Shadowy Islamic Terror Group Emerges In Syria: ‘From Their World View, Democracy Is a Religion’
- Posted on May 10, 2012 at 12:34pm by
Billy Hallowell
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DAMASCUS, Syria (The Blaze/AP) — Syria is in shambles, as the country continues to experience incessant instability. As terror rips through the nation’s streets, a mysterious, new jihadist group called Jabhat al-Nusra (Al-Nusra Front) is claiming responsibility for much of the carnage. Little is currently known about the cell, although some experts suspect that the al-Qaida either set the groundwork for the organization or served as the inspiration for its creation.
In the most recent example of terror and violence (though it’s not yet known if the group was involved), two suicide car bombs ripped through the Syrian capital Thursday, killing 55 people. The explosions also shaved the facade off a military intelligence building in the deadliest explosions since the country’s uprising began 14 months ago, the Interior Ministry said.
Residents told an Associated Press reporter that the blasts happened in quick succession during morning rush hour, with an initial small explosion followed by a larger bomb that appeared aimed at onlookers and rescue crews arriving at the scene. Paramedics wearing rubber gloves collected human remains from the pavement as heavily damaged cars and pickup trucks smoldered.
There was no claim of responsibility for Thursday’s blasts. But with the Al-Nusra Front claiming responsibility for several past explosions, its involvement is certainly being questioned.
The latest attack adds to raising fears that terrorist groups are entering the fray and exploiting Syria’s chaos. In addition to the 55 dead, the ministry also said there were 15 bags of human remains, meaning the death toll was likely to rise.
More than 370 people also were wounded in the attack, according to the ministry, which is in charge of the country’s internal security. It said the explosives weighed more than 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds).
Central Damascus is under the tight control of forces loyal to President Bashar Assad but has been struck by several bomb attacks, often targeting security installations or convoys, since the revolt against him began in March 2011.
But the previous attacks happened on a weekend when many people stay home from work, making it less likely for civilians to be killed. Thursday’s blast was similar to attacks waged by al-Qaida in Iraq, which would bolster past allegations by top U.S. intelligence officials that the terror network from the neighboring country was the likely culprit behind previous bombings in Syria. That raises the possibility that its fighters are infiltrating across the border to take advantage of the political turmoil.
A Syrian army soldier secures the scene in southern Syria. (AP)
The Al-Nusra Front has claimed responsibility for some of the previous attacks in statements posted on militant websites. Little is known about the group, though Western intelligence officials say it could be a front for al-Qaida’s Iraq branch. NPR has more:
Brian Fishman has been studying jihadist groups in Syria’s neighbor, Iraq, for years. He says so far, Jabhat al-Nusra appears to be legitimate. Online, he says, they use the typical jihadi icons and rhetoric.
“Moreover, the [Jabhat al-Nusra] as a group has been embraced by the jihadi community online,” Fishman says, “including some important scholars, particularly in Jordan, but other major figures, ideological figures, within the jihadi trend.”
Still, the group is very small, he says, and not necessarily aligned with the protesters and the rebels in Syria. While jihadists might have the same goal as the protesters and the rebels — overthrowing the Syrian regime — Fishman says they don’t have the same plan for what happens after that overthrow. And they certainly don’t have the same ideology.
“From their world view, democracy is a religion because it asserts the sovereignty of human beings over the sovereignty of God,” Fishman says. “So when they see protesters in Syria calling for democracy, they believe that this is a call for the imposition of a religious system that is antithetical to the system they would like to install.”
Just how connected the group is to al-Qaida isn’t yet known. But al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri called for Assad’s ouster in February and has clearly taken a staunch position in the ongoing dispute. Considering this stance, connections to Jabhat al-Nusra could run deep.
The scene from a March 2012 car bomb attack. (AP)
“We strongly condemn the twin bomb attacks this morning in Damascus, which seem to have targeted the maximum amount of casualties and damage and which we see as an act of pure terrorism, from what we see initially,” said Michael Mann, spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
The Syrian government blames the bombings on the terrorists it says are behind the uprising, which has been the most potent challenge to the Assad family dynasty in Syria in four decades. But opposition leaders and activists routinely blame the regime for orchestrating the attacks, saying they help it demonize the opposition and maintain support among those who fear greater instability.
