Check out my new piece co-authored with Andrew Tabler for the Washington Institute's Policy Watch: "Syrian Jihadis: Real and Exaggerated"

On May 12 a video posted to YouTube purporting to be from the Palestinian branch of the Syrian jihadi group Jabhat al-Nusra (The Victory Front; JN) claimed responsibility for the May 9 twin car bombings near a security complex in Damascus that killed more than fifty-five individuals and wounded hundreds. And, while JN appears to be a genuine extremist group, it is not clear whether it was responsible for either the attack or the video. The video raises disturbing questions about the Assad regime’s possible manipulation of jihadists based on its past relationships with these groups.