Tag: syria

Syria’s ISIS-Aligned Government May Join the U.S.-Led Coalition Against ISIS – Kurds Skeptical

Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa (also known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani), is scheduled to visit Washington on November 10, 2025, where he is expected to formally sign an agreement for Syria to join the U.S.-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. The visit will mark the first time a Syrian head of state has ever been received at the White House, a move that many observers find deeply counterintuitive given that al-Sharaa’s regime is composed of extremist factions linked to both al-Qaeda and ISIS.

“The U.S. had a five-million-dollar bounty on al-Julani’s head,” said Charbel, a Syrian Christian who fought ISIS for four years alongside the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). “And now he is invited to the White House?” he asked, visibly shaken. “How can this be?”

Al-Sharaa, who led a coalition of Islamist groups that overthrew Bashar al-Assad’s government in late 2024, has been designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist since 2013, and his organization, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), remained on the U.S. Foreign Terrorist Organization list until July 2025.

For the Kurds and Christians of the semi-autonomous region of Rojava, northern Syria, Washington’s outreach to al-Julani feels like another betrayal. “Yes, he wants to join the coalition because of pressure from the Americans,” remarked one Kurdish woman in Qamishli, “but how will he fight ISIS, his own people?” A man who fought ISIS in both Iraq and Syria, and watched several of his close friends die on the battlefield, laughed bitterly. “That would be strange,” he said. “Julani’s group joining the coalition to fight ISIS—oh my goodness. I have no idea how that would work.”

Another Kurdish veteran put it even more succinctly: “Al-Julani is ISIS. How can he join the coalition?”

Charbel expressed what many Kurds, Christians, and other minorities feel about the al-Julani government: “This government is not good. It’s not safe for anyone. No one can live there.” By “there,” he meant areas now controlled by the Damascus regime, a government that has integrated former al-Qaeda and ISIS affiliates into its ranks. For many observers, it represents jihadists rebranded as statesmen.

In March 2025, more than 800 civilians, mostly from the Alawite minority, were massacred across Latakia, Tartus, and Hama by militias aligned with the new government, including factions of the Syrian National Army. Weeks later, hundreds of Druze civilians were killed in similar sectarian attacks. In both cases, it was difficult to distinguish whether the perpetrators were government troops, ISIS cells, or extremist militias, the lines between them have all but disappeared.

Rojava, the Kurdish-led autonomous zone, remains relatively safe under the protection of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and U.S. troops, but ISIS-linked attacks are rising, especially in Deir ez-Zor and the Raqqa countryside, where sleeper cells are increasingly active. Though ISIS no longer controls territory, an estimated 1,500 to 3,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria continue operating as a highly adaptable insurgency targeting soldiers, civilians, and infrastructure.

Their tactics include assassinations, ambushes, and improvised explosive devices aimed at destabilizing both SDF- and government-held areas. The threat is compounded by more than 8,000 ISIS detainees and 38,000 relatives held in overcrowded camps like al-Hol and Roj, where radicalization runs rampant.

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Trump’s embrace of former Al Qaeda leader at White House is the height of hypocrisy

Scott Ritter, the former UN weapons inspector, said in an interview Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s decision to meet with Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former commander of Al Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and once had a $10-million U.S. bounty on his head, is the height of hypocrisy and not even smart politics because he is not a viable leader.

Ritter was asked by Judge Andrew Napolitano if he ever thought he’d see the day that Al-Sharaa, an Islamist whose nom de guerre was Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, would be welcomed in the White House.

Ritter said, “Some lines can’t be crossed.”

“You can’t have had thousands of Americans sacrifice their lives — tens of thousands of Americans sacrifice their bodies and their minds” to pursue terrorists after 9/11, only for Trump to call al-Sharaa a “tough guy” in a tough neighborhood and let bygones be bygones.

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US Drafts UN Resolution to End Sanctions on Syrian Leader

The United States has put forth a draft resolution within the U.N. Security Council meant to end sanctions on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, leader of the Islamist militant and political group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

The proposal comes ahead of al-Sharaa’s anticipated meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, set for next Monday.

The Security Council has regularly approved travel exemptions for al-Sharaa this year, meaning the White House meeting does not hinge on the outcome of the U.S. proposal.

The draft resolution, seen by Reuters on Tuesday, also advocates for the repeal of sanctions against Syria’s Interior Minister Anas Khattab.

The U.N. sanctions include a travel ban, asset freeze, and arms embargo.

It is unclear when a vote on the draft could be held. At least nine of the 15 council constituents need to vote in favor of the proposal for it to be enacted. However, Russia, China, the United States, France, and the UK each hold a veto.

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Ex-ISIS Envoy Who Killed Americans In Iraq To Be Hosted At White House This Month

President Donald Trump is set to host Syria’s self-appointed interim leader later this month for talks in Washington, marking the first ever visit by a Syrian head of state to the US capitol. Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, who once fought alongside foreign fighters while killing American soldiers in Iraq, will enjoy his red carpet reception in Washington on November 10.

