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| Syria's dangerous 'new face': Don't fall for Ahmed al-Sharaa's 'peace' scam | |
| 2025-04-27 | |
| [IsraelNationalNews] The fall of Bashar al-Assad was supposed to signal the beginning of a new era in Syria. After years of civil war, mass slaughter, and regional chaos, many hoped that Assad’s downfall would allow for a genuine peace to emerge — a Syria rebuilt, reformed, and reintegrated into the global community. But in the Middle East, hope is often the first casualty. The reality on the ground tells a darker story. Assad may be gone, but the forces that sustained him have not disappeared. The Alawite sect, once his iron fist over Syria, remains intact, battered but dangerous, operating from the shadows. And in Assad’s place has emerged a new strongman: Ahmed al-Sharaa, a man Western policymakers are already dangerously close to misreading. Sharaa presents himself as a pragmatist. He speaks the right language: peace with Israel, joining the Abraham Accords, removing foreign fighters, rebuilding Syria’s shattered economy. It is a tantalizing message, especially for an exhausted United States eager to disentangle from endless Middle Eastern entanglements, and for an Israel that prefers a quiet northern front to a chaotic one. Sharaa tells American congressmen and Israeli envoys what they want to hear — and they are tempted to believe him. But belief in Sharaa’s promises is a mistake that could cost Israel dearly. Ahmed al-Sharaa is no moderate. He is not a Gorbachev seeking glasnost. He is the polished product of a radical Islamist movement that cut its teeth on the battlefields of Syria’s civil war. His organization, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, was once Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria. Though it rebranded and distanced itself from direct ties to al-Qaeda years ago, the underlying ideology — Islamist supremacism, militant opportunism — remains embedded in its DNA. What Sharaa has mastered is not moderation, but marketing. He understands that in the post-Assad vacuum, survival depends not on brute force alone but on international legitimacy. He knows that Syria’s economy, decimated by war and international sanctions, cannot recover without foreign investment, aid, and a lifting of economic isolation. He knows that waving the banner of peace — however insincere — is his ticket to that relief. This is not the first time the world has been tempted by promises of Syrian moderation. Hafez al-Assad and Bashar al-Assad both played this game expertly, promising cooperation when convenient, only to revert to terror and repression once their immediate goals were achieved. The Alawite regime survived not by embracing reform, but by weaponizing diplomacy, playing enemies against each other, and using periods of false peace to strengthen their grip. Sharaa, for all his fresh image, is drawing from the same playbook. His flirtation with normalization should be seen for what it is: an act of political desperation, not a sincere transformation. His regime faces internal instability, growing resentment from Syria’s Sunni majority, and the continued threat of insurgent groups. Economically, Syria is on life support, with entire sectors collapsed and basic services nonexistent. Joining the Abraham Accords, or at least talking about it, is a way to pry open the gates to international assistance — not a reflection of a real philosophical shift toward coexistence. Israel, in particular, must approach Sharaa’s overtures with ice-cold skepticism. While he may speak of peace, Sharaa remains ideologically hostile to Israel’s existence. His Islamist backers still harbor deep-seated animosity toward the Jewish state. The Syrian people, after years of regime propaganda and a national narrative built around resistance to Israel, are not prepared for genuine normalization. Even if Sharaa were sincere, he would be politically incapable of delivering real peace. Genuine peace - as distinct from submission to superior force - is, simply, not part of Arab Islamic "culture". Hell, history shows, it's not really a part of the rest of human cultures. ...The United States should be equally wary. The temptation to view Sharaa as a convenient partner for regional stability is strong, especially in a political climate where American voters want fewer foreign entanglements. But the lessons of the past two decades are clear: cosmetic moderation by authoritarian or Islamist leaders almost always conceals deeper currents of extremism and instability. ...For Israel, for the United States, and for anyone serious about regional stability, the correct posture is firm skepticism. Dialogue can occur, but without illusions. Military deterrence must be maintained. Economic pressure must remain until Sharaa proves, not with words but with irreversible actions, that he is willing to dismantle the Islamist and militant infrastructure that threatens the region.
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| Posted by:Grom the Affective |