Syria’s state-run news agency, SANA, posted gruesome pictures of the mangled, charred and bloody corpses and human remains – something that it has done after previous bombings, as well. The decision to show such graphic images could be seen as a tactic by the regime to shock Syrians into abandoning any support for the opposition, which it blames for the country’s chaos.
Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, the Norwegian head of the U.N.’s cease-fire monitors in the country, toured the site Thursday and said the Syrian people do not deserve this “terrible violence.”
“It is not going to solve any problems,” he said, when asked what his message was to those who are carrying out such attacks. “It is only going to create more suffering for women and children.”
This footage allegedly shows today’s explosions:
The attack occurred a day after a roadside bomb hit a Syrian military truck shortly after Mood rode by in a convoy traveling to the southern city of Daraa, the birthplace of the uprising.
The relentless violence in the country has brought a cease-fire plan brokered by special envoy Kofi Annan to the brink of collapse. The U.N said weeks ago that more than 9,000 people had been killed. Hundreds more have died since as the conflict has become increasingly militarized, with protesters taking up arms or joining forces with army defectors to fight a brutal crackdown by regime forces.
On Thursday, Annan appealed for calm and an end to bloodshed.
“The Syrian people have already suffered too much,” Annan said in a statement.
Thursday’s explosions began about 7:50 a.m. as the area was crowded with people going to work or doing morning errands. Witnesses said the first explosion attracted curious passers-by, then seconds later, a far larger explosion went off, causing massive damage.
Syrian TV showed shaken young girls in tears who said they were in the nearby Qazaz First Elementary School when the blast occurred. An hour after the blast, the school’s gates were closed and no one was inside.
The explosions left two craters at the gate of the military compound, one of them 3 meters (10 feet) deep and 6 meters (20 feet) wide. Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi posted a message on his Facebook page urging people to go to hospitals to donate blood.
“The house shook like it was an earthquake,” housewife Maha Hijazi said as she stood outside her house across the street from the targeted compound, which is headquarters for a military intelligence department known as the Palestine Branch.
The latest major explosion in the capital occurred on April 27 when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives belt near members of the security forces, killing at least nine people and wounding 26.
The previous deadliest attack in Damascus occurred on Dec. 23, when two car bombers blew themselves up outside the heavily guarded compounds of Syria’s intelligence agencies, killing at least 44 people.
On March, 17, two suicide car bombers struck in near-simultaneous attacks on heavily guarded intelligence and security buildings in Damascus, killing at least 27 people. On Jan. 6, an explosion at a Damascus intersection killed 26, including many policemen.
International diplomacy has failed to stop the bloodshed, and the U.N. has ruled out military intervention of the type that helped bring down Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi, in part out of fear that it could exacerbate the violence.
Annan brokered a peace plan last month, but the initiative has been troubled from the start, with government troops shelling opposition areas and rebels attacking military convoys and checkpoints after the cease-fire was supposed to begin on April 12.
A team of 70 U.N. military observers now in Syria should grow to more than 100 in the coming days. A full team of 300 is expected by the end of the month to oversee a cease-fire intended to allow for talks on a political solution to the conflict.
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slappyhooper
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 6:54pmI worked in Damascus, Syria until the embassy was closed This past February.
The problem is that the Syrian people want change but don’t have great alternatives.
The Christian population tends to support Bashar Assad because they’re afraid an Islamist goverment will persecute them.
Most Muslims don’t see Bashar as the best choice, but they don’t really see a great alternative either.
The rest are fighting the goverment to a statemate
In the mean time there’s a lot of small groups that could be classified as terror networks who are fighting against the standing government but jockeying from position as well.
As all this is happening, the Syrian government is effectively broke, and diverting equipment and funds from everywhere they can to quell the uprising. Recently they’ve been getting additional aid from Russia and China, as well as cozying up to Iran. They‘re doing this because they’re increasingly becoming isolated by all their neighbors. The Arab League has by now proven themselves to be toothless and won’t be able to leverage any additional pressure against Syria. It’s not smart for any NATO country to step in and play peacekeeper because that would just turn into another quagmire and draw islamists to Syria to fight…. As bad as it sounds, the best thing to do is cordon off the area and let the dust settle. It will take a few years but be cheaper in the long run. My two cents.