This will also mark the first time a former ISIS member will be hosted in the Oval Office, an absurdity which would have been hard to believe a mere decade ago. But the US-Saudi-Israel axis reached its regime change goal in Damascus, which overthrew the secular Arab nationalist leader Bashar al-Assad, which resulted in the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) taking over.

The HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, who was even earlier this year still on the US terrorism list, quickly reverted to his birth name of Ahmed al-Sharaa. The US had promptly removed the $10 million bounty on his head just before President Trump met with him in Riyadh last May.

“President Ahmed al-Sharaa will be at the White House at the start of November,” Syria’s foreign minister said in speech in Bahrain. “Of course, this is a historic visit. It is the first visit by a Syrian president to the White House in more than 80 years.”

“There will be many issues on the table, starting with the lifting of sanctions and opening of a new chapter between the United States and Syria. We want to establish a very strong partnership between the two countries.”

One area of proposed cooperation is in fighting terrorism, ironically enough, and the US and Syria under Jolani are expected to sign an agreement joining a US-led international coalition against ISIS during the visit, which is somewhat laughable given ISIS patches have recently been seen among HTS ranks.

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Israeli Troops Advance Into Southwest Syria, Infiltrate Multiple Villages

Israeli troops have been launching operations in southwestern Syria on a fairly regular basis of late, and on Monday they carried out multiple incursions into both the Quneitra and Daraa Governorates, entering multiple villages therein.

Israeli tanks and vehicles raided the village of al-Mushayrifa and searched several homes. They went on to the village of Umm Batna and surrounded a house. It is unclear what they were doing, and the IDF has not commented.

Israeli armored vehicles operating out of the village of al-Hurriya moved against the village of Ofaniyah, also in Quneitra. There were no reports of any incidents in this operation, though again the IDF did not comment.

Further south, Israeli forces advanced into the Yarmouk Basin, in Daraa Governorate. The forces briefly entered the village of Ma’araba, though reportedly they withdrew back to the occupied Golan Heights shortly thereafter and seemingly didn’t do anything while there.

A lot of the Israeli operations of late have involved creating checkpoints along major roads, searching locals that try to pass by before packing up and leaving the area. There are sometimes detentions, though seemingly most of the detained are released shortly thereafter and their detentions are for no apparent reason.

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Syria Set To Allow Russia To Keep Its Strategic Military Bases In Country

Since the fall of longtime Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in December of last year, which has since drastically changed Syria into a hardline Sunni state no longer aligned with Tehran or Moscow, Russia’s military began slowly moving its military assets from the region, essentially packing up its bases. 

Moscow has been seeking to negotiate with the new regime regime in Damascus to keep its two historic bases on the coast, especially the naval base at Tartus, which was for decades Russia’s only deep-water Mediterranean naval port.

Behind the scenes negotiations have seem stalled for months, with little news, however, on Monday Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov weighed in after being silent on the issue. Khmeimim Air Base has lately played host to thousands of Alawite and Christian refugees being persecuted by Sunni radicals, including by government Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) troops.

Lavrov made clear that the Sharaa government is looking favorably on allowing Russia to keep its military presence on the coast, but under the guise of a more humanitarian and logistics purpose.

“Syria would like to maintain Russian military bases in the country, but may repurpose them for different tasks amid new realities, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during a meeting with journalists from Arab countries,” according to TASS.

“The Syrian side is interested in maintaining our military bases there. As our president has repeatedly said, we will be guided by Syria’s interests in this matter,” he emphasized. “It is clear that under the new circumstances, these bases may play a different role, not just as military outposts,” Lavrov added.

“In particular, given the need to establish humanitarian flows to Africa, these may be sea and air bases serving as humanitarian hubs for sending humanitarian cargoes there, including to the Sahara-Sahel zone and other countries in need,” Lavrov specified.

Damascus and its new rulers may have come to the practical conclusion that it’s better for Russia to have a foothold in the region, at a moment Israel has continued to bomb Syrian cities and military sites with impunity. 

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Strategic Treason: The Empire Fetes Man Who Killed US Troops

On Monday, Sept. 22, the current president of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, joined the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), David Petraeus, on stage for a discussion at the Concordia Annual Summit in New York City. The summit is one of the most prestigious global affairs forums in the world and by its own account “convenes the world’s most prominent business, government, and nonprofit leaders to foster dialogue and enable effective partnerships for positive social impact.”

It was a surreal moment because 20 years ago, during Iraq War II, these men were enemies. Once upon a time, al-Sharaa was known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, a foot soldier in Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), and Petraeus was known as US Army General David Petraeus, commander of the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq. In fact, it was a moment that revealed the extent to which the US Empire has become an inherently treasonous project.

It was Al Qaeda that knocked down the World Trade Center towers and hit the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. And it was Al Qaeda that formed the radical edge of the Sunni-based insurgency during Iraq War II that killed approximately 4,000 of the 4,500 US troops who died in that war. Al-Jolani fought in Iraq from 2003 until he was captured and imprisoned by US forces in 2006. He was released from prison in 2011 for reasons still classified. Then, in 2012, he went to Syria to form and lead al-Qaeda’s affiliate in the country, the al-Nusra Front.

