(CNN) -- Last month, the Yemen-based branch of Ayman al-Zawahiri's international terrorist network, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), released a worrying statement  calling on Muslims around the world to forget their differences and renew their efforts to carry out operations against American targets, be they civilian, governmental, military or diplomatic. But this was by no means the most troubling aspect of the communique. More important than the threat -- which, let's face it, is nothing new -- was the fact that this was the second statement from AQAP in recent months to go against al-Zawahiri's official policy towards ISIS and express its wholehearted support for the group's actions in Syria.
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AQAP last month called on Muslims to forget differences focus on American targets
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Charlie Winter writes that it was the second such communique from the al Qaeda offshoot
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It indicates how much the global jihadist dynamic has changed since airstrikes began, he says
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The trend of jihadists rallying around the anti-Western flag is worrying, he writes
Making overtures to a group responsible for the death of thousands fighting for your closest ally in @placeholder is as significant as it is surprising.