The National newspaper published in the United Arab Emirates confirms our earlier report about the new Syrian insurgency positions in Quneitra at the Israeli Golan border as the launching pad for southern attacks on Damascus:

Western and Arab military advisers based in Amman have quietly stepped up their role on Syria’s southern front, helping win recent advances for opposition factions.

After weeks of heavy fighting, rebel groups announced the seizure of 80 per cent of Qunietra province on Saturday, including areas along the border with Israel. The territory could prove to be a key link between opposition forces in the south and those fighting in and around the Syrian capital.

Qunietra borders the south-west side of rural Damascus and rebel commanders say they will now be able to work on establishing a reliable supply chain to besieged opposition units in districts on the western and southern sides of the capital, areas that have been largely cut off by regime troops since last summer.

This is exactly what we, scooping The National, wrote about this plan.

What the new report misses though is the role Israel plays in protecting the insurgents in the Quneitra zone, mostly Islamists from Jabhat al-Nusra, from Syrian government attacks.

But The National does confirm the role of the joint Arab-American operations room in Amman, Jordan:

Rather than a dramatic increase in training or influx of weaponry [...] the growing role of a secretive Military Operations Command (MOC) centre in Amman has been subtle but distinct, in the form of increasingly focused, hands-on planning and coordination for rebel operations.

 

...

The organisational changes put in place by the MOC have helped clear jams in the chain of command that rebels complained had hamstrung their attempts to effectively work with international backers, in particular when it came to intelligence-sharing and coordinating units for attacks on regime forces.

McClatchy reporters recently interviewed the military commander of the Fee Syrian Army who claims that CIA is cutting him out and is, especially in the South, directly working with the insurgent groups on the ground:

Some 12 to 14 commanders receive military and non-lethal aid this way in northern Syria and some 60 smaller groups are recipients in southern Syria, al Bashir said. They report to the CIA.

“The leadership of the FSA is American,” says the veteran officer, who defected from the Syrian army two years ago and won respect for leading rebel forces in southern Syria. “The Americans are completely marginalizing the military staff. Not even non-lethal aid comes through this office.”

The National notes:

This timing coincides with the rapid rise of Jabhat Al Nusra, an Al Qaeda affiliate, on the southern front.

But The National report then makes it look, without evidence, as if the CIA/MOC involvement is a counter move to the Jabhat al-Nusra rise

Bolstered by an increase in fighters and funding, Al Nusra, once considered a bit-player in southern Syria, suddenly seemed poised to become its most influential actor.

That prospect appears to have galvanised the western and Arab states involved with the southern front into more concerted action designed to better organise moderate factions.

The last paragraph is a rather wild assertion. Facts on ground, especially the Israeli protection for JAN in Queintra, are inconsistent with that claim. Instead the rise of Jabhat al-Nusra in the south and its prominent role in the Quneitra launching pad operation seem to be a consequence of the greater CIA involvement.

This conclusion is also supported by the earlier campaign in U.S. media which falsely established JAN, despite its sworn allegiance to al-Qaeda, as Your Moderate Cuddly Homegrown Al-Qaeda which is, so it is claimed, much less evil than the savages of ISIS.

The Quneitra operation is already creating security problems in Damascus. A report in today's New York Times points to a first probing attack on Damascus from the south:

In Damascus on Tuesday, security forces carried out intensive raids in the Midan neighborhood, after insurgents not affiliated with the Islamic State infiltrated the district at dawn on Monday and clashed with government troops. It was the first ground attack in months across the broad bypass highway that divides the restive suburbs from the government-controlled city center.

State news media said insurgents entered through the sewer system and that all were killed. Rami al-Sayed, an insurgent spokesman in the Yarmouk refugee camp nearby, said that fighters from Islamist groups, including the Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham, entered from the south, attacking a checkpoint and clashing with government soldiers. Tallies of the insurgent death toll ranged from three to 18.

The Syrian army and its allies will have to make a counter move to clean up Quneitra and to secure the southern approaches to Damascus. Otherwise Jabhat al-Nusra, under Israeli protection in Quneitra and supplied through the CIA/MOC in Amman, could soon make more decisive attacks on Damascus and probably even establish a new foothold within the city.

In May 2013 Hizbullah general secretary Nasrullah announced that he will establish a Hizbullah like force on the Golan heights. Nasrullah is known for keeping his promises. It may be time for him to activate some of the newly established forces to counter the CIA/Jabhat al-Nusra/Israeli move in Quneitra and the attacks on Damascus.

http://www.moonofalabama.org/2014/09/confirmation-of-southern-damascus-attack-plans-by-jabhat-al-nusracia-.html