The Al Nusrah Front’s ‘inherited jihad’

Long War Journal ^ | 05 June 2015 | Thomas Joscelyn

[Lorianne]

To achieve success, Al Nusrah will have to continue to fend off multiple adversaries, including the Islamic State. Much of the second part of Al Jazeera’s interview was spent discussing Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s organization.

Mansur gave Julani ample room to explore the differences between the two sides. In so doing, Julani said that scholars they trust have deemed the Islamic State to be “kharijite,” that is, similar to an early sect of Islamic extremists. Julani accuses the Islamic State of killing 700 members of Al Nusrah in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor alone. And, he argues, while the Islamic State is heavily invested in the fight against Shiites in Iraq, it spends considerably less resources fighting Assad and his Shiite supporters in Syria.

Julani accuses the Islamic State of doing serious damage to jihadists’ cause. “They completely split the ranks of the mujahideen” and “have offered their services to” the US by “fighting al Qaeda.” The US would need 100 years to accomplish what Baghdadi’s group did to the al Qaeda organization, from Yemen, to the “Khorasan” (Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of the surrounding countries), to the Levant.

Julani was once Baghdadi’s subordinate, and Mansur explored the history of their relationship. Julani claimed that he did not join Baghdadi “except when he told me that he was committed to a pledge of allegiance to Dr. Ayman [al Zawahiri].”

“I paid allegiance to him [Baghdadi] on that basis,” Julani said. But after the Islamic State’s disagreement with al Qaeda “broke out” and the Islamic State refused Zawahiri’s order to return to Iraq, Baghdadi and his men “renounced” their “pledge of allegiance” to al Qaeda. The Islamic State accuses Julani of breaking his covenant, but the Al Nusrah emir claims that it was Baghdadi who renounced his oath first, paving the way for him to break off and form his own group.

“It is known to many people that the State was al Qaeda and al Qaeda was the State in Iraq,” Julani said.

[Lorianne]

This is an excerpt. The entire article is worth a read.

[SunkenCiv]

The Islamic State accuses Julani of breaking his covenant, but the Al Nusrah emir claims that it was Baghdadi who renounced his oath first, paving the way for him to break off and form his own group. "It is known to many people that the State was al Qaeda and al Qaeda was the State in Iraq," Julani said.