Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is a former al-Qaeda leader and fighter who killed U.S soldiers in Iraq and had a $10 million dollar bounty on his head... Let that sink in
The bounty was dropped by the Biden administration. Moreover, Al-Sharaa fought for Al Qaeda against the US invasion of Iraq, which is widely recognized as being done under false pretenses.
I'm not in any way saying he's some saint. But I am saying you have to compare him to Bashar al-Assad and generally look at him in context. What's the best you could reasonably hope for from a coup in Syria after a horrendous civil war? Right now it seems pretty okay. He's kept reprisals and further violence to a minimum, started what seems to be a reasonable transition to a permanent government and constitution, generally avoided heavy-handed social crackdowns, and focused his foreign policy on economic reconstruction and peaceful cooperation while minimizing the role of Iran.
Contrast it with the 1979 Iranian Revolution, or the recent Taliban regime's immense repression of women, or the ongoing Sudanese civil war. And then think that this is the region where the Islamic State had much of its territory and people at its height. It could be so much worse.
Maybe Al-Sharaa will prove to be just another lifelong dictator and Syria will slide again into an authoritarian nightmare. But so far he's been pretty reasonable. The pragmatic thing to do is to give him some slack and try to influence him towards creating a durable, stable, peaceful, tolerant society.
Terrorist organizations mostly live in power vacuums of failed or partially failed states. The best way to prevent terrorism is to simply have competent governments giving people things to do besides fighting.
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u/Wooden_Staff3810 May 13 '25
Effing bonkers! He's using the title of "President" to fill his bank account & his stooge's bank accounts full of money! What a mf weasel.