“When we finish with Assad, we will fight the U.S.!”

"... Nearly a year later, however, Jabhat al Nusra, which U.S. officials believe has links to al Qaida, has become essential to the frontline operations of the rebels fighting to topple Assad.

Not only does the group still conduct (never condemned) suicide bombings that have killed hundreds, but they’ve proved to be critical to the rebels’ military advance....  the closeness of the coordination between Nusra and other rebels makes it difficult to support one without empowering the other....“Our financial support is greater than other groups, and our faith makes us more effective fighters,” said Mahmoud, explaining why the group had grown so quickly. He said the financial support came from individual donors, not directly from any government. (NOT true)...Car bombings have also increasingly killed civilians in Damascus neighborhoods sympathetic to the government. The first operation Mahmoud’s group supported was a suicide bombing by a Libyan man against an army base north of here.Mahmoud said he saw no reason to hold elections if Assad falls.“Eighty percent of Syrians want Islamic law,” he said.... “When we finish with Assad, we will fight the U.S.!” one Nusra fighter shouted in the northeastern Syrian city of Ras al Ayn when he was told an American journalist present....."

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/12/02/176123/al-qaida-linked-group-syria-rebels.html#storylink=cpy