Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Trump welcomes Syrian jihad leader to White House, waives sanctions as he signs onto global coalition against ISIS

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Trump’s invitation to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to the White House is a windfall for the former Al-Qaeda leader and a victory for the global jihad. Al-Sharaa has now walked away with a deal that likely surprises even him. He has been escorted into the Western fold with recognition as a legitimate dignitary, no longer sanctioned, and has even signed on to the global coalition to defeat ISIS.

It is critical to review the background of al-Sharaa (known in his days as a jihad leader as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani) to appreciate the significance of his meeting with Trump — at the White House, no less.

Al-Sharaa led the jihad group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTM), which was responsible for former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s fall. The process “essentially began in July 2011, when Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi—then the leader of the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI), previously known as al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI)—sent Abu Mohammed al-Jolani to spearhead his group’s entry into Syria.” Al-Jolani would later become the head of HTS, change his name to Ahmed al-Sharaa, and put on a suit to appeal to naive Westerners. He has done extraordinarily well, given how seasoned he is not only at violent jihad, but at stealth jihad as well.

In April 2013,  al-Baghdadi released an audio statement reaffirming that al-Jolani’s Jabhat al-Nusra (JN) group was part of the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI). Al-Baghdadi also announced that the two “would henceforth be collectively known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).” Here you can see that Al-Jolani is no different than the savage al-Baghdadi. But al-Jolani ended up double-crossing al-Baghdadi. Within days, al-Jolani rejected the union of JN and ISI, and instead, he “pledged continued allegiance to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.” This became a critical juncture: the battle for preeminence between Sunni jihadist groups in Syria was on.

In February 2014, al-Qaeda formally disassociated itself from ISIS. Just a few months later, ISIS stormed into Mosul, and Baghdadi announced the restoration of the Islamic caliphate under his leadership.

In January 2017, al-Jolani’s Jabhat al-Nusra (JN) adopted the formal new name Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) “as a vehicle to advance its position in the Syrian insurgency and further its own goals as [al-Qaeda’s] affiliate in Syria.”

HTS finally overthrew al-Assad in December 2024; in doing so, it had strong backing from Turkey. The prior leader of HTS had already begun a public relations facelift for the group. Abu Jaber Shaykh, who preceded Ahmed al-Sharaa as senior leader of HTS, declared that the purpose for which HTS was formed was “to safeguard the gains of the revolution and the land that was liberated with the blood of thousands of martyrs.” He also declared HTS to be the merger of all opposition factions; all others were “dissolved and disintegrated.” His declaration was intended “to distance HTS from the legacy of al Qaeda’s official arm,” which he and others (including Ahmed al-Sharaa) now argue “no longer exists.” Abu Jaber Shaykh succeeded, and this brought about a unified “blessed revolution” to topple Assad’s regime. He stated that his “brothers” in HTS were at “the forefront of the Syrian jihad,” and warned “all Sunnis in Syria of the dire circumstances they would face should the war be lost.” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who provided military and logistical backing to HTS, also called the new Syrian leadership his “brothers.”

Nothing has changed about al-Sharaa. He is a seasoned jihadist who is dedicated to regional dominance, and will manipulate a stealth strategy in his war as long as doing so helps him attain his goals. The State Department designated al-Jolani as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in May 2013, offering up a $10 million bounty on him. But now it has removed that bounty, and al-Jolani is being embraced in the White House. Never mind the ongoing abuse of minorities in Syria and his threat to Israel, which prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to issue a stern statement last year about Israel’s determination to defend its security amid the Turkish-supported Syrian siege.

In an additional benefit to al-Sharaa, the US has now waived sanctions, and Trump vowed “to do everything he can to make Syria successful” after meeting al-Sharaa. Al-Sharaa has also now achieved Syria’s signing on to a political cooperation declaration with the global coalition to defeat ISIS, which is ridiculous given al-Sharaa’s past brief alliance with and then jihadist competition with the Islamic State. The Coalition, which began in 2014 with 12 original members, now has 89 members “to combat ISIS in Iraq, Syria, and globally.” Unfortunately, numerous ISIS affiliates have continued to emerge, despite the coalition. For example, in Afghanistan there is ISIS-Khorasan, and there are other ISIS affiliates in sub-Saharan Africa.

According to the Washington Institute, “the coalition has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in stabilization assistance annually, adding up to billions of dollars invested” between 2019 and 2024. This large sum of money is going toward meeting “critical needs” in both Syria and Iraq.