Meanwhile, Petraeus was promoted to a Four-Star General, directed the 2007 “Surge” in Iraq, served as commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan from 2010–2011, and then became director of the CIA in 2011. The CIA runs the Counterterrorism Mission Center, which officially exists to prevent groups like Al Qaeda from knocking down our towers. Of course, the CIA also runs the Special Activities Division, which does special things like Operation “Timber Sycamore,” which funneled billions of dollars in weapons and support to the insurgency waged against the Syrian government under President Bashar al-Assad. The al-Nusra Front was on the front in that fight.

So, Americans watching al-Sharaa and Petraeus share the stage might feel like the downtrodden animals in the final moment of George Orwell’s Animal Farm:

“Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”

In similar fashion, an American beholding the Concordia sit down might ponder, who’s the terrorist and who’s the counterterrorist?

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From Hunted as One of the Bloodiest Jihadists to UN Delegate: The Transformation of Muhammad Al-Jawlani and the Moral Decline of the International Organization

Muhammad Al-Jawlani, also known as Ahmed al-Sharaa, who in 2017 was designated by the United States as one of the most dangerous jihadists with a reward of up to $10 million for his capture, recently appeared seated at the United Nations General Assembly. This image has sparked outrage and debate.

The photograph, shared on social media, shows Al-Jawlani smiling and conversing with other delegates—a chilling contrast to his past as the leader of the Al-Nusrah Front, a Syrian affiliate of Al-Qaeda.

Al-Jawlani’s story begins in the shadows of the Syrian conflict. In 2013, the UN Security Council designated him a global terrorist for his role in financing, planning, and executing attacks alongside Al-Qaeda.

According to the U.S. State Department, under his leadership, Al-Nusrah carried out multiple suicide bombings in Damascus and other regions of Syria, resulting in the deaths of innocent civilians.

His name was linked to sectarian violence that contradicted the aspirations for a democratic Syria, as noted in an official 2013 report.

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Israel Wants ‘Aerial Corridor’ Over Syria to Strike Iran

Tel Aviv’s primary objective in discussions with Damascus is to establish an aerial corridor over Syria so Israel can restart its war against Iran. 

Axios reports that Israel presented the Syrian government, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, with a maximalist agreement that would establish a no-fly zone over Syria. Additionally, Tel Aviv wants a large swath of Syria, from the Israeli border to Damascus, to become a demilitarized zone. 

An Israeli source told the outlet that an essential part of the agreement will be maintaining the ability to use Syrian airspace to attack Iran. “A central principle of the Israeli proposal is maintaining an aerial corridor to Iran via Syria, which would allow for potential future Israeli strikes in Iran,” they said. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu started an unprovoked war with Iran in June. Tel Aviv targeted leadership in Tehran, nuclear facilities, and scientists. President Donald Trump joined the war by striking three Iranian nuclear sites that Israel lacked the military capability to destroy. 

Israeli forces currently occupy southern Syria. Israel promised to withdraw its troops from Syria if Damascus accepted the agreement. On Wednesday, Sharaa said a deal with Israel was possible “in the coming days.”

Tel Aviv made a similar agreement with Hezbollah, where Israeli soldiers were scheduled to withdraw from South Lebanon after Hezbollah moved its forces out of the region. However, after the Hezbollah withdrawal, Tel Aviv maintained its occupation. Israel is now demanding that Hezbollah entirely disarm. 

The Israeli invasion of Syria began after President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by al-Sharaa last year. Al-Sharaa, formerly Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, is the founder of al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate. President Donald Trump has met with Sharaa and lifted some sanctions on Syria in a push to get Damascus to make a deal with Tel Aviv.

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Syria: Looming Civil War While External Forces Exploit the Chaos

Is Syria inexorably heading towards partitioning? Official statements from involved predatory states like Turkey suggest that “preserving Syria’s unity and territorial integrity” is important but appear hollow when viewed through the lens of events on the ground since the December 2024 overthrow of the Syrian Government.

We are seeing massacres of Syrian ethnic minorities from the north to the south. Israel has recently bombed military installations in Homs, Central Syria, and Latakia on the coast to prevent the restoration of Syrian defence capability and any military expansion by Turkey deeper inside Syria. Russia is re-establishing its occupation of Syrian territory in collaboration with Israel and with the tacit permission of Washington, which sees it as an opportunity to withdraw American military from the northeast. Israel is expanding further into southern Syria on a daily basis, preparing the ground for David’s Corridor, which will link to the Kurdish ‘autonomous region’ on the northeastern border with Iraq. Israel, Britain, Turkey, and the US have infested Damascus with their intelligence agencies. Gulf Arab states are plunging the country into debt enslavement with investment projects designed to plunder the country even further and to increase poverty of the masses reeling from 14 years of war, energy deprivation, and sanction-induced poverty and starvation.

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