US military intervention. Representative of this view is Jackson Diehl, the Washington Post's chief foreign affairs editor and a prominent advocate of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. In an October 14 column, Diehl describes the situation in Syria as "an emerging strategic disaster" attributable to Obama's "self-defeating caution in asserting American power."

"Fixed on his campaign slogan that 'the tide of war is receding' in the Middle East," Diehl writes, "Obama claims that intervention would only make the conflict worse—and then watches as it spreads to NATO ally Turkey and draws in hundreds of al-Qaeda fighters."

Chiding Romney and the Republicans for focusing on the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Diehl notes that this is easier than asking "war-weary Americans" to contemplate yet another war of aggression. Nonetheless, he suggests, once the election is over, such a war will be on the agenda, no matter who sits in the White House.

US "Military Aid" to Syrian Opposition Goes to Al Qaeda | Global Research
 
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Putin criticizes US. In other major news, sun rises in east.
terrorism has been part of foreign policy of US even since WW2, to maintain the gains of that war. its little shocking in beginning for those who joing US's foreign ministry but slowly slowly they get used to with that. like how Ms H.Clinton faced the things, like how Americans and Pakistanis talk in private as below:

I became Secretary of State, they were trying to basically appease the Pakistani Taliban who were attacking them. So they were trying to draw a distinction between the good terrorists and the bad terrorists, because we had funded the "good terrorists" together. :usa:

Referring to the support US provided to these insurgent groups during the fight against the Russians in Afghanistan, Clinton said when she meets Pakistani officials, they rightly say, "You're the ones who told us to cooperate with these people. You're the ones who funded them. :pakistan:

Pak making error by supporting terror groups against India: US : Americas, News - India Today
Western nations are seriously confused with the concept of right and wrong/ good and bad. They always want to do a wrong with keeping many good reasons to do so..........
 

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Analysis: Syria crisis feeds Iraq violence, al Qaeda revival

(Reuters) - It was a brazen, complex attack worthy of Iraq's al Qaeda at its peak. Two bombs minutes apart killed, maimed and distracted while a team of suicide attackers blasted into a Baghdad police base to try to free jailed insurgents.

Tuesday's high-profile assault on a anti-terrorism police unit in Baghdad was the latest in a drive by the Islamic State of Iraq, al Qaeda local affiliate, to make good on a pledge to win back ground lost in its war with American troops - its leader has even threatened to strike at the United States.

Insurgents ultimately failed to free their prisoners, but the intended message was clear: we're back.

With Sunni Muslim militants trickling into neighboring Syria to battle President Bashar al-Assad, security experts say al Qaeda is reaping funds, recruits and better morale on both sides of the border, reinvigorating it after years of losses against U.S. forces and their Iraqi allies. :facepalm:

Islamic State of Iraq and other Sunni militant groups hate Assad's minority Alawite sect, a distant offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, which they see as a heretical oppressor of Sunnis.

Hostile to Shi'ites in general, they also oppose the Shi'ite-led government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Iran, the major Shi'ite power in the region, is a firm ally of Assad and wields great influence in Baghdad.

Al Qaeda appears to be exploiting Sunni-Shi'ite tensions fuelled by the increasingly sectarian conflict in Syria. Many Sunnis in Iraq are already disgruntled with what they see as Maliki's determination to minimize their share in power.

"The Syrian crisis is a venue in which an Iraqi-dominated al Qaeda branch is better able to attract fighters and resources to its cause," said Ramzi Mardini, an analyst with the Institute for the Study of War in Washington. "This may be a revival of confidence on the part of Sunni extremists."

CHANGING SIDES

Once at the heart of a Sunni insurgency against U.S.-led forces, al Qaeda lost many commanders to Iraqi and U.S. troops. Sunni tribes turned the tide against it from 2007, when they fought the group with U.S.-supplied guns, partly in revulsion at the indiscriminate carnage it had inflicted on civilians.

Iraq's violence has eased since the sectarian bloodbath of 2006-2007, but each month since the last American troops left in December al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for at least one major, well-coordinated attack.

A return to all-out sectarian violence looks unlikely, but the possible fall of Syria's Assad worries Iraqi Shi'ite leaders who fear that a hardline Sunni government could come to power instead, emboldening Sunni militants in Iraq.

Already, Baghdad says that seasoned al Qaeda fighters are crossing the 680 km (422 mile) border into Syria to liaise and conduct attacks on Assad's government. That hands Islamic State of Iraq new legitimacy in the eyes of some Sunnis, experts say.

Along Iraq's western frontier with Syria, near Albu Kamal, unrest across the border has fired up sympathies in a Sunni heartland with shared tribal and family ties.

Al Qaeda influence is strong in some remote border villages, and Iraqi forces skirmish daily with smugglers and insurgents sending fighters and weapons into Syria, said one senior Iraqi security official.

"The religious legitimacy of the Syria war and the increase of funding and fighters almost unquestionably benefits Al Qaeda in Iraq," said Seth Jones, a counter-terrorism expert at Washington's RAND Corporation and an author on al Qaeda. "It is heavily involved in overseeing the war in Syria."

NEW CHAPTER, NEW TACTICS?

America's withdrawal took with it U.S. intelligence gathering capabilities, handing insurgents more operational space in former strongholds such as Anbar province and areas where local political infighting hobbles Iraqi armed forces.

At the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at the end of July, a rare communiqué from al Qaeda's local chieftain, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, announced a renewed jihad to recapture areas lost during the years of conflict with American forces.

