McClatchy quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Fellow Faysal Itani on the US stance on the al-Nusra Front and its implications for moderate rebel groups:
“If indeed we end up hitting Nusra hard, then we’re forcing the opposition to choose a side,” said Faysal Itani, a Syria specialist with the Washington-based Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. “And we’re depriving them of a key asset when, at the same time, we don’t have a plan to boost their capabilities fast enough to make up for the loss of Nusra.”
[…]
“Where there’s something that can’t be taken out, send in Nusra, and they’ll be happy to take it out for you,” Itani said of the rebels’ view.