A US-designated terrorist group still remains the current de facto ruling entity in Damascus and over Syria. But for the West, all that matters is that al-Qaeda linked Jolani is not Assad. A decade-plus long proxy war in pursuit of regime change finally overthrew the secular Baath government early last month, and resulted in the hardline Islamists of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) controlling most of the country.
The West appears to be fully embracing the new rulers which we previously referred to as al-Qaeda in suits. This week we have been treated to the spectacle of a HTS representative speaking on the main stage at Davos. He's come a long way from Idlib and its black flags... straight to the red carpet jet-setting champaign-sipping insider atmosphere of world elites.
Syria's new HTS-appointed Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan Al-Shaibani told the World Economic Forum on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia is now the exemplar for Syria to follow.
"Where do we see inspiration for the new Syria? We have the Vision 2030 of Saudi Arabia," Al-Shaibani said during a conversation with former UK prime minister Tony Blair.
"We need Syria to be a place of peace, to be a place of development, a place free of war," the top HTS diplomat added.
On top of the irony of an AQ-linked official being invited to Davos (and merely within less than two months after HTS took power), there's the added irony that Tony Blair - one of Bush's key allies who pushed the 2003 invasion of Iraq - was hosting the Davos main stage discussion with Al-Shaibani.
Former leaders like Blair, in overthrowing Saddam Hussein, are responsible for having overseen the sectarian and Islamist nightmare which gripped Iraq and the region in the aftermath. The rise of ISIS would not have been possible if it weren't for the US/UK 'shock and awe' regime change operation, for example. Later, the West and Gulf states funded the Syrian insurgency, during which time Al-Qaeda in Iraq jihadists poured across the border into Syria. HTS was born out of this West-backed anti-Assad jihad (it was known as Nusra Front in the beginning).
But of course, the Davos elites are embracing it all: war crimes and jihad.
Meanwhile, in Syria HTS has allowed ISIS-linked foreign fighters to intimidate the population with impunity. Alawites, Druze, and Christians live in fear as sectarian-driven killings are on the rise in the "liberated Syria" - especially in the Homs, Latakia, and coastal and countryside regions.
As he appealed for the support of the Davos predator class with the help of Iraq war criminal and neoliberal frontman Tony Blair, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan Al Shibani complained that Western sanctions destabilize Syria and make governing the country nearly impossible pic.twitter.com/hf87FRzixk
— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) January 23, 2025
Did Blair extract from Shaibani a firm commitment to protect Syria's Christians and uphold secularism for Syria at Davos? Of course not.
The future looks bleak as Jolani has pledged eventual implementation of Sharia law. Already there have been widespread reports of alcohol stores being smashed, women forced to wear the Islamic veil, and imposed separation of the sexes in many public places. But the WEF has enthusiastically greeted this new Syriaistan.
