Al-Qaeda affiliate’s desperate 'switch' validates US Syria policy

Week in Review

Jul 31, 2016

Members of al Qaeda's Nusra Front ride on a tank as they head towards their positions during an offensive to take control of the northwestern city of Ariha from forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, in Idlib province May 28, 2015. The Syrian army has pulled back from the northwestern city of Ariha after a coalition of insurgent groups seized the last city in Idlib province in northwestern Syria near the Turkish border that was still held by the government. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah - RTR4XXNO — Members of Jabhat al-Nusra ride on a tank as they head toward their positions during an offensive to take control of the northwestern city of Ariha from forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, in Idlib province, May 28, 2015. — REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah

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Nobody buying the "new Nusra"

The announcement by Jabhat al-Nusra on July 28 that it was severing ties with al-Qaeda may be a sign of the terrorist organization’s increasing desperation. Russian and Iranian-backed Syrian forces have now encircled east Aleppo, where Jabhat al-Nusra and its Aleppo Conquest coalition allies have instituted brutal Sharia rule, as documented by Amnesty International. US-Russian negotiations may soon produce an agreement on military coordination that would bring further bad news for what is now called the Front for the Conquest of Syria, or Jabhat Fatah al-Sham.