The Common Ills: The US fights them in Afghanistan and funds them in Syria

The US went to Afghanistan to fight al Qaeda. Or that's what the people were told. It backed al Qaeda in Mesopotamia fighters in Libya -- the same fighters who had attacked US forces in Iraq. And now it is backing these same fighters in Syria.

Tuesday, the Irish Times reported, "The leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq has said the organistaion has merged with Syria's extremist Jabhat al-Nusra, which has sided with the rebels fighting president Bashar Assad's regime. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, says the two groups will rally under the same al-Qaeda flag. His announcement came in a 21-minute audio message posted on militant websites last night."

al-Nusra?

December 11th, State Dept spokesperson Victoria Nuland issued a statement on al-Nusra which included:

The Department of State has amended the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Executive Order (E.O.) 13224 designations of al-Qa’ida in Iraq (AQI) to include the following new aliases: al-Nusrah Front, Jabhat al-Nusrah, Jabhet al-Nusra, The Victory Front, and Al-Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant. The Department of State previously designated AQI as an FTO under the Immigration and Nationality Act and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under E.O. 13224 on October 15, 2004. The consequences of adding al-Nusrah Front as a new alias for AQI include a prohibition against knowingly providing, or attempting or conspiring to provide, material support or resources to, or engaging in transactions with, al-Nusrah Front, and the freezing of all property and interests in property of the organization that are in the United States, or come within the United States or the control of U.S. persons.
Since November 2011, al-Nusrah Front has claimed nearly 600 attacks – ranging from more than 40 suicide attacks to small arms and improvised explosive device operations – in major city centers including Damascus, Aleppo, Hamah, Dara, Homs, Idlib, and Dayr al-Zawr. During these attacks numerous innocent Syrians have been killed. Through these attacks, al-Nusrah has sought to portray itself as part of the legitimate Syrian opposition while it is, in fact, an attempt by AQI to hijack the struggles of the Syrian people for its own malign purposes. AQI emir Abu Du’a is in control of both AQI and al-Nusrah. Abu Du’a was designated by the State Department under E.O. 13224 on October 3, 2011, and by the United Nations under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 on October 5, 2011. Abu Du’a also issues strategic guidance to al-Nusrah’s emir, Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani, and tasked him to begin operations in Syria.

Reuters has a historical overview of al Qaeda in Iraq here. And, as Jason Ditz (Antiwar.com) notes, the merger comes as US Secretary of State John Kerry meets with what the US pretends is Syrian rebels to explore additional funding:

Kerry and other foreign ministers keen on throwing more funding at the rebels will be meeting with Ghassan Hitto, Texas IT specialist turned “prime minister in exile.” The meeting as with many others, is expected to include calls from the rebels for advanced weaponry at a minimum and from their perspective ideally a full-scale NATO invasion to install them as the new government.

So now the US taxpayer gets to fund al-Nusra, gets to fund the very people who were killing US troops in Iraq.

Of course, the US government wants everyone to be stupid and not know what's going on or, if they do know, to believe that some great wall of China will divide funds the US government gives to the 'rebels' -- a great wall that will not only divide the funds but keep the funds forever divided, ensure the money never mingles with that aspect of the rebel group.

But no one's that stupid.

Anyone who's that stupid is still scratching their heads over the collapse of Lehman Brothers and insisting there was a wall -- a strong one! -- between the banking and the trading side of the failed investment bank. Excuse me. Collapse? The largest bankruptcy in the nation's history.

And that was a wall that only had to be domestic.

Ryan Lucas (AP) observes, "While the U.S. and its European and Gulf allies are concerned about the rising prominence of Islamists among the rebels, the merger is unlikely to prompt a shift in the international support."

No change in support. Monday, US State Dept spokesperson Patrick Ventrell had to dance around the issue of a terrorist attack by rebels in Syria and how, if it took place in Iraq, the same bombing, the US government would call it terrorism. No sooner did he think he was done dancing then AP's Matthew Lee called him on the statement, "We don't have any American personnel inside of Syria." After hemming and hawing, Ventrell said he was only speaking for State Dept personnel. So, yes, Americans are inside Syria and the US taxpayer foots the bill for that -- as Barack prepares to take scissors to the safety net -- but don't expect a supposedly open government in a democracy to ever share that honestly with the citizens.

The following community sites -- plus The Diane Rehm Show, Antiwar.com, Pacifica Evening News, Susan's On the Edge and Adam Kokesh -- updated this morning and last night: