Summary

At the beginning of Part 21 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi arrived in Syria to take over territory occupied by Islamists. He stationed his lieutenant Abu Wahib, a flamboyant personality obsessed with emulating the appearance and actions of Zarqawi, in charge of ensuring access to the Syrian border. Abu Wahib demonstrated his affinity for Zarqawi’s tactics in early 2013 by videotaping himself coldly executing truck drivers in the area under suspicions – unproven – that they were Shiites. The behavior of Abu Wahib contrasts starkly with the al-Nusra Front, who had eschewed such methods.

In April 2013, Baghdadi posted an audio recording claiming that the name “al-Nusra Front” had been dismissed, and declaring the new Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (which may be translated as “Levant”) had taken its place. The al-Nusra Front’s leader, previously dispatched to the region by Baghdadi, disagreed and appealed to...