(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Andrew Tabler - Al-Qaeda-inspired extremism is fast becoming part of the internal security threat now facing Damascus. Al-Qaeda is encouraging operatives to move into Syria to take advantage of any security vacuum in the event of the downfall of the government. The longer the bloodshed goes on, the more sectarian the conflict may become, providing fertile ground not only for extremist groups such as al-Qaeda to establish a presence, but Iranian affiliates as well. The writer is senior fellow in the Program on Arab Politics at the Washington Institute.
2012-07-12 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive