Al Qaeda in Iraq and Syrian rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra make it official

The two groups will now be known as The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. In what many analysts expected but always feared, the two groups have merged and – unfortunately – are one of the best armed factions of the Syrian opposition. In order to prevent Al Qaeda from hijacking the Syrian revolution, this development may indeed spur Western governments and Russia to consider playing a bigger role in the morass.