Is This Al Qaeda's Strategy To Defeat President Bashar Assad?

Rebel fighters, one of them carrying a flag used by al Qaeda's Nusra Front, celebrate at the Mihrab roundabout in the Idlib city centre, after they took control of the area on March 28, 2015. Reuters/Khalil Ashawi

IBTimes: Jabhat Al-Nusra's Win In Idlib Highlights Al Qaeda's Strategy To Defeat President Bashar Assad

The Syrian civil war began as a battle between Syrian opposition groups and President Bashar Assad’s regime, but the battleground quickly evolved into a kaleidoscope of brigades and battalions fighting each other, the regime and terrorist organizations like the Islamic State group. And now, four years into a conflict that is increasingly pulling in foreign fighters and international powers, one Syrian faction has emerged as the most effective one fighting Assad: al Qaeda.

Al Qaeda’s branch in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra (JN), has capitalized on the threat of the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, and the increasing ineffectiveness of moderate rebel groups. And it has succeeded on the ground thanks to a military strategy that relies on partnerships with other rebel groups, many of whom JN said it would be willing to include in a post-Assad Syrian government.

WNU Editor: One of the reasons why President Bashar Assad’s regime has been able to stay in power for so long has been (and still is) the disunity among his opponents .... both politically and militarily. If these rebel groups are able to unify, the military dynamics will definitely change on the ground .... but politically .... the idea of Al Qaeda being victorious in Syria .... I cannot even begin listing the nightmare scenarios that are going through my mind on that prospect.