Report Post »Tigress1
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 10:42amAny readers that believe that Socialism and Communism are good things need to read this about Syria:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Syria
Especially follow the link that describes the “National Progressive Front” and take note of the 11 political parties :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Progressive_Front
Now look at the bloodshed that Syria is inflicting upon its people. Still think Socialism and Communism are good?
Report Post »Tigress1
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 10:03amI never did believe that the Muslim’s definition of “democracy” was the same as ours. However, this new terrorist group sounds even dumber than the usual. Don’t they understand that these Muslims want to use the freedom of democracy to bring about Islamic Law? They are using democracy as a catalyst. Oh well, if Muslims want to blow up other Muslims because they are too ignorant of the other groups’ methods…
Report Post »KangarooJack
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 9:34amThe inhumanity of these acts continues to shock me.
Report Post »GuntherHolman
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 8:39pmOf course these Islamos view democracy as a religion. They see everything from the perspective of religion–a clash of religions–and they fully expect Islam to reign supreme one day. They are psyched. They truly believe their god has given them divine command authority to kill as many infidels as needed.
google Remember the Islamo
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 9:05amLook, the Syrian rebels needed training and weapons. Obama sat on his hands and did nothing while the rebels got slaughtered. They are turning to their only port in the storm. This is on Obama.
Report Post »GuntherHolman
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 8:27pmThat’s how some Islamos do their best work. The first explosion kills innocent women and children, the second explosion takes out rescue workers and police. It has to assault the senses of civilized people, otherwise they failed as 21st century barbarians to fulfill the demands of a 7th century desert barbarian named Muhammad.
http://www.remembertheislamo.com
Report Post »CoyoteDKM
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 7:07pmThe Al-Nusra Front is a fake group created by the Syrian government to use as an excuse to kill more of their people. There are reports and pictures all over the internet saying and showing that the people supposedly killed in today’s explosion were already dead, with bullet holes and various stages of decay. They were dead protesters the government arranged around the bombs. I’ve seen the pictures myself. It is clearly staged, and this group Al-Nusra Front is the exact kind of thing they like to create.
Report Post »Thevoice
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 5:22pmYou just wait for the day that huge green Islamic blob covers the middle east and Africa. Then finishes its connection to Indonesia… Thanks to the commie quack traitor Obama. Then get the commies here that supported it to see how long we got left.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 4:51pmThe Ancient Egyptians… thought Sex was a Religious Rite… maybe because people yell: Oh God :)
Report Post »the_united_states_of_britain
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 4:31pmsame old same old…
kill your own brothers and sisters, we don’t care anymore.
Report Post »FromSeaToSea
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 4:06pmDEMOCRACY IS EVIL. – ONE WORLD GOV. (UN) IS EVIL –
“ AMERICA IS TO BE A REPUBLIC”
“A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.” Thomas Jefferson
Report Post »“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.” Benjamin Franklin
“Democracy is the most vile form of government….democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention….incompatible with personal security or the rights of property.” James Madison
“Democracy…wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide” John Adams
“There was never a democracy that did not commit suicide.”
John Adams
The republican is the only form of government which is not eternally at open or secret war with the rights of mankind. -Thomas Jefferson
Walkabout
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 3:55pmWhy are there no trolls on this topic?
Oh that’s right all they care about is being on the public dole & debauching society.
Somehow Sandra Fluke can scrounge up $619 for a round trip to Spain (Travel only), but she can’t or she refuses to pay for her own birth control. What the Fluke!
Report Post »mike_trivisonno
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 3:42pmOh my. Another “shadowy” “islamic terror group”.
Sounds like the same old Jihad to me.
Report Post »SilentReader
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 3:00pmAh, but the War on Terror (Islamism plunder) is over! So said this BO-Hillary Clinton Administration who are now in bed with the Muslim Brotherhood, and inviting them into the White House and appointing them to prominent positions in the DHS!.
There‘s never been a terrorist that the Obamanistas and the Clintonistas haven’t liked and aided and abetted, and colluded with!
