So the New York Times celebrate those Americans who fight in Syria: imagine if they were fighting against Israel

This is a funny passage: it implies that people with Western passports can't be Islamist extremists: "There has been a rise in the number of foreign fighters, many of them Islamist extremists. But there has also been a small, though noticeable, number of men like Mr. Hitto, of Syrian descent and with Western passports, who have made the journey to join the Free Syrian Army." (thanks Electronic Ali)