Are the Syrian Rebels Supported by Al Qaeda?

Israel Nation News reports:

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned against the United States arming rebels in Syria, saying such a move could inadvertently lead to support for the Al Qaeda and Hamas terror groups.

Clinton noted that Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahiri has expressed support for the Syrian rebels and added, “Are we supporting Al Qaeda in Syria? Hamas is now supporting the opposition. Are we supporting Hamas in Syria?” 

No one knows what the fuck is going on in Syria. If the Sec of State doesn’t have a clue, how should anybody else? Unless she’s feeding us a line of bullshit. Are the rebels we in the West feel so sorry for really Al Qaeda? The Blaze suggests:

Al Qaeda’s main contact in Iran – Yasin al Suri – is himself from Syria. Ayman al Zawahiri, Al Qaeda’s effective leader, also recorded a video message calling on Jihadists in Syria to overturn Bashar Assad’s “secular regime.”

Is this civil war that’s erupting really over a “secular regime”? Peter Spencer jokes about the idea that Al Qaeda is running the Syrian rebel uprising:

I have just returned from spending some time with the rebel “army” in Syria, and if reports from around the world are to be believed I should be a fully-fledged jihadi warrior by now.

I can’t get a handle on the Syrian situation. Not yet.