Just thought people might be interested to see this; especially those of us trying to puzzle out the "why are we allied with, and benefitting al-qaeda types again?" question.

The link: http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/05/dia-docs-west-wants-a-salafist-pr...
(The All-Caps is copied and pasted; and not me yelling)

Newly-declassified US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) documents from 2012:

[In Syria:]

THE SALAFIST [sic], THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, AND AQI ARE THE MAJOR FORCES DRIVING THE INSURGENCY IN SYRIA.

AQI [Al Qaeda in Iraq, which became ISIS: “ISIS, once called AQI”] SUPPORTED THE SYRIAN OPPOSITION FROM THE BEGINNING, BOTH IDEOLOGICALLY AND THROUGH THE MEDIA…

…OPPOSITION FORCES ARE TRYING TO CONTROL THE EASTERN AREAS (HASAKA AND DER ZOR), ADJACENT TO THE WESTERN IRAQI PROVINCES (MOSUL AND ANBAR), IN ADDITION TO NEIGHBORING TURKISH BORDERS. WESTERN COUNTRIES, THE GULF STATES AND TURKEY ARE SUPPORTING THESE EFFORTS.

IF THE SITUATION UNRAVELS THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING A DECLARED OR UNDECLARED SALAFIST PRINCIPALITY IN EASTERN SYRIA (HASAKA AND DER ZOR), AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THE SUPPORTING POWERS TO THE OPPOSITION WANT, IN ORDER TO ISOLATE THE SYRIAN REGIME…

Reading the analysis of that at Washington's Blog, I gather The Optimates thinking about having a 'Salafist' monarchy in Syria, instead of a Ruskie-loving Assad, runs along with "Hey! Saudi Arabia is a Salafist Monarchy, and that's working great for us! How could another one hurt?"

(Meanwhile, in another part of the World ...)

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang came to the rescue of Brazil's slumping economy on Tuesday with trade, finance and investment deals worth [$54] billions of dollars in energy, mining, aviation and the upgrade of dilapidated infrastructure.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-05-20/china-bails-out-brazil-50-billi...

[Chinese Premier Li Keqiang] will also discuss “BRICS cooperation, climate change and international financial cooperation and China-Latin America relations, in order to safeguard and promote the common interest of emerging-market economies and developing countries” according to Chinese news agency Xinhua.

...The Chinese premier will also visit Colombia, Peru and Chile on the South American tour.
http://thebricspost.com/chinese-premier-to-announce-infra-financing-for-...

That last bit is about building a high-speed railroad from Brazil to the Pacific Coast. One nation is destroying infrastructure; another creating it. No one could foresee which nation will do better.