The jihadist force's reputation is being cleaned up, to suggest it is deserving of CIA support.And an important Empire advisor, Charles Lister, associated with the Brookings Institute appears to be behind the effort. The Brookings Institute is a prime funnel of Empire's deep state influences. Fisk's assessment suggests that the Empire is making an effort to clean up Al-Nusra's image to place the terrorist jihad back in the "moderate opposition" that the Empire has been backing in their effort to topple the Assad government in Syria.
Also read another article by Bernhard from his blog Moon of Alabama entitled "Charles Lister Asks 'Moderate Rebels' To Hide Their Cooperation With Al-Qaeda".
The capitalist Empire's main quest is global hegemony and it will back any organization that it can use, often with deception, to achieve this objective. Thus we see Empire operatives colluding with the most anti-democratic regimes on earth, terrorist organizations, NGOs, and even more legitimate political groups that they can corrupt with money and other support.