al qaeda in syria - don't look and you will not see

Al-Qaeda linked group claims Damascus bombings on video - are you watching, Panetta?


Further confirming US intelligence warnings that the Syrian opposition is now dominated by al Qaeda, AP reports today that a group called the Al-Nusra Front, "believed to be part of Al Qaeda in Iraq," issued a video taking credit for Friday's bombs in Damascus, which killed 55 and injured scores more. 


The group has taken credit for some earlier bombs as well. AP writes: ``Western officials say there is little doubt that Islamist extremists, some associated with al-Qaida, have made inroads in Syria.''


The video pushes the ``Sunni-Shia'' divide - the current focus of British intelligence across the Islamic world: ``We tell this regime: Stop your massacres against the Sunni people. If not, you will bear the sin of the Alawites. What is coming will be more calamitous, God willing." It also advises Sunnis to avoid security offices, apparently to avoid future bombings.


SecDef Panetta, who claims he's seen no evidence of al Qaeda in Syria (despite DCI James Clapper's report that such evidence is plentiful), would be well advised to watch the video.