The message cut a fresh trough of despair across Western capitals. Analysts had long assumed that the al-Nusra Front was an Islamic State offshoot, though one that had at least temporarily decided to soften its image. Now Baghdadi was asserting publicly that the two organizations were one and the same. Moreover, the more fearsome Iraqi side was taking charge. But the most emphatic response came from a surprising source: Baghdadi’s presumed partner in the merger. No one had bothered to secure the consent of the al-Nusra Front, which, as it turned out, had no intention of fading away. The
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