[Uncle Miltie]

Not only does the group still conduct suicide bombings that have killed hundreds, but it also has proven to be critical to the rebels’ military advance. In battle after battle across the country, Nusra and similar groups do the heaviest front-line fighting. Groups that call themselves the Free Syrian Army and report to military councils led by defected Syrian army officers move into the captured territory afterward.

The prominence of Nusra in the rebel cause worries U.S. and other Western officials, who say its operations rely on the same people and tactics that fueled al Qaeda in Iraq — an assertion that is borne out by interviews with Nusra members in Syria.

Among Nusra fighters are many Syrians who say they fought with al Qaeda in Iraq, which waged a violent campaign against the U.S. presence in that country and is blamed for suicide and car bombings that have killed hundreds of Iraqis since the U.S. troops left a year ago.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/12/02/4454648/front-line-syrian-rebel-group.html#storylink=cpy

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for the info,....disturbing for sure....but no surprise.

[Marine_Uncle]

post #19: From the StarGram article:

Among Nusra fighters are many Syrians who say they fought with al Qaeda in Iraq, which waged a violent campaign against the U.S. presence in that country and is blamed for suicide and car bombings that have killed hundreds of Iraqis since the U.S. troops left a year ago. ------------------------------------------------------------
I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if Saddam's old red mustached general Izzat IBRAHIM al-Duri, the Vice Chair of the RCC, North Reg Cmdr., did not suddenly show up on the scene among this Jabhat al-Nusra Islamist group.

al Duri of course was never shown to be captured. Only early reports that where never proven true, surfaced.