Foreign Death Squad Network in Syria Larger Than Stated by WestBrandon Turbeville Yet the extent to which foreign mercenaries and religious fanatics make up the majority of the rebel (more aptly named death squad) ranks might surprise even those who would otherwise be considered well-informed regarding the Syrian situation. The numbers from the admittedly small sample of foreign fighters show that even within the radical elements, there is a broad range of participants. A wide variety of international terrorist organizations have become deeply involved in Syria, Kohlmann said. In fact, based on our data, Sunni foreign fighters in Syria include former Hamas militants from Gaza, relatives of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (the late leader of al Qaeda in Iraq) and leaders of Fatah al-Islam (a Lebanon-based radical Sunni group). What should be particularly worrying for Western governments is the fact that at least a third of the fighters in our sample were affiliated with the most extreme rebel faction, al Qaedas Jabhat al-Nusra and that at least seven of the 280 dead fighters we analyzed were from Western countries, including France, Denmark, Australia, the U.K., and the United States. However, it should be noted that, while few involved in the Syrian conflict will be able to provide a perfect picture of just how many foreign fighters there are, their identity, or whether or not these fanatics are still alive, a study which attempts to do so by using Facebook posts as the source of its data must not be taken as an authoritative account. The Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), a spin-off the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, is an influential beltway think tank whose members have advocated a host of hawkish, pro-Israel policies over the years. It is considered a core member of the Israel lobby, a constellation of policy shops and advocacy groups devoted to pushing an Israel-centric U.S. agenda in the Middle East. Many of WINEPs current and former scholars have been closely associated with neoconservatism, and the organization has generally been supportive of the war on terror policies pushed by representatives of groups like the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Iran and Syria have long been at the center of WINEPs work, with the groups scholars promoting a host of aggressive U.S. policies towards these countries, which often dovetail with the goals of other hawkish pro-Israel campaigns. Meanwhile, residents of the village where the Syrian Falcons were headquartered said there were fighters of several North African nationalities also serving with the brigades ranks. A volunteer Libyan fighter has also told CNN he intends to travel from Turkey to Syria within days to add a platoon of Libyan fighters to armed movement. . . . . . On Wednesday, CNNs crew met a Libyan fighter who had crossed into Syria from Turkey with four other Libyans. The fighter wore full camouflage and was carrying a Kalashnikov rifle. He said more Libyan fighters were on the way. The foreign fighters, some of them are clearly drawn because they see this as a jihad. So this is a magnet for jihadists who see this as a fight for Sunni Muslims. The admission of the presence of al-Qaeda among the death squads has been yet another aspect of the so-called civil war that the Western mainstream media has attempted to avoid until avoidance was no longer possible. Unfortunately for the propagandists, the fact that the death squads are indeed al-Qaeda either officially or in ideological sympathy is no longer hidden nor debatable. The Syrian rebels would be immeasurably weaker today without al-Qaeda in their ranks. By and large, Free Syrian Army (FSA) battalions are tired, divided, chaotic, and ineffective. Feeling abandoned by the West, rebel forces are increasingly demoralized as they square off with the Assad regimes superior weaponry and professional army. Al-Qaeda fighters, however, may help improve morale. The influx of jihadis brings discipline, religious fervor, battle experience from Iraq, funding from Sunni sympathizers in the Gulf, and most importantly, deadly results. In short, the FSA needs al-Qaeda now. Tony Cartalucci of Land Destroyer expounds the subject even further by writing, Also, to be clear, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) is in fact an affiliate of Al Qaeda with its commanders having occupied the highest echelons of Al Qaedas command structure and having participated in every combat engagement Al Qaeda has conducted since its inception via US-Saudi cash and arms in the mountains of Afghanistan in the 1980s. This was documented meticulously in the US Armys West Point Combating Terrorism Center report, Al-Qaidas Foreign Fighters in Iraq. LIFG is also listed by both the US State Department and theUK Home Office (page 5, .pdf) as a foreign terrorist organization and a proscribed terrorist organization respectively. Foreign Policys admission of al-Haratis role in organizing and leading the FSA in Syria, and the inclusion of Libyan terrorists in his brigade are by no means the only role LIFG is playing in the Syrian violence. LIFG commander Abdul Hakim Belhaj had visited the Turkish-Syrian border in late 2011 pledging Libyan arms, cash, and fighters to the FSA with the nation of Libya itself having already become a NATO-created terrorist safe-haven. It is clear that LIFG, and by implication Al Qaeda, is playing a significant role in the violence in Syria, not only undermining the narrative of the unrest being an indigenous pro-democracy uprising, but also implicating foreign nations who are funding and arming militants as state sponsors of terrorism. Included amongst these state sponsors of international terrorism are Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the Hariri faction in northern Lebanon, as well as the NATO-installed government of Libya. This also includes both the United States,who is admittedly providing cash and equipment for the FSAas well as coordinating efforts to arm militants, and now the UK once again with their latest announcement. A similar scenario unfolded in Libya, where LIFG terrorists were likewise carrying out a campaign of nationwide genocide with NATO providing air support. Similarly, by funding, arming, and coordinating acts of violence with LIFG fighters, NATO, and in particular, France, England, and the United States, were guilty of violating both their own respective anti-terrorism legislation, as well as international provisions against terrorism. Further supporting the fundamentalist nature of the majority of the members of the NATO death squads (aka rebels) operating in Syria, Attounssi stated that his initial reason for traveling to Syria to engage in murder, plunder, and torture against innocent people was because he felt his religion required him to engage in jihad against the enemy. Although it was apparently not the killing that turned Attounssi off from the death squad movement, he nevertheless became disillusioned with it because, most of the fighters within the Free Syrian army are fighting for the spoils of war and the foreign aid they supposedly get. Also featured on the show was the father of Hamza Rjeb, another former death squad member who is now disabled. Rjebs father claimed that the Tunisian government should take full responsibility for his sons situation and for allowing groups in the country to brainwash his son. Read other articles by Brandon Turbeville here. Brandon Turbeville is an author out of Florence, South Carolina. He has a Bachelors Degree from Francis Marion University and is the author of three books, Codex Alimentarius The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies, and Five Sense Solutionsand Dispatches From a Dissident.Turbeville has published over 200 articles dealing on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbevilles podcast Truth on The Tracks can be found every Monday night 9 pm EST at UCYTV. He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at) gmail.com. linkwithin_text=Related Articles: 