Fair Observer, Halmat Palan
On September 22, 2025, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a man once hunted by the United States and its allies, walked onto the stage of the Concordia Annual Summit in New York City. Waiting to interview him was retired US General David Petraeus, the same commander once tasked with pursuing him as the head of the Al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front during the height of the Iraq and Syria Jihadi insurgency. Petraeus, once CIA director, praised al-Sharaa’s vision and barely concealed the surreal nature of the moment.
Only weeks later, al-Sharaa sat in the White House with President Donald Trump, who suspended sanctions on Syria for 180 days and hailed him as a major advocate for peace. What was unimaginable a few years ago is now official US policy.
This rebranding of al-Sharaa is a dangerous gamble. He didn’t stumble into power through democratic reform or national consensus. He built his position through the Nusra Front, which later became the Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS). According to the United Nationsand Human Rights Watch, this group engaged in suicide bombing, massacres, torture, unlawful killings, war crimes and coercive rule during the Syrian Civil War. West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center has shown that HTS’s rebranding didn’t change either its core jihadist ideology or methods.
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