As the proverb goes, “My brother against my brother, but both of us against our cousin.” What the “experts” referred to in this article do not understand, because they are bound as a matter of policy not to understand, is that these two groups share the same belief system, the same ideology, the same doctrine, the same motives, the same goals.
“Isis and al-Qaeda agree ‘to end fighting and join against their opponents,'” the Independent, November 13, 2014 (thanks to Marc):
Militant leaders from the Isis and al-Qaeda terrorist groups have agreed to stop fighting each other in order to join against their opponents.
Isis, which calls itself the Islamic State (Isis), and al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, have been engaged in bitter fighting for more than a year in an attempt to dominate the bloody rebellion against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The accord set between the extremists groups in northern Syria last week could spell problems for the US-led coalition in its fight against Isis, as it complements its air strikes by arming “moderate” rebel factions to fight on the ground.
Now, if the two terrorist groups fulfil their agreement and unite as one force, this would further weaken US-backed rebels – who are viewed as relatively disorganised.
The agreement follows signs that the two groups had cooled their feud with informal truces, the Associated Press reported. A high-level Syrian opposition and a rebel commander have since told the news agency that the accord would see them halt fighting and to open up against Kurdish fighters in a couple of new areas of northern Syria.
The meeting between seven top militant leaders took place on 2 November in the town of Atareb, west of Aleppo, according to a Syrian opposition official speaking in Turkey. He added that the meeting was closely followed by members of his movement, and he is certain Isis and al-Qaeda reached an agreement.
The Khorasan Group, a small but tough band of al-Qaeda veterans from Afghanistan and Pakistan, were also reportedly present at the meeting, as was Jund al-Aqsa, a hard-line faction that has sworn allegiance to Isis; and Ahrar al-Sham, a conservative Muslim rebel group.
However, experts believe any pact could easily be broken, and US intelligence officials monitoring the terrorist organisations have said that they did not expect a merger to happen soon, if ever.
Speaking on a condition of anonymity, a US official with access to intelligence on Syria said the American intelligence community has not seen any indications of a shift in the two groups’ strategy, but added that he could not rule out tactical deals on the ground….