The Washington Institute continues:

It addresses vulnerabilities previously exploited by ISIS and closes gaps in local needs, including for essential services, education, community reintegration, and accountability for the organization’s heinous crimes.

Now think about al-Sharaa’s history, his leadership of al-Qaeda in competition with the Islamic State, and the money that will flow to him as part of the global coalition to defeat ISIS. Al-Sharaa doesn’t care about the spread of jihad per se; he’s a jihadist himself,  but he does care about keeping ISIS at bay, given his historic conflict with the group . Al-Sharaa is an untrustworthy force in the coalition. Meanwhile, his domestic forces continue to persecute Christians, as jihadists usually do:

Violent jihadists rule Syria. Upon the collapse of Assad’s regime, Israel thus immediately set up a defense perimeter, despite the unreasonable demands and objections of its Arab neighbors, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, as well as those of the UN, which condemned Israel for a supposed “dangerous land grab in Syria.” Of course, it was not a land grab, but about protecting the Jewish state from more jihadist attacks.

Whatever the reason for welcoming former al-Qaeda commander al-Sharaa to the White House, it is an insult to the massive number of victims that al-Sharaa and his forces murdered, assaulted and pillaged. The manipulative al-Sharaa is a jihadist who has managed to pull off a substantial victory, not only for himself personally, but for the global jihad. Although jihadist leaders will be more careful on Trump’s watch, since he’s certainly no easy pushover, what will happen beyond 2028, given Trump’s emboldening of al-Sharaa, as well as the Muslim Brotherhood support from Qatar and Turkey?

Comments

  1. Incompetent Trump and our Western Leaders fail to understand that Islam and its Muslims are a totalitarian, terroristic threat to Israel, America, and all Non-Muslims as taught in Islamic Law and in Islam’s Quran(Quran 5:51; 9:5, 29, 111, etc.), No money should be provided to any Muslim organization because Islam’s Muslims will discriminate, segregate, violate, and terrorize Non-Muslims in a way possible.

    ISLAM IS ANTICHRIST, AHISTORICAL, DECEITFUL, MILITARISTIC, AND POLITICAL against the USA Constitution and Western Laws to conquer and to subjugate Non-Muslims using MUSLIM-TERRORIST-CRIMINAL-GANG ENTERPRISES with ISLAMIC LAW(SHARIA) and with CONTINUOUS, TERROR PROPAGANDA from Islam’s Qur’an to make Islam supreme(Qur’an 3:28, 54; 7:99; 8:30, 16:106, etc.).
    Deceitful Allah affirms Non-Muslims as enemies of Allah. Allah in Qur’an 4:101 says, “…Surely the infidels[Non-Muslims] were your clear enemies.” Allah in Qur’an 8:39 says, “And engage in war with them[Non-Muslims] until there will not be sedition and the religion will be completely to Allah…” As a result, Non-Muslims are marked for death by Islam and its Muslims.

    Islam is a delusional, indoctrinating fraud because there is NO MECCA, NO MUHAMMAD, and NO Qur’an in the 7th century AD in Saudi Arabia despite the Muslim Standard Islamic Narrative claims; the Deceitful House of Islam is founded on propaganda, lies, intimidation, and deceit where Islam’s 1400-year traditions are based on fallacy and myth including a more than 300-year gap with no documented history. Hence, NEVER give money to Islamic Countries, Islamic Organizations, Mosques, Islamic Schools, etc. because your are funding your ultimate destruction. Islam must be banned as illegal, and we have the legal right to defend ourselves from Muslim violence.

    Muslims are to be seditionist terrorists for Allah with their MONEY and their LIVES. Allah in Qur’an 49:15 teaches, “Surely the believers[Muslims] are only those who believed in Allah and his messenger. They do not doubt, and they performed jihad with their MONEY and their LIVES for the sake of Allah. Those are the truthful.” Again, Islam is a FACTITIOUS IDEOLOGY and CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION despicably fabricated over time into the 21sth century, and there is NO PEACE only genocidal obliteration with Islam and its deceitful Muslims(Qur’an 7:18; 8:39: 9:5, 29, 111; 11:119; 32:13, etc.).

    ALLAH claims MUSLIMS are a greater TERROR than serpentine Allah. Allah in Qur’an 59:13 says, “You[Muslims] are a greater terror in their chests than Allah. This is because they[Jews & Christians] are people who do not understand.” Allah in Qur’an 9:29 commands, “Engage in war with those who do not believe in Allah nor in the last day. Nor forbid what Allah and his messenger forbid, nor believe in the religion of the truth among those who have given the book until they pay the jizyah out of hand and they are subdued.”