In a fiery message about his muhahideen combatants,mujahedeenalso warned Americans: "You will soon see them in your homes. The war has only just started."

Even before his call to arms, June witnessed some of the severest attacks attributed to al Qaeda in Iraq since the U.S. pullout, including a surge in bombings on Shi'ite pilgrims and a suicide attack on a Shi'ite religious office in Baghdad.

July was Iraq's bloodiest month in the past two years with 325 people killed in attacks, most of them civilians.

Though al Qaeda's support had dwindled in Iraq because of civilian casualties, its bombings now focus on Shi'ite targets, government offices and local security forces as it seeks to inflame sectarian tensions and undermine Maliki.

The group, once a magnet for foreign fighters who often antagonized locals, has now reverted to a core of Iraqis hardened by the anti-American insurgency and in U.S. jails.

"These organizations have shown a resilience by adapting and forming small diffuse cells," said John Drake, at AKE Group consultancy. Al Qaeda in Iraq is now "seen as a much more domestic organization, so it could actually have more support among some members of the Iraqi public", he added.

FORMER STRONGHOLDS

Undeniably weaker and with less capability to hold territory than it did a few years ago, Iraqi officials acknowledge al Qaeda has crept back into old strongholds, aided by government inertia stemming from political infighting and corruption.

Mosul, a northern city in an area American soldiers once called the triangle of death, is considered the Islamic State of Iraq's unofficial capital, where officials say the group draws millions of dollars a month from extortion rackets.

In Baquba city, where political disputes among Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish leaders have paralyzed the provincial government, more than 20 neighborhood leaders known as mukhtars, who provide information to security forces, quit their posts in July for fear of al Qaeda.

"The reason for this wave of resignations is the armed operations by al Qaeda targeting mukhtars and their families," said Abdullah al-Hiyali, a local mayor.

Some Iraqi security officials play down al Qaeda influence and say evidence from several recent large-scale attacks suggests they were the work of other insurgents linked to political groups trying to destabilize the government.

They point to a wave of attacks that killed more than 100 people on July 23. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility, but none of the attacks involved the group's trademark suicide bombings. Instead multiple car bombs were detonated by remote control.

At least six Sunni insurgent groups, including ex-members of Saddam Hussein's former Baath party, have fought on after the U.S. withdrawal, whereas most Shi'ite militias disbanded or were incorporated into government security forces.

That makes for a complex mosaic of Sunni armed groups who are sometimes rivals and sometimes work together.

But Tuesday's attack in central Baghdad looked like classic al Qaeda. An initial car bomb drew in security forces, followed five minutes later by another blast, killing at least 25 people.

At least three gunmen wearing suicide belts and police uniforms, broke into the counter-terrorism headquarters after one of them detonated his explosives at the gate, according to the interior ministry, which blamed al Qaeda.

Only after a sustained gun battle inside the building did the security forces regain control.

"People were saying in 2009, this group is dead," said Daniel Byman, of the Saban Center at Brookings Institute who released a recent study on al Qaeda affiliates. "Even if they don't succeed in reclaiming territory, the fact they can plausibly contest that is the biggest sign of their success."

(Additional reporting by Suadad al-Salhy and Raheem Salman in Baghdad; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

Analysis: Syria crisis feeds Iraq violence, al Qaeda revival | Reuters[/QUOTE]
 

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Keep it coming @hello_10. I'm completely in agreement with these posts.
 
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Tronic

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Putin criticizes US. In other major news, sun rises in east.
But what has he said wrong? It is true that almost all terror sponsoring states in this world are US clients. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan being the largest ones. Iran is a million times more moderate than the US's allies in the region.
 

The Messiah

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Keep it coming @hello_10. I'm completely in agreement with these posts.
So am i.

These islamists in syria are nothing more than puppets (or maybe massive fools?). If they really were what they claim they are then they would be firing rockets into israel rather than syria at this very moment.
 
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W.G.Ewald

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But what has [Putin] said wrong? It is true that almost all terror sponsoring states in this world are US clients. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan being the largest ones. Iran is a million times more moderate than the US's allies in the region.
In another thread I asked if the US, Britain and France thought siding with the rebels was supporting liberty and democracy. Obama and US DoS don't really think things through - style over substance... But who needs Putin to weigh in?
 

Tronic

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In another thread I asked if the US, Britain and France thought siding with the rebels was supporting liberty and democracy. Obama and US DoS don't really think things through - style over substance... But who needs Putin to weigh in?
I don't believe it's style over substance, Ewald. If it was so, the US would not have quietly nodded the Gulf countries to militarily crush the democratic uprising in Bahrain. It's nothing but shortsightedness.
 

asianobserve

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Putin is lashing out at the prospect of losing its priced Syrian ally. It would do well for him to remember the old adage: "If you can't beat them join them..."
 

pmaitra

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Putin is lashing out at the prospect of losing its priced Syrian ally. It would do well for him to remember the old adage: "If you can't beat them join them..."
Putin has already turned the country from the shambles of Yeltsin era US$ funded 'democracy' to a prosperous Russian Federation of today. I think Putin knows what to do, but thanks for your pearls of wisdom.
 

JBH22

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Prior to 9/11 Russia warned US that their dear -----s allies were fanning terrorism through A-Stan, as always the Yankees overlooked it and their frankenstein monster came back to haunt.

Don't forget US senator Charlie Wilson would claim that Heymaktyar is "goodness personified", Brezinski met all these dirty mullahs without thinking of the long term consequence.
 

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