Shocker: Many More Jihadists Leading Libyan Rebels than Reported

Of course, the narrative out of the White House has been that the Libyan rebels may have some scant evidence of al-Qaeda presence but then again, we haven't had (actual) boots on the ground there. France has been more engaged in supporting the rebels on the ground than we have. As a result, one of the French reporters on the ground has discovered a much more pervasive al-Qaeda presence. Not only that, but they appear to be leading the effort.

Via Pajamas Media:

“The Jihadists Go to the Front.” This is the title of French journalist Julien Fouchet’s report from eastern Libya that appears in the latest edition of the French Sunday paper Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD). Whereas American officials have been straining to make out “flickers” of intelligence suggesting a jihadist influence in the eastern Libyan rebellion against the rule of Muammar al-Gaddafi, Fouchet encountered a flagrant jihadist presence and met with participants who talked openly about their dedication to jihad and/or their desire to establish an Islamic state.

On the front near the oil-producing town of Brega, for instance, Fouchet spotted a bearded commander on a sand dune giving orders by satellite phone. The man wore the traditional robe favored by the Salafist current of Islamic fundamentalism and had a Kalashnikov slung over his shoulder. “You can’t speak to him,” rebel fighters told Fouchet. “He is not fighting for Libya. If he is fighting today, it’s for Allah.” Fouchet describes seeing imams driving among the ranks of the rebel fighters in a pick-up truck and reciting prayers over a loudspeaker.

Further to the east in Darnah, one of the strongholds of the rebellion, Fouchet met a certain Sheikh Choukri Al-Hasy, the director of the town’s principal mosque: the al-Sahaba mosque. As previously reported on PJM, according to captured al-Qaeda personnel records, Darnah furnished more foreign fighters to al-Qaeda in Iraq than any other foreign city or town — this despite the fact that the town’s total population is only 80,000. According to Fouchet’s account, the mosque contains a mausoleum where some 70 companions of the prophet Mohammed are reputedly buried. Seventeen rebel fighters are now buried nearby. “Those who followed the prophet Mohammed were the first jihadists,” Al-Hasy explained. “So, it’s normal that we are burying our martyrs next to them….”

Yes, we are supporting groups who provided support to al-Qaeda in Iraq, Islamists who killed Americans. How long is the leftwing media going to continue to push a provably false narrative. Just look at Egypt. It is descending rapidly into an Islamist state despite the liberal media's insistence that a wonderful transition to Democracy was taking place. They can't even learn from that VERY RECENT history.

Read it all.