As the Syrian civil war gets ever more violent and destructive, there is a big beneficiary: al-Qaeda and its franchise in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra — which is now the fastest-growing al-Qaeda front in the world, attracting fighters from across the Islamic world. Today it's focused on destroying the Bashar al-Assad regime but its ultimate goals are much bigger, attacking America and its allies in the heart of the Middle East.

The Syrian franchise gets crucial support from the al-Qaeda core in Pakistan. Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Zawahiri issued a public call in February 2012 in which he urged “every Muslim and every free and honest person in Turkey, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon to rise and help their brothers in Syria with everything they have and can do.”

Zawahiri’s call, just after the announcement of the creation of Jabhat al-Nusra and its first major attacks in Aleppo, was clearly coordinated with the fighters on the ground. Since that call, at least one senior member of the al-Qaeda Shura Council in Pakistan has traveled to Syria to further coordinate plans and operations with the core hiding in Pakistan.  Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton termed the exchanges of messages between al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria as “deeply disturbing” in one of her final interviews in office.

Jabhat al-Nusra, translated variously as the Victory Front or the Support Front for the Syrian people, was officially founded in January 2012, almost a year after the first demonstrations against the dictatorship of President Basher al Assad.   It was created with the additional assistance of the al Qaeda franchise in Iraq which was formed nearly a decade ago during the American invasion of Iraq.  The Iraqi base provided a safe haven for setting up the front in Syria and still provides sanctuary for the Syrian group.