America and Al Qaeda agree?!

[Chris81]

It seems that we now have a new voice supporting the efforts of the protest movement in Syria.

AL-QAEDA has proclaimed its solidarity with anti-government protesters in Syria in a video message urging the Muslim world to support efforts to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.

Ayman al-Zawahiri, global head of al-Qaeda since the death of Osama bin Laden last May, issued the call to arms in an eight-minute video entitled Onwards, Lions of Syria posted on an Islamist website.

Egyptian-born Zawahiri urged Muslim states, including Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan, to come to the aid of Syrian protesters, who he called on not to ally themselves with the Western powers or the Arab League.


Read more: Al-Qaeda sides with protesters in Syria


So what do you think!

Is this evidence that Syria is fighting a war against terrorism rather than a popular democratic movement or is this the case of a bad egg that just wants to capitalize on the newest populist revolution captivating the international world at this time?

Should the United States rethink its current support of the protestors in Syria given Al Qaeda has throw its support to the protestors or should we stay the course?

 

[TG123]

It seems that we now have a new voice supporting the efforts of the protest movement in Syria.

AL-QAEDA has proclaimed its solidarity with anti-government protesters in Syria in a video message urging the Muslim world to support efforts to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.

Ayman al-Zawahiri, global head of al-Qaeda since the death of Osama bin Laden last May, issued the call to arms in an eight-minute video entitled Onwards, Lions of Syria posted on an Islamist website.

Egyptian-born Zawahiri urged Muslim states, including Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan, to come to the aid of Syrian protesters, who he called on not to ally themselves with the Western powers or the Arab League.


Read more: Al-Qaeda sides with protesters in Syria


So what do you think!

Is this evidence that Syria is fighting a war against terrorism rather than a popular democratic movement or is this the case of a bad egg that just wants to capitalize on the newest populist revolution captivating the international world at this time?

Should the United States rethink its current support of the protestors in Syria given Al Qaeda has throw its support to the protestors or should we stay the course?

Al Qaeda and the US government have many differences, but quite a few things in common, too. Like terrorism.

Don't forget that the US has aided state terrorism in Egypt and Uzbekistan, as well as given arms and support to dictators and death squads in El Salvador, Chile, Guatemala, Honduras, Brazil... the list goes on. The US government has given aid and weapons to Somali warlords, who murder and terrorize their people in the fight against Islamist groups, who do the same thing. Don't forget the sale of arms and other military aid given to Israel, which is used to murder and repress the Palestinian people. The dropping of carpet bombs on Vietnam and cluster bombs in Baghdad and the UN imposed but US-led sanctions on Iraq that caused hundreds of thousands of civilians to die of malnutrition and live in terror of hunger and bombs were caused by the US military.

I don't believe that either Al Qaeda or the US government cares about the people of Syria. They oppose Assad because he is a political enemy; not 'muslim' enough for Al Qaeda and not one of the 'US friendly' dictators that America supports. I don't believe the lives and dignity and safety of the people of Syria fall anywhere into their equations.

I support the Syrian uprising, and hope they will soon be free of Assad. I also pray they do not fall victim to fundamentalists who misuse Islam to oppress the whole society and target non-Muslims, or to neoliberals or neoconservatives in Washington who see Syria as the latest part of the world that can now be exploited and used as a pawn at will.

InshAllah. Fii al-ism al ibnu Allah, Yesua al-Masih.

God willing. In the name of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

 

[mindlight]

Al Qaeda and the US government have many differences, but quite a few things in common, too. Like terrorism.

Don't forget that the US has aided state terrorism in Egypt and Uzbekistan, as well as given arms and support to dictators and death squads in El Salvador, Chile, Guatemala, Honduras, Brazil... the list goes on. The US government has given aid and weapons to Somali warlords, who murder and terrorize their people in the fight against Islamist groups, who do the same thing. Don't forget the sale of arms and other military aid given to Israel, which is used to murder and repress the Palestinian people. The dropping of carpet bombs on Vietnam and cluster bombs in Baghdad and the UN imposed but US-led sanctions on Iraq that caused hundreds of thousands of civilians to die of malnutrition and live in terror of hunger and bombs were caused by the US military.

