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Not one of 'bad guys,' but Syrian rebel group proclaims 'anti-American' bent
By NBC News
A
photo-illustration from the Facebook page of the al-Aqsa Islamic
Brigades, a faction of the opposition Free Syrian Army fighting to
topple Syrian President Bashar Assad, shows Islamic fighters marching
away from a burning U.S. Capitol.
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As
debate grows over the extremism of some armed factions battling to
overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime, an incendiary
illustration on the Facebook page of one such group leaves little doubt
where its leaders envision the uprising ending – with masked Islamic
fighters marching through Washington, D.C., as the U.S. Capitol burns in
the background..
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The image is one of eight photos posted on the official Facebook page of the “Al-Aqsa Islamic Brigades,” a small armed Sunni rebel faction fighting with the Free Syrian Army, the main umbrella military organization of the opposition forces. Two other photos posted on the group’s page feature the widely recognized black flag of the al Qaeda in Iraq terrorist group, which operates freely in Syria.
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Evan Kohlmann, a senior partner with the security firm Flashpoint Intelligence and an NBC consultant on terrorism, who discovered the image on Facebook and provided it to NBC News’ investigative unit, said Al-Aqsa has not been designated as a terrorist group by the United States. But he noted that it fights alongside another Free Syrian Army force, the Tawhid Brigade, that has been linked to Jabhat al-Nusra, one of two rebel factions labeled terrorist groups by the U.S. government.
(You mean to say the State Department/CIA don't actually know the full details of ALL THE TERRORISTS FIGHTING FOR THE USA IN Syria, and who is getting what arms, and American taxpayer money?)
"As a group that claims affiliation to the generally pro-Western Free Syrian Army, it is difficult to reconcile the fact that it has plastered such a lurid anti-American image as the banner on its own official Facebook page," Kohlmann said. "It raises the unfortunate but inescapable fact that not every group within the Free Syrian Army is closely aligned with U.S. interests in the region."(Do you think....and only some?)
Flashpoint Intelligence
Gallery on the Al-Aqsa Islamic Brigades Facebook page includes photos featuring the black flag of al Qaeda in Iraq.
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(They all 100% want a sharia SUNNI state....so I am 100% sure that 100% of them eventually must become enemies of the USA.....'The shining light on the hill' purportedly, and a Secular Democracy......which is developing a global empire since 1898......so, ALL these guys if they come to power will stand against everything the USA stands for in terms of values and culture...hamburgers, Pizza's, promiscuity, gender equality, gay rights....blah, blah, blah.......was that rocket science, or just doing Israel's bidding to get mad fundies into power in order to destroy a society)
Several lawmakers questioned Kerry’s assertion and a senior military official told NBC News that actual percentage is “way higher than that.” Defense officials estimate that al Qaeda and related extremists groups now constitute “more than 50 percent” of the rebel force, which is made up of at least 70 different factions, “and it’s growing by the day,” according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
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NBC News' Chief Pentagon Correspondent Jim Miklaszewski contributed to this report.
