Al-Qaida Reasserts Itself With Khorasan Group -- Dina Temple-Raston, NPR

One of the first targets of U.S. airstrikes in Syria was an al-Qaida unit that American officials call the Khorasan Group. Because few outside the intelligence community had ever heard of it, some critics have said Khorasan was created out of whole cloth to give the U.S. an excuse to bomb Syria.

They aren't alone: Rebel fighters on the ground say they have never heard of Khorasan. Others claim it's just another name for what's been known for years as Core al-Qaida, the branch of the terrorist group led by Ayman al-Zawahiri that Obama administration officials have claimed the U.S. decimated years ago.

"We've been watching this group for a long time," Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a news conference this week. "I can't account for the fact that it wasn't a household name in America or elsewhere around the world. The notion that we would just, you know, make them up or fancify the threat that they posed, you know, to justify a military action is just absolutely ridiculous."

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My Comment: A sobering and must read analysis on Al Qaeda and it's long term goals in the Middle East.

WNU Editor: A hat tip to reader Jason for this NPR link.