I don't believe that either Al Qaeda or the US government cares about the people of Syria. They oppose Assad because he is a political enemy; not 'muslim' enough for Al Qaeda and not one of the 'US friendly' dictators that America supports. I don't believe the lives and dignity and safety of the people of Syria fall anywhere into their equations.

I support the Syrian uprising, and hope they will soon be free of Assad. I also pray they do not fall victim to fundamentalists who misuse Islam to oppress the whole society and target non-Muslims, or to neoliberals or neoconservatives in Washington who see Syria as the latest part of the world that can now be exploited and used as a pawn at will.

InshAllah. Fii al-ism al ibnu Allah, Yesua al-Masih.

God willing. In the name of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

Calling support for antiAssad forces support for terrorism is misguided. The greater agenda here is the freedom of the people of syria to choose their own destiny . Something they cannot do under Assad. The incidental benefit to America is the elimination of a true source of terrorism in the region and of a political enemy of the USA. Al Quaeda will ultimately be rejected by the people of Syria I think but they can be a useful tool for the overthrow of the current regime.

 

[Paradoxum]

Why does it matter if Al Qaeda supports the uprising too? I'm sure they believe alot of the same things we do in general about the world, so should we give these things up just because a terrorist group happens to agree?

The protests were peaceful at first, so I really don't know why anyone things the democratic movement could be a terrorist movement.

 

[Chris81]

Calling support for antiAssad forces support for terrorism is misguided. The greater agenda here is the freedom of the people of syria to choose their own destiny . Something they cannot do under Assad. The incidental benefit to America is the elimination of a true source of terrorism in the region and of a political enemy of the USA. Al Quaeda will ultimately be rejected by the people of Syria I think but they can be a useful tool for the overthrow of the current regime.

So there are times when the US should condone terrorism.

 

[mindlight]

So there are times when the US should condone terrorism.

Either that or stop pretending that the American revolution was a legitimate one rather than a terrorist action.

 

[Chris81]

Either that or stop pretending that the American revolution was a legitimate one rather than a terrorist action.

How was the American Revolution a terrorist action? What civilian targets were attacked for the purposes of terrorizing those whom were loyal to the British?

 

[mindlight]

How was the American Revolution a terrorist action? What civilian targets were attacked for the purposes of terrorizing those whom were loyal to the British?

The appointed authority was the British King. American revolutionaries attacked that authority, refused to pay taxes to it and killed its legitimate representatives. Innocent Civilians died in this conflict also - ask the descendants of those loyalists who fled to Canada. It is actually terrorism by most peoples definition.

I think the Americans had some good reasons to revolt - George 3 was a total disaster and also losing America probably allowed Britain to reform sufficiently to win the napoleonic wars and do global empire more professionally than they would have done otherwise. It was a wake up call not to take colonies and British investments in them for granted. In the end an independent America would have happened eventually anyway. The revolution was only an accelerator not the real cause. America has been a real friend in various conflicts we have battled in in WW1, WW2 and the Cold war and now in the war on terror. We have grown weaker while America has grown stronger.

But in the case of Syria Assads control is by force and terror alone and opposition to that arguably has more legitimacy than in the case of American resentment of mad King George.

 

[brohammer26]

Al-Qaeda thrives on these types of situations where a state is failing to draw more muslims to their extremist ideolgies...they will spread propoganda and try to influence them to thier side. Syria would give Al-Qaeda a strategic foothold to carry out thier interests in Israel. Just like the AQIM-Al Qaeda affliate tried to move into libya after NATO was finished.

 

[Chris81]

Al-Qaeda thrives on these types of situations where a state is failing to draw more muslims to their extremist ideolgies...they will spread propoganda and try to influence them to thier side. Syria would give Al-Qaeda a strategic foothold to carry out thier interests in Israel. Just like the AQIM-Al Qaeda affliate tried to move into libya after NATO was finished.

Agreed! Look at Libya, it is a fragmented country run by radicals. It would be best to not support the Free-Syrian army which has been infiltrated by Al-Qaeda.

