New threat to America - GREATER than ISIS

What is Jabhat al-Nusra and why is it a greater threat than ISIS in the United States?

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) released a report indicating Jabhat al-Nursa is a greater threat to America than ISIS. The report also indicates that, unless the United States changes certain policies, al-Nusra and ISIS will continue to pose serious threats to Americans and our homeland.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - As reported by CNN Politics, Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, is "much more dangerous to the U.S. than the ISIS model in the long run," though both are "existential" threats.
The report specifies why al-Nusra is an American threat and why it surpasses ISIS is due to the "media's and policymakers' single-minded focus on ISIS [which] encourages Americans to overlook the fundamental incompatibility of Iranian and Russian regional and global objectives with those of the U.S. and Europe."

Specifically, the AEI and ISW believe the United States "largely ignores al Qaeda, including its powerful franchise in Syria called Jabhad al Nusra (JN). It also downplays the importance of the sectarian war that has engulfed the Middle East.

"That sectarian conflict is one of the primary drivers of the massive flow of refugees now undermining the integration of Europe, facilitating the destruction of multiple states in the Middle East...and encouraging the mobilization and radicalization of global Sunni and Shi'a populations in the face of what increasing numbers of people perceive to be existential threats. Any effort to counter the al Qaeda and ISIS threats will fail as long as conditions on the ground do not change."
According to the report, American values and way of life will remain at risk so long as al-Nusra exists.
To summarize nearly a page of bullet points, al-Nusra and ISIS overthrow governments and replace them with their own. To make matters worse, American counter-ISIS and al-Qaeda policies aren't harsh enough to ensure the safety of the American people or the homeland. Case in point, America's attempts to destroy safe havens have thus far been ineffective, as have the disestablishment of terrorist network partnerships with local opposition groups.

Kim Kagen, a former advisor to General David Petraeus on Afghanistan strategy and the president of the Institute for the Study of War told CNN: "While ISIS is flashier...both represent an existential threat, both wish to attack the homeland, both seek the mobilization of Muslim communities against the West. Al-Nusra is quietly intertwining itself with the Syrian population and Syrian opposition...They are waiting in the wings to pick up the mantle of global jihad once ISIS falls."
The ISW and AEI propose "a complete re-consideration of the vital national security interests and objectives of the Unites States, its partners, rivals such as Russia and Iran, and its enemies including both ISIS and al Qaeda."
Though the groups admit they spent weeks considering "possible courses of action to mitigate and, if possible, eliminate these conditions and the threats," it admits none "of the courses of action...achieved American national security objectives."
As the group has yet to discover a way to eliminate or, at the very least, mitigate the terrorist threats, it plans to continue "to examine other approaches to the problem and [re-evaluate] its assessments as circumstances on the ground change."
The AEI and ISW plans to publish at least one more paper to describe details of "specific courses of action" they believe could mitigate terror risks, regardless of whether those courses of action will "achieve core American security objectives."
Kagen closes with a warning, saying: "Right now, al-Nusra has decided not to overtly host attack cells because the al Qaeda leadership's priority is preserving success in Syria and avoiding being targeted by the U.S...We define a threat as having the capability and the intent...The capability is already there, and in time, the intent will be as well."

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