    Islam, its Mosques, its Schools, its Organizations, etc. are Terrorist-Criminal Enterprises of hatred and enmity against all Non-Muslims as totalitarian Islam islamizes the society with impunity(Qur’an 5:14; 9:5, 29, 111, etc.). As taught from Islam’s Qur’an, Islam should be banned for its incitement, funding, and promotion of violence, terrorism, hatred, human trafficking, and discrimination against women, children, and Non-Muslims.

    Allah stirs hatred against Christians until the resurrection day as Qur’an 5:14 instructs, “And some of those who say, ‘Surely we are Nasara (Christians),’ we took their covenant. So they have forgotten a part of what they were reminded of, so we have stirred up ENMITY and HATRED among them until the resurrection day. And Allah will inform them of what they were doing.” See also Qur’an 60:4.

  2. So, as a Shia Muslim will he be beholden to Iran? I know that his brand of Shia Islam is slightly different than that of the Ayatollah, but we will see.

    . This guy is a snake and I would not trust him and his murderous thugs. After all, his Army attacked Syrian Druze. The MSM has since whitewashed the murder of Druze civilians, choosing instead to report that Syrian forces attacked Druze militia. There seems to be a concerted effort to make this jihadost the new darling of the Middle East.

    • al Shara’a is sunni: one of the first things he did was shut down the Iranian embassy and expel all Iranians. That’s the only thing he’s good about

  3. People used to be suspicious of DJT’s real intentions. Was he as good as he seemed? These days he seems to be unaware of the slim habit of practicing the Fine Art of Taqiyya when negotiating. Who are DJT’s advisers? Does he sriously think that Hamas and ISIS etc. are honest? Tucker Carlson seems to have the same delusion. Once a reliable commentator, Tucker has flopped into some sort of anti-Semitic puppet.
    In the UK we send aid to despotic regimes and slink away saying sorry when muslims complain about their lunacy being criticised. Those who can afford it move to the shires or the coast. Housebuilding on farmland continues apace. What does the future hold? When the last house is built, perching on some clifftop and UK traditions and culture aren’t even a memory. How will it feel?
    To paraphrase Spock – “It’s a war Jim – but not as we know it”

  4. “Nice to meet you Mr Al Sharaa.
    Will you promise me that you will stop killing Druze and Christians in Syria? ”

    “It’s not true Mr President.
    You have been watching too much BBC.
    I am a nice chap. I always return Library books on time and help old ladies cross the road”

    • You and me both, Ros. What is Trump thinking, dealing with this Brooks Brothers jihadi head-chopper?????

    • Trump Knows what is going on, he is playing Erdogan and al Jolani like a fiddle. Don’t be fooled. He knows exactly what islam is all about and he knows exactly what their true intentions are, just take it from me.

  6. Well, there is an easy litmus test for the HTS regime. Let them be the latest to sign the Abraham Accords w/ Israel, which would include recognizing Israel. And no, they do not get Golan back in return

    Incidentally, if President Trump is now suddenly concerned about the genocide of Christians in Nigeria, what does he think about what is happening in Syria? Where not just Alawites, but Christians and Druze as well are persecuted

  8. Can any discourse with Muslims be on a rational basis?

    Has not 1400 years of intimidation, deceit, death and misery taught the West nothing?

    It is not the fault of Muslims.
    It is what their “religion” dictates.

    Leave them to it – but ban it from any decent civilised space.

  9. In dealing with Muslims I hope Trump is aware of ,and remembers,
    the Strategy of All Muslims: The Caliphate.

    My concern is that Sunni leaders are using Caliphate Tactics
    to achieve their Caliphate Strategy.
    Tactics of cooperating/joining with The West until they can become
    economically and militarily strong.

    They will “prove” they are sincere by: forming functioning nation states,
    recognizing Israel, joining the Abraham Accords,
    perhaps forming economic and military cooperation with The West.

    Better to join with The West to defeat the Shiites, as in the bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites,
    than to have The West as an enemy, for now.

    Once the Shiites have been defeated and the necessary level of strength has been achieved by
    the Sunni countries, victorious Islam will have not further use for The West.

    It will be something like the breaking of the Non Aggression Pact
    between Germany and Russia in 1941.

    I hope Trump knows he’s not dealing with Islamic countries –
    but with Islamic Caliphate Strategists.

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