 

[brohammer26]

Yes i agree to an extent. What I was talking about was intent..and the news article was talking about intent...it does not mean that they have been succesful or that the free syrian army would let that happen..the AQIM has not been succesful in Libya. It could become that way in Syria, but the US does not agree with Al-Qaeda that is a false connection. This is what Al-Qaeda thrives on and they will try to spin the situation in any way they can to make it look like the western powers are out for no good and evil. There is always that possibility that Al-Qaeda could make enough influence there to cause the FSA to ally with them, so the concern is not to be taken lightly.

This situation is a drastically difficult one and it is hard to say what the appropiate thing to do is. Sadly it might be best to just let it go..

 

[razeontherock]

Either that or stop pretending that the American revolution was a legitimate one rather than a terrorist action.

LOLWUT? You Brits are still sore over getting kicked out by a ragtag bunch of misfits? And the British invasion wasn't enough?

 

[razeontherock]

The appointed authority was the British King. American revolutionaries attacked that authority, refused to pay taxes to it and killed its legitimate representatives. Innocent Civilians died in this conflict also - ask the descendants of those loyalists who fled to Canada. It is actually terrorism by most peoples definition.

Terrorism would'be been if we built a submarine and sank British ships in British harbors. What happened was revolt.

 

[mindlight]

LOLWUT? You Brits are still sore over getting kicked out by a ragtag bunch of misfits? And the British invasion wasn't enough?

British invasion?

The Royal American regiment fought with the British in the 6 years war when we won Canada together and like the British army knew how to fight. The authorities in Britain were a bunch of incompetent clowns at the time of the revolution and sent indequate troops and could have avoided the conflict in the first place by giving you parliamentary representation in exchange for taxes. Several of the generals we deployed made serious tactical errors and failed to prosecute the war in a methodical and careful fashion- Washington would not have defeated a Marlborough or Wellington. We managed to get into war with half of Europe at the same time as the revolution and lost naval supremacy in crucial parts of the war. As a result half the American force at Yorktown where you outnumbered us 3-1 were French for example. For us this was a mainly a matter of commercial interest rather than life and death identity so the war was prosecuted half heartedly by comparison to the more passionate revolutionaries.

Anyway I have an American grandad and wife so a part of me is glad you won.

Our success in the Napoleonic war probably owes a great deal to the defeat and the lessons we learnt from it. The major lesson being the need to build the Royal Navy back to a position of total supremacy.

 

[mindlight]

Terrorism would'be been if we built a submarine and sank British ships in British harbors. What happened was revolt.

America was British territory at the time of the revolt and many Americans had sworn allegiance to the crown. The line between revolution and terrorism is a thin line though. John Churchill (Duke of Marlborough and forefather of Winston Churchill) who supported William of Orange and the Glorious revolution of 1688 in Britain being a case in point. General Monck , arguably the founder of the British army, managed to serve Stuarts, then Parliamentarians from 1646 then the Restoration.

 

[razeontherock]

British invasion?

You know, Beatles, Hendrix ... it was a joke

The authorities in Britain were a bunch of incompetent clowns at the time of the revolution and sent indequate troops and could have avoided the conflict in the first place by giving you parliamentary representation in exchange for taxes.

Quite right. And, my Mom's Mom was born on the boat, coming over from England. She was the 13th child.

Several of the generals we deployed made serious tactical errors and failed to prosecute the war in a methodical and careful fashion- Washington would not have defeated a Marlborough or Wellington.

We never withstood a single bayonnet charge! You could have had your worst troops and leaders, and merely decided what you wanted to take and hold

For us this was a mainly a matter of commercial interest rather than life and death identity so the war was prosecuted half heartedly by comparison to the more passionate revolutionaries.

Spirit of '76 is sorely needed right now, against the crushing foe of our economic disaster

 

[razeontherock]

America was British territory at the time of the revolt and many Americans had sworn allegiance to the crown. The line between revolution and terrorism is a thin line though.

And quite a vexing decision for many on this Continent. The sheer brutality of oppressive tactics, while only affecting few in number, is what swayed the momentum. Dark days indeed ... amazing how our alliance has furthered the ideal of world peace!