al Qaeda rebranded as moderate- How the US did it?
Anyone who is not affiliated with the ISIS are 'moderates' is a statement that gives room for all of us to believe that that there is a good chance of the al Qaeda being re-branded.
The statement by Director of National Intelligence (US), James Clapper stating that all those not part of the ISIS are moderates gives one room to believe that several terrorist outfits such as the Taliban and the al Qaeda are being rebranded.
Good Taliban and now Good al Qaeda
The United States decided to launch attacks against the ISIS in Syria and Iraq. However the battle was harder than what they may have thought it to be.
The
US
does
not
enjoy
the
ideological,
logistic
or
local
support
that
the
ISIS
enjoys
in
the
region
which
makes
the
battle
extremely
difficult.
It
roped
in
the
Hazm
Movement,
the
US-armed
moderate
rebel
faction
in
Syria.
The
US
armed
members
of
the
Hazm
movement,
but
they
failed
to
do
the
job.
What
the
US
realized
that
an
al
Qaeda
stood
a
better
chance
of
fighting
the
ISIS.
Pentagon realizes that there is a need to create a moderate force in Syria, arm them in order to battle the ISIS. The moderate force would have an advantage over the US army as they would involve local fighters.
The
US
and
Pakistan
faced
a
similar
problem
in
Afghanistan
as
well.
Surprisingly
Mullah
Omar
became
the
good
man
leading
the
good
Taliban
against
the
evil
Tehrik-e-Taliban
and
the
just
created
Afghan
ISIS
group
called
the
Al-Khorasan.
The
US
looks
for
a
similar
strategy
in
Syria
as
well
and
who
better
than
the
al
Qaeda
to
be
part
of
the
moderate
armed
team
of
the
Al-Qaeda.
Enter Jabhat al-Nusra
James Clapper said that arming moderate forces is a problem due to international laws. The US and the world have banned the Al-Qaeda and they cannot lift the ban at any cost.
For the US to create a moderate force it would need an outfit which is banned so that arming them could be justified. The creation of a new outfit is not feasible as the question of acceptability among the locals would be difficult.
Who better than the al Qaeda for the job? The Jabhat is the al Qaeda. In fact the al Qaeda uses the name Jabhat in its Syria battle. The Jabhat is not banned and hence arming them would look like a justified action against the evil ISIS for the US.
Who will bell the Jabhat?
The Jabhat however is not easy to rope in. They do not trust the US especially after their members were killed in air strikes. The US however said that these air strikes were really meant to target the ISIS and not them.
The US has roped in Qatar to bell the Jabhat now. Qatar has been luring the Jabhat under and telling its leaders to turn into the moderate force as this would help them rope in more funds and also avoid any international ban.
The Jabhat which has been taking a beating at the hands of the ISIS appears to have bitten the bullet which indicates that it is willing to rebrand itself as the moderate force.
In the long run the top leadership of the al Qaeda which has been resisting the US may be distanced. There is also a good chance of the al Qaeda leadership becoming irrelevant in the near future.
The al Qaeda is already reeling under a severe crisis for the want of a strong leader post Osama Bin Laden. Moreover the creations of several factions which have not been subseverent to the al Qaeda chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri has only added to the woes of the terrorist group.