Almost? They unquestionably are.

How Syria rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani reinvented himself
The HTS chief has evolved from jihadist leader to rebel statesman while fighting to overthrow Bashar al-Assad.
Almost? They unquestionably are.
I know I keep banging on this drum, but I feel as though itâs not âmainstream mediaâ, itâs just a collective failure of journalism as a profession. Itâs too much about who breaks the story, how can you get more eyeballs on it, rather than an actual question of reporting whatâs happening.
Again, I donât know enough about Middle Eastern geopolitics to be comfortable making such a categorical assertion.
That just reinforces the whole sentiment of idiocy in my head. They have a common enemy right now, and Israel attacks them, why?
Because we can, and our dick is bigger than yours. Morally, intellectually bankrupt.
Iâm honestly not sure that it is in Israelâs long-term interest to have a direct neighbour in a permanent state of civil war.
Bar the arms merchants of all countries, and Putin, nobody had interest to maintain Assad, and thus the permanent state of unrest, suffering, poverty and misery. Iâm glad heâs gone.
HTS is scary, literally everyone in the West, most eastern states and certainly very many in Syria, are afraid of them but so far, cautiously, they have had remarkable dicipline and shown great integrity. The time that comes now, will be the true test though.
Everyone is worried about how inclusive or not inclusive they will be.
But there is nothing GOOD, the outside world can do if they start pressuring them too much and creates an enemy picture that becomes a fait accomli. Reach out, aid Syrians in rehabilitation, in rebuilding, establish normal relations; that should be the goal. We in the West should want as many Syrian refugees as possible to return of their own free will. And we owe the Syrians a chance to build a state. There are few ways of governance that could be worse than the Assad State. As in literally very few.But right now, this is a time for Syrians to celebrate and tell their stories. To grieve and laugh. There will be clashes, there are hold outs, but the scale is insignificant to previously and the regime is gone.
I wholeheartedly agree with you, well said!
It will be interesting to see how many do go home and what effect that will have in Germany. Any idea that the AFD are going to disappear is wishful thinking though. Its support is based on more than concern about the Syrians.
By the way, that looks like Oranienstrasse. The heart of multicultural alternative Berlin. Well worth a visit if youâre in the city. Do not go to Amrit! Rubbish pseudo Indian food
I do wonder how many Syrian refugees in Germany would want to return. Obviously the country is still in a state of flux, but long term, how many would prefer to go back?
There were a couple of Syrians on my âDeutsch als Fremdspracheâ course (German as a foreign language) and I got the impression that they had originally expected that they would have been staying for a year or so, but at the time (2019) they were resigned to staying and wanted to settle down.
There are a lot of Syrian families who now have homes and jobs and their children have gone through the education system. I wonder whether the children, in particular, would want to move as their friends and social life are in Germany and they are, at least culturally, more German than Syrian.
I am friends with Syrian people here. I think the adults would very much wish to return. Itâs their home, where their roots and most of their family circle are. Many have found it difficult to learn the language and integrate/be welcomed. But their kids have grown up in schools here and speak with a Belfast accent. Schools provide a community and attachments that adults canât access. Canât see any of the children or young people wanting to move (back) to Syria
Leader of HTS and presumptive interim leader of Syria, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani: âWe are open to friendship with everyone in the region, including Israel. We have no enemies except the Assad regime, Hezbollah and Iran. What Israel did against Hezbollah in Lebanon helped us a lot. Now we will take care of the rest.â
I find this guy quite impressive to be honest. Here is an article from the beeb on his evolution, and on the possible effects he could have on other, presently more radical jihadist groups:
The HTS chief has evolved from jihadist leader to rebel statesman while fighting to overthrow Bashar al-Assad.
Letâs see what they do once in power. Itâs easy to be magnanimous in victory, trickier to be tolerant of fractious citizens with competing needs and expectations.
I agree, except that in long civil wars, its honestly not so easy to be magnanimous in victory. Large scale revenge killings, torching of homes homes and indeed ethnic cleansing, are all very common post victory, in such conflict.
But i agree that normal governance is very hard. But the previous governance was rather dreadful, so. I donât know. I am skeptical like most, I suppose. But as long as Syria does not disintigrate, i do not see how it can get worse.
A bit of trivia which might help explain Israelâs paranoia and move to completely annex the Golan Heights ; HTSâ leader took his name from his grandfather who hailed from the Golan and is obviously very attached to the region.
Israelâs paranoia
Well-founded or not, this probably explains why there can never be a lasting peace in the region. If you keep believing everyone is out to get you, and acting on that belief, sooner or later you make it a self-fulfilling prophecy.
https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1866037427598504053
I approve of this acceptance, please develop Siberia ! It is certainly underdeveloped and poor and its better than conquest in the Middle East and Africa, and I hear that Ukraine is costly too.
With the many cannibalism videos out of Mali, that Wagner is part of, I am pretty sure that the locals are not in love with you either.
I hope his idea gain traction in decison maker circles
Very thinly-veiled racism there tooâŚ
Thatâs normal, so I donât react to it at all. Itâs part of Russian culture and you see it in every single post that has anything to do with non-Russians and and certainly non-christians. It will take a century or two for that to go away.
The things we call racism in the West is part of normal discourse in Russian and they donât think itâs racism themselves. Itâs just shrug, shrug for me really. I would have reacted if a Norwegian had used that kind of language, but in Russia it is just how it is.
What I reacted to and found funny about it, is that Dmitri calls him a blogger (itâs a sneaky stabby-stab insult ).
Because he is: "Deputy Chairman of the Moscow (City) Duma; deputy general director of VGTRK; Member of the âworking group special military operationâ established per decree by President Putin; journalist ¡ Member of Moscow City Duma (2019-) ¡ "