Already have an account? log in
This article is FREE for you
Create a free account and join institutional investors, analysts and strategists from the world's largest banks
By submitting your email address you agree to receive communication by email
A Year After Assad’s Fall, Syria Remains In Limbo
By and by, Ahmad al-Sharaa, stage name Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, will probably rule Syria as a dictato
OR, subscribe now for unlimited access
By submitting your email address you agree to receive communication by email
By submitting your email address you agree to receive communication by email
Ok, this is now just God being ridiculous. How do you keep all these people and factions straight?
The Assad regime was doomed when the older son, Bassel, was killed in a car crash in 1994. He was thought to be far more ruthless than his younger brother Bashar.
Similar to Uday Hussain.
Can you imagine how nervous the Secret Service must have been during the taking of that picture? A sitting duck Trump next to a religious fanatic trained killer who until recently headed an organization whose tier 1 priorities included “death to America.” al-Sharaa must’ve concluded that the most damaging thing he could do to America was to let Trump live.
He was so confused in there. Can you imagine? You’re the former head of al-Qaeda in Syria, you knew (however vaguely) Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and you’re standing in the Oval Office with Donald Trump, who tells you how handsome you look in your suit, sprays you in the face with Trump-branded cologne and then gifts you the bottle (as if you wanted it) and generously offers to send you back with as many bottles as you might need for your collection of palace wives. Talk about disarming. He was probably creeped out the whole time.