Last month the de facto leader of Syria, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani (aka Ahmad al-Sharaa), told Al Arabiya TV that it would take up to four years in hold new elections after Assad was ousted and fled the country on Dec. 8. This obviously undemocratic pronouncement was met with silence among Western leaders, who had long supported the anti-Assad ‘revolution’ and regime change efforts.
In a ‘victory’ speech given Wednesday night, Jolani declared himself president of Syria, claiming that this would be for an unspecified transitional period. “We announce the appointment of Commander Ahmad al-Sharaa as head of state during the transitional period. He will assume the duties of the president of the Syrian Arab Republic and represent the country in international forums,” a statement said.
“The president is authorized to form a temporary legislative council for the transitional phase, which will carry out its duties until a permanent constitution is enacted and put into effect,” the announcement added.
The statement further confirmed the cancellation of Syria’s 2012 constitution and the dissolution of the former government’s parliament, the army, as well as security agencies, state SANA noted. Additionally all armed factions which previously fought Assad and the Syrian army have been declared dissolved and will be integrated into state institutions.
Western mainstream media spent years whitewashing the hardline Islamist-led regime change war, as it was also backed by US intelligence, NATO allies, and the Gulf states. Al-Qaeda linked militants were presented all along as somehow being enlightened Jeffersonian Democrats.
Yet CNN admits that Jolani/Sharaa himself – Syria’s new self-appointed president – is a foreign fighter with clear past links to ISIS:
Al-Sharaa became a Syrian “foreign fighter” in his early 20s, crossing into Iraq to fight the Americans when they invaded the country in the spring of 2003. That eventually landed him in the notorious US-run Iraqi prison, Camp Bucca, which became a key recruiting ground for terrorist groups, including what would become ISIS.
Freed from Camp Bucca, he crossed back into Syria and started fighting against the Baathist Assad regime, doing so with the backing of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who would later become the founder of ISIS.
In Syria, he founded a militant group known as Jabhat al-Nusra (“the Victory Front” in English), which pledged allegiance to al Qaeda, but in 2016, he broke away from the terror group, according to the US Center for Naval Analyses.
Fact check: True. https://t.co/GUq8hoPWbH
— Kevork Almassian (@KevorkAlmassian) January 29, 2025
As we’ve documented previously, this solidifies Islamist hold over Damascus for the long term, or what is essentially rule by al-Qaeda in suits. Even Washington still considers Jolani’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group a foreign terror organization, according to current law and designations.
This means sanctions on Syria are still in place, which has only made the common population’s suffering more acute, as there’s hardly any electricity or fuel, and medicine and food remains an immense difficulty. As for Syria’s new unelected autocrat, he’s expected to soon travel to Saudi Arabia in his first official trip abroad.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 01/30/2025 – 13:45
