U.S. steps up airstikes against the Al-Qaeda allied Al-Nusra front. Yahoo/Reuters

Allied airstrikes against ISIS. The air war has now expanded. Youtube/AP 

New U.S. airstrikes have begun against the Al-Qaeda allied Al-Nusra front in Syria. Yahoo/Reuters. An office and a vehicle were destroyed in the attack, likely aimed at Al-Nusra commanders. The strikes occurred near the border of Turkey in the town of Sarmada. Al-Nusra has largely been ignored since the first day of the war when several strikes targeted their leadership and killed several important commanders. One of those commanders, Moshin al-Fadhli, was in Osama Bin Laden's inner circle. The new strikes come after a major defeat by U.S. backed rebels by Al-Nusra. The terror group had driven out these rebels in parts of Idlib province and secrured their weapons, some of which are from the United States.

My Comment:
About time that Al-Nusra got the same treatment as ISIS. The terror group IS Al-Qaeda, and even though ISIS have overshadowed them, they are still extremely dangerous. The so called Khorasan group, which was targeted by the United States in the September airstrikes are basically indistinguishable from Al-Nusra. They are brutal and the 2nd largest Islamist group in Syria after ISIS. They more then deserve a few missiles to the face.

Given the threat it is odd that there hasn't been the sustained campaign against Al-Nusra like there has been against ISIS. After the initial strikes they have been left alone, to the best of my knowledge. What has changed since then? I am guessing the victory they had against Western-backed rebels in Idlib is the catalyst for this. In that battle Al-Nusra was able to capture U.S. weapons and equipment. That makes them even more dangerous then they were before.

In addition to the obvious tactical and strategic danger of Al-Nusra taking control of U.S. arms and equipment, it is also incredibly embarrassing to the U.S. war effort. If nothing else it shows that our policy of arming rebels has unintended consequences. It makes us look like fools of the rebels we give our weapons to just gives them up after battle to be captured by Al-Qaeda allies. It really calls into question our entire strategy of arming rebels. That alone could be the reason for the strikes. It may be a warning to the group or it could be petty revenge. Either way, it will be interesting to see if we keep up the pressure on the group.