Source: Antiwar.com
by Kyle Anzalone
“Washington finally completed its dirty war in Syria. What started as a CIA covert operation to smuggle weapons and jihadists from Libya to Syria has resulted in Syria leader Bashar al-Assad being deposed and replaced by Abu Mohammad al-Julani. Julani found his way to Damascus by rising through the ranks of al-Qaeda in Iraq. Inspired by the 9/11 attack, he joined AQI to fight against the US during the Iraq war. Julani was a close associate of both AQI leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and founded the al-Qaeda affiliate group Syria in coordination with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. As more Americans became aware of the CIA’s covert operation in Syria to back jihadists, Julani changed his organization’s name from Al Nusra to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, then Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) to obscure his group al-Qaeda links.” (12/09/24)