Although we don’t actually know who said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result,” there is a lot of truth to that saying. We are seeing that truth in action in Syria right now.
With few exceptions, one of them being the American revolution, revolutions seem to bring to power people worse than the ones who were ousted. America is not guiltless in playing a part in some revolutions in the past century. In 1953, America installed the Shah of Iran. We saw how that worked out (actually it did for a while). In 2011, the Arab Spring was supposed to bring freedom to the oppressed Arabs in the Middle East. In 2011, we helped overthrow Muammar al-Qaddafi in Libya. That didn’t work well. Also in 2011, we helped remove Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, resulting in a temporary take-over of the country by the Muslim Brotherhood, followed by a military coup. Now we are dealing with the consequences of a Syrian revolution. The carnage that is the result of that revolution is unimaginable, but was not unpredictable.
In December 2024, Fox News reported the following:
The Biden administration has lifted a $10 million bounty on the head of Ahmed al-Sharaa, leader of the group that overthrew Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
In exchange, al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, agreed to a U.S. demand not to allow terrorism groups in Syria to threaten the U.S. or Syria’s neighbors.
“We had a good, thoroughgoing discussion on a range of regional issues,” Barbara Leaf, the U.S.’s top envoy to the Middle East, told reporters of her Friday meeting with al-Sharaa.
In January 2025, former al Qaeda member Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, was named as Syria’s president for a transitional period.
There was a reason for the bounty. Al-Sharaa is a Sunni Muslim who was formerly a member of Al Qaeda under Abu Musab al-Zarqari.
According to a Reuters article of March 10th:
Sharaa, in a speech on Sunday, said remnants of the Assad government, supported by external parties, were seeking to create strife and drag Syria back into civil war with the aim of dividing it.
He promised to form a fact-finding committee and said its findings would be made public, vowing to bring to account anyone involved “in the bloodshed of civilians” or mistreating them.
He has also announced the formation of a committee aimed at preserving civil peace, which would be tasked with communicating with the people of the coast and providing them with the support they needed to guarantee their protection.
In a Reuters interview, Sharaa said mass killings of Alawites were a threat to his mission to unite the country, and promised to punish those responsible, including his own allies if necessary.
In evaluating the above statement, you need to consider the Islamic concept of taqiyya. This is a concept in Islamic law that translates as “deceit or dissimulation,” particularly toward infidels. It is generally described as lying for the sake of Islam.
The mainstream media has been rather quiet about the genocide going on in Syria. That genocide should not be a surprise to anyone familiar with the history of Al-Sharaa.
Islamic terrorism is not dead, and America needs to be very aware of its intentions both here and internationally.