I wonder what kind of carnage is going on in Libya and Egypt that we are not hearing about? Oh yeah. I forgot! They are ushering in the liberating Arab Spring! You know. Where Sharia will be the name of their Supremacist’s game! You know? Freedom and justice! Where women have 2nd class status and can be raped at will, and stoned when they do much less than the Supremacists do on a regular basis. You know? There’s one rule for the male Islamist Supremacists and another rule for everyone else!
The male Islamist Supremacists are the greatest of oppressors while they continue to spew their rhetoric that they are the poor innocent victims.
And yet. These Leftist useless useful OWS idiots side with these real oppressors of women, who would stone them to death while videoing it on their cell phones, and then they turn around and call conservatives the oppressors of women!
Ah, but the Obomanistas and Clintonistas claim that the War on Islamic Terror is over and the al Qaeda is beaten now! After all, didn’t the Divider-in-Chief kill bin Laden with his own woman’s hands?
Report Post »trueamerican40
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 2:40pmWho are they kiddin’? Every Surhansurhan imaginable is in Damascus right now–sharpening their swords while getting off on the thought of spilling blood (mostly their own). lolove.
Report Post »Mamma Bear
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 2:05pmThe Muslims have been involved in the government overthrow from the beginning.
Report Post »Best_Patriot
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 1:46pm@Mark0331, you are wrong about that. If you replace the word “Islamic” with “Mormon,” you will have the answer.
Report Post »Mark0331
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 2:56pmI am wrong?…those are facts, where are yours?…you make blanket statements with NO evidence…come on, you can do better.
Report Post »momrules
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 2:57pmIt‘s your day in the barrel isn’t it sweetie.
Report Post »Mark0331
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 3:18pm@MOMRULES…funny you should say ‘in the barrel’..I am off to the range for some good old American fun…Keep fighting the good fight and as always…Keep the Faith..;-)
Report Post »TH30PH1LUS
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 1:39pmSurhanSurhan, your Muslim friends have started “witnessing for Muhammad” again!
Report Post »momrules
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 1:16pmIt really does not matter what faction these murderers are from or what title they give themselves. This is simply Islam.
Killing Christians, Buddhists,Hindus,etc. or each other to establish supremacy is what they do.
Diplomacy does not work with these people, reason does not work with people and there will never be peace with these people except for 31/2 years..
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 1:20pmSince they broke down into tribes, they have been exceptionally good at murdering each other for centuries.
Report Post »docgreen
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 2:56pmIsn’t it funny to think that muslims “any muslim” would be peaceful muslims to Jews and Christians! When you look at how they treat their own people, you start to understand these Zombies wouldn’t bat an eye to kill US! So it has nothing to do with the US, and Terrorism has everything to do with muslims being muslims! But what really get me and some will think this has allready happened is what the Bible says about Damascus! It states that “Damascus will cease from being a city”, and people will stay away from it and will be left for the beasts! I know some have stated this has allready happened back in the Roman days; But I beg to differ!….. Here’s an interesting thing about this, If Alqueda and Irans Revolutionary guard is part of this we the US and the WORLD have problems! Some reports say prior to the Iraq War, Russia flew planes into Iraq several months prior to the war and flew those weapons into the Bekka Valley. The interesting part is a Book called the Bible Code II stated this, and thats why we didn’t find any Bio, Chemical weapons of Mass Destruction! Now jump ahead to today, if this is right, they are going to go after and use those Weapons! “God Help US and Israel” So now we see that Damascus will cease from being a city any more! When these terrorists get these weapons the World is in Trouble!……… God Speed, and Pray for the Peace of Israel!……
Report Post »momrules
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 3:11pmDoc……yes Damascus will disappear overnight……..nuclear weapon ?.
Babylon will be destroyed………..Saddam Hussein started rebuilding Babylon before the war and the U.S. is helping with the continued rebuilding.
Prophecy will be fulfilled.
Report Post »JimL
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 1:14pmThe evolutionary political ectoplasm from which super people — fit to dictate–emerge.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 1:12pmNow that the terrorist and extremist groups are officially in the game against the Syrain government Obama will throw the might of America behind them as in Libya; we probably have troops in there at this time, just as we did in Libya while Obama will absolutely claim otherwise.
