Syria

I originally intended to get this post up before the Insubordination post.  Here is the background and context of the dispute between ISI and the Al Nusra Front. On June 9th, Al Jazeera published a letter, purportedly from Ayman al Zawahiri, addressed to the Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the emir of the Islamic State of […]

Okay, now you’re thinking this Nealen guy has gone completely over the edge. “What the hell do Ewoks have to do with anything?” Bear with me. John McCain agitating to get the US involved in Syria is old news, it is emblematic of a trend I have noticed in American thought for quite a while […]

The command dispute between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Al Nusra Front isn’t going away. After the May 23rd letter from Ayman al Zawahiri, Al Nusra pulled back their own propaganda, apparently waiting to see how things were going to settle out, as Abu Khalid al Suri was appointed by the emir of […]

While the media (and a lot of politicians) are attempting to paint a picture of the Syrian civil war as being about rebels desiring freedom from the tyrant Assad, the actual picture is much different. Anyone who’s been paying attention should not be surprised by this—it’s been the case with most conflicts over the last […]

While the al-Nusra Front gains most of the headlines in the Syrian Civil War, there is another group, called Ahrar al Sham, which is at least Al Nusra’s equal, if not even more important.  A loose conglomeration of Islamist groups from across Syria, Ahrar al Sham, “The Islamic Movement of the Free Men of Greater […]

The fighting in Syria is becoming more convoluted and distorted by the day. When the fighting first started, it was in opposition of President Bashar al-Assad and his Ba’athist regime. It still seems as though the overarching goal of the Free Syrian Army (considered more of an idea than an actual organized single unit) is to […]

The strategies and tactics of the al-Nusra Front (ANF) are working due to the nature of the organization, lessons learned from past AQ mistakes, and the writings and teachings of Abu Musab al-Suri. In 2005 al-Suri was arrested in Pakistan, but for some reason was released and handed over to Syria when the rebel uprising began. […]

There have been reports from multiple news agencies that chemical weapons have been used during the fighting in Syria. The allegations are coming from both sides–al Assad’s regime and the rebel forces. As of now there has been no confirmation that chemical weapons were actually used during the morning of the March 19th attack. According […]

While the media and many news sites cover the violence in Mali and Syria, it bears mentioning that there are still al-Qaeda and other fundamentalist groups operating within Iraq itself.  Violence increased with the withdrawal of US troops last year, and the al-Qaeda involvement in the Syrian civil war has highlighted the fact that the organization […]

al-Qaeda (AQ) has links to various jihadist groups throughout the world and is considered the world’s foremost terrorist organization. In a multi-part series I will be covering a new and highly coordinated group called the al-Nusra Front, which translates as: The Support Front for the People of Syria. The al-Nusra Front is an offshoot of […]

The U.S. policy on aid to Syria is tilting dangerously in the direction of military support. There are many who believe that the situation in Syria should be treated similar to the regime overthrow in Libya. It has become increasingly normal to see media outlets using the ‘cookie cutter’ method in their analysis of countries […]