Former CIA Director Petraeus Wants To Support Al Qaeda To Defeat The Islamic State

Shane Harris & Nancy A. Youssef, Daily Beast: Petraeus: Use Al Qaeda Fighters to Beat ISIS

To take down the so-called Islamic State in Syria, the influential former head of the CIA wants to co-opt jihadists from America’s arch foe.
Members of al Qaeda’s branch in Syria have a surprising advocate in the corridors of American power: retired Army general and former CIA Director David Petraeus.

The former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan has been quietly urging U.S. officials to consider using so-called moderate members of al Qaeda’s Nusra Front to fight ISIS in Syria, four sources familiar with the conversations, including one person who spoke to Petraeus directly, told The Daily Beast.

WNU Editor: Josh Rogin's analysis on why such a plan would fail is spot on .... Petraeus’s Plan to Defeat Islamic State Won’t Work (Johs Rogin, Bloomberg).

More News On Former CIA Director Petraeus Proposal To Support Al Qaeda In Order To Defeat The Islamic State

EXCLUSIVE: Petraeus explains how jihadists could be peeled away to fight ISIS -- and Assad -- CNN
Ex-CIA chief David Petraeus pitches plan to use al Qaeda in battle against ISIS -- New York Daily News
Former CIA Chief: US Should Support Al Qaeda to Defeat ISIS -- Arutz Sheva
Former CIA director Petraeus wants to use Al-Qaeda to fight ISIS – report -- RT
Ex-CIA chief David Petraeus wants US to rope in al-Qaeda to take on ISIS: Report -- Economic Times
David Petraeus' bright idea: give terrorists weapons to beat terrorists -- Trevor Timm, The Guardian
Can the U.S. Use al Qaeda Fighters to Defeat ISIS? David Petraeus Has a Plan -- Rob Garver, Fiscal Times