U.S. and Al Qaeda partners in Syria?

Back in the bad old days when the Evil Empire tried to protect its compliant regime in Afghanistan the west and CIA linked up with jihadists to defeat the Afghan Soviet backed regime. History may be repeating itself if this article is correct.

According to Camille Otrakji who edits the online journal Syria Comment the U.S. and AL Qaeda are using each other. Both support the overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria.

Al Qaeda is working alongside the armed opposition and no doubt is responsible for some of the terrorist attacks the regime has suffered. Otrakuji says;"".., the Islamists and Al-Qaeda think, 'We can have an alliance with the Americans or with any secular opposition forces, but later we will be in power,' and the Americans think they can use Al-Qaeda temporarily, if they have to, to get rid of the Syrian regime, and they will somehow manage to get rid of them. So, unfortunately they are apparently working together."

If this scenario is correct one can expect more conflict after Assad is overthrown as secular pro-democracy groups struggle for power with Al Qaeda no doubt allied with other radical Sunni Islamists. Otrakji thinks that some in Washington just want to punish Assad whereas others in Washington are optimistic that in a post Assad regime democratic and secular forces will prevail. In Libya as well Al Qaeda supported the rebels against Gadaffi.

Don Debar a U.S. peace activist said:"First of all, the US is bedfellows with Al-Qaeda in Libya already. Secondly, if you look at the history of al-Qaeda, actually they are a successive group to the allies the US had in Afghanistan when it was fighting the Soviet Union in the late 1970s and early 1980s.""So it's not whether it will happen or not - it's really been happening," One can expect that once Assad is gone Islamic jihadists can turn the focus of their jihad back on the west and the U.S. For more see this article.