Barak Barfi is a Research Fellow at the New America Foundation, where he specializes in Arab and Islamic affairs. He recently returned from Aleppo. Barak writes often for publications including The International Herald Tribune, The New Republic, the Washington Post, Foreign Policy and The Atlantic, and is a regular guest on CNN, Fox News Channel, France 24 and other international networks. He is based between the U.S. and the Middle East. https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/contributor/barak-barfi-new-american-foundation/rss en ISIS Thu, 30 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000 Barak Barfi, New American Foundation https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/community/2013/05/30/the-precipitous-rise-of-jihad-inc https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/community/2013/05/30/the-precipitous-rise-of-jihad-inc As the international community dithers over intervening in the Syrian civil war, one group has already planted firm roots in the country. The burgeoning al-Qaida affiliate The Support Front for the People of the Levant, known locally as Jabhat al-Nusra, has won the hearts and minds of Syrians with its battlefield heroics and moral probity. .