US-made al-Qaeda biggest threat to US

Most experts believe al-Qaeda was established by the US, itself. Ironically, America created its own top enemy.

The United States founded the al-Qaeda organization back in the late 1980s to expel the Russians from Afghanistan. Just over a decade later, the US attacked Afghanistan to fight the same group. It accused al-Qaeda of masterminding 9/11.

Come 2012, and the love-hate relationship between the US and al-Qaeda plays out again. This time the venue is Syria. Thousands of al-Qaeda operatives from Saudi Arabia, Libya, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Lebanon, Iraq, Somalia and even Chechnya have poured into Syria to fight the government. On payroll, and/or ideologically-driven, the foreign militants fighting in Syria show relentless resolve. They put themselves in harm’s way facing one of the world’s toughest militaries.

The militants kill indiscriminately, just as they do in Iraq and Afghanistan, and just as they do in Pakistan, Somalia, Kenya and so many other places.

For a long time, the world has been fearful of their actions and pictures of their horrific crimes have been cover stories around the globe. But when it comes to Syria, those same terrorists turn into freedom-fighters, and while their threat to world security resonates globally as extremely alarming, it appears to have fallen on deaf ears in Washington and some other Western capitals that simply want President Assad out–at any cost.

The US, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey form the mainstream media’s international community vis-a-vis the question of Syria. This small ‘international community’ has so far failed to convince the whole world that Syria is an imminent threat that has to be taken out. However, it is equally true that Damascus, too, has made ungodly mistakes. It sent its armed-to-the-teeth troops to confront peaceful, pro-democracy protesters. One intelligence source told me that the Syrian army did not have one single teargas canister when the unrest began, and had to use live rounds to disperse the demonstrators. But things turned even uglier after foreign hands started to appear in the conflict, with major bombings and assassinations heralding an era of violence and insecurity in a country that many say is paying the price for its anti-Israeli policies.

It’s now an open secret that Syria’s logistical support drove Lebanon’s Hezbollah to victory over Israel in their infamous 2006 war.

But, why would al-Qaeda want to help Israel take revenge from Syria? Why has al-Qaeda never attacked Israel? Why was al-Qaeda allowed to recruit insurgents in Libya, and Syria? And, was al-Qaeda destroyed in Afghanistan years back or does it still exist as an organization? These are some of many questions for history to answer. But for now, one thing is for sure; the current supporters of those misguided, morally-impaired individuals called al-Qaeda operatives are just nurturing an army of die-hard enemy combatants that will eventually strike them at heart at the time of their choosing.

Hamid Reza Emadi is an Iranian journalist and commentator based in Tehran.

HRE/PKH

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