He will rest at nothing to install a radical government backed by the muslim brotherhood or Al’Queda as now are in Tunisia and Libya, soon to be fully in Egypt and bring their Caliphate one step closer to reality.
Report Post »docgreen
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 3:01pmCat, I believe we do have special forces there, but they’re there for guarding the Bio and Chemical weapons that Syria has so much of! I know you know your Bible and read what happens to Damascus! It will cease from being a city any longer!
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 3:29pmDoc – if there to guard the Bio and Chem weapons then we still have a problem; remember how much of a shock we got when the UN went in after Gulf War One to disarm the WMD systems of Saddam? Think of what will happen if one agent from Syria hits any town in Israel with a anthrax or bo-tox based bio agent…
Worse case scenario I can see a terror band, or the insane lord of Iran doing would be to sacrifice a Palestinian community to claim Israel conducted the attack, inflame the area, and ignite the war he wants…
Syria is a multi player game – Iran, Russia, China, Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Shia and Sunni, and now the US under Obama are mixing into a cauldrom of fire about to bubble over and ignite the region in blood.
Report Post »Latter.Day.Saint
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 12:55pmFirst question I have, Muslim Brotherhood connections?
Report Post »Best_Patriot
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 1:14pmActually, they have a connection to the Mormon church.
Report Post »momrules
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 1:17pmYou can bet the MB has their nasty little hand in it somewhere.
Report Post »riseandshine
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 1:25pmProbably Mossad, CIA connections.
Report Post »Mark0331
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 1:27pm@Best…..First, the Islamic Brotherhood is interlinked with the terrorist group Hamas, since Hamas actually grew out of the Islamic Brotherhood.
Second, socialist supporters are providing world-wide support in terms of protests (i.e. the recent pro-Egyptian-people, not pro-Egyptian-government, protests in the United States), socialist web sites and signs with socialist URLs being carried by some Egyptian protestors…..just about every religion has some similarities….‘similarities’ are not in the realm of being ‘ideologically’ the same. Outright support both financial and vocal are huge indicator of where someone stands…apparently the Left supports and encourages the Islamic Brotherhood, therefore, ideologically the same….
Report Post »vegasdomar
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 2:56pmMaybe that explains Harrry “caveat emptor” Reids’ reason for trying to destroy our Republic.
Report Post »He is Mormon, as is his family and Jewish converted wife and a good tithe person to the church.
Head of the Democrat controlled Senate.
That sure sounds sane doesn’t it. Either Bush or the Mormon Church did it. SSSech!
Mark0331
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 12:51pm‘Many people are under the false impression our form of government is a democracy, or representative democracy. This is of course completely untrue. The Founders were extremely knowledgeable about the issue of democracy and feared a democracy as much as a monarchy. They understood that the only entity that can take away the people’s freedom is their own government, either by being too weak to protect them from external threats or by becoming too powerful and taking over every aspect of life.
Report Post »They knew very well the meaning of the word “democracy”, and the history of democracies; and they were deliberately doing everything in their power to prevent having a democracy’….yet you hear the left screaming ‘This is what a democracy looks like’…misinformed and factually crippled left.
Best_Patriot
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 12:48pmWow, are Blaze readers really going to stand for the Blaze using NPR as a source for nearly 1/3 of this story?
Probably…just as they agree with NYT stories quoted that fit their opinion, and then say “I would never read that left wing paper” for all other stories.
Blazes don’t blow with the wind like that, little candles do.
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 1:28pmPEST_PATRIOT, If you’d had your eyes open on many of the stories here, they originate in a variety of news articles and blogs to include the Huffpo. They obviously do not filter all of their articles to come from only select conservative view points. I would think that the likes of you would find that refreshing. BTW, do sites like Huffpo, Daily Cos and other left sites allow conservative articles to run in full, or do they select only portions to castigate. Okay, rhetorical question, I visit a wide variety of sites.
Report Post »NOBALONEY
Posted on May 10, 2012 at 12:45pmAs long as the democracy is based on Sharia law.
Report Post »