How U.S. Strikes on Syria Help al Qaeda
With the international community pondering a retaliatory strike against Syria as retribution for its reported use of chemical weapons, the opposition is smitten with joy. For more than two years, it has unsuccessfully tried to drag the world powers from their spectators’ seats into the arena. But though America and its allies appear ready to strike, the Syrian opposition will not benefit. For in the cauldron of chaos that Syria has become, it is the jihadists who control the strongest brigades.
Militants from the Qaeda affiliate the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) kidnap Westerners and fighters from other brigades with impunity. They kill leaders from the rebel-led Free Syrian Army (FSA) without the slightest fear of retribution. ISIS controls key roads, dams, and grain silos, with checkpoints everywhere. In the northern provinces of Aleppo, Idlib, and al-Raqqa, the organization is either the most or second-most powerful brigade. ISIS is an A-Team force among FSA units composed of squabbling Gomer Pyles.
ISIS’s success in Syria is nothing new. In every conflict in which jihadists participate, they quickly become the most dominant fighting force. Several factors account for their supremacy in Syria. Experience from other conflicts—including Chechnya, Iraq, and Mali—provides them with an institutional knowledge of fighting that local combatants often lack. They are frequently the most courageous warriors on the battlefield. Their martial spirit attracts the admiration of locals who seek to join their elite band of brothers. Today, American intelligence agencies believe more than 6,000 foreigners are fighting in Syria.
Unlike indigenous rebels, whose dedication to the cause is as fickle as a teenager’s first crush, jihadists fight for ideological reasons. They believe they are performing a sacred deed by engaging in a jihad, or holy war. The concept is much maligned and misunderstood in the West as a fanatical religious war. A much more nuanced characterization is provided by the Prophet Muhammad’s statement that one should fight “in order that the word of Allah reigns supreme.” Such an exertion can range from bringing Muslims closer to the faith to fostering social cohesion.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/08/28/how-u-s-strikes-on-syria-help-al-qaeda.html