Donald Trump poses with Syrian President al-Sharaa who just months back had a $10 million bounty on his head by US govt, displaying the West’s ‘rules-based international order’
On 14th May, President Donald Trump of the United States held a meeting with Ahmed Hussain al-Sharaa, the interim president of Syria, in Saudi Arabia, exemplifying the hypocrisy of the West when it comes to dealing with global terrorism. The interaction occurred on the sidelines of the former’s engagement with leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
This recent development followed an unexpected declaration that his administration would remove sanctions imposed on Syria, currently under the government led by Ahmed Hussain al Sharaa. Additionally, he encouraged the Syrian leader to establish normalised relations with Israel, their long-standing adversary.
According to Trump, al-Sharaa stated that he might eventually be open to joining the Abraham Accords, a 2020 deal mediated by the United States that saw normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco. “I told him, ‘I hope you’re going to join when it’s straightened out and he replied, ‘Yes, But they have a lot of work to do’,” the US president stated.
He commended al-Sharaa, referring to him as a “young, attractive and tough guy.” He described him as a “fighter” and noted that he possesses a “strong past, very strong past.” Additionally, he remarked that al-Sharaa had a “real shot at holding it together.”
The two leaders were accompanied by a beaming Mohammad bin Salman, the Saudi Crown Prince as Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined them over the phone. Donald Trump admitted that these two leaders were responsible for persuading him to remove the tough sanctions the US had placed on Syria.
Who is Ahmed al-Sharaa
Trump’s remarks are not entirely unfounded, as the Syrian President is indeed a “fighter” with a “strong” background, though this services and past are tied to dreaded terrorist organizations, including Al Qaeda and ISIS (Islamic States of Iraq and Syria) which the United States has been declaring war against for decades.
Not long ago, Ahmed al-Sharaa was commonly known by his war name Abu Mohammad al-Jawlani (which might also be spelled al-Golani or al-Joulani). He was designated as a terrorist by the US and proscribed by the UN (United Nations). His $10 million US bounty was only lifted in last December. He played important roles in international terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and ISIS for the past 20 years.
He was declared a global terrorist in July 2013 for “participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating acts of terror,” according to the “ISIS and Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee” of the UN Security Council. He was also found guilty of “supplying, selling or transferring arms” and “recruiting for” Al Qaeda and ISIS, according to the UN Security Council sanctions committee. He also engaged in combat against American forces in Iraq.
He worked closely with Aiman al-Zawahiri, the leader of Al Qaeda and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (also known as Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai), the leader of ISIS at the time. During the 2011 Syrian revolt against the Bashar al-Assad administration, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi issued instructions to him to create a local presence to create a front for Al Qaeda in both Iraq and Syria.
He established the Al-Nusrah Front (officially Jabhat Fatah al-Sham), also known as Jabhat al-Nusrah, in 2012. This UN-designated terrorist organization was formally recognized as Al Qaeda’s Syrian arm. According to the US State Department, his objective was “to the overthrow of the Syrian regime and the institution of Islamist sharia law throughout the country.” It stated that the group’s suicide attacks “killed innocent Syrian civilians” and also cited the group’s “violent, sectarian vision.”
The Jabhat Fatah al-Sham switched its name to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, in 2017. It was primarily focused on establishing an Islamic Caliphate and toppling the Bashar al-Assad administration. Over time, the Syrian revolution evolved into an armed conflict that gradually spread throughout the nation until intensifying into a full-fledged civil war.
HTS led a swift and extensive onslaught in November 2024 which shortly cost the Assad administration significant territory, including its stronghold cities. Bashar al-Assad escaped to Russia on 8th December 2024 as his family’s dictatorship fell after 53 years of dominating the nation.
After al-Sharaa took control of Syria in January, the country was rife with revenge killings as his Sunni hardliner supporters targeted minority groups including Alawite (Bashar al-Assad’s community) and Christians. People were forced to escape to ensure their survival. The death toll reached 1,000, including 745 civilians, with thousands injured during al-Sharaa’s administration. Alawite women were paraded in the streets without clothes by his security personnel.
Trump’s new policy and the glaring hypocrisy
The West, which often delivers moral lectures to the rest of the world, including India, has once again failed to practice what it preaches. This pattern is characteristic of the United States, which tends to modify its ethical standards, however low they might be, to serve its own objectives. This inconsistency is similarly observed in its approach to Pakistan, where, while publicly denouncing terrorism, it supplies the main incubator of terrorists with arms and resources.
However, netizens did call out the blatant hypocrisy of the United States. Mike Benz, the Executive Director of the Foundation for Freedom Online, also ridiculed the newly found camaraderie between Trump and al-Sharaa. He remarked that the Syrian president only needed to change his name for the United States to accept him.
Nioh Berg wrote that al-Joulani was adept at rebranding himself and shared two images: one depicting him with the US reward of 10 million dollars, and another showing him in a suit, proposing to the US President to constuct Trump Tower in Damascus.
A user pointed out that a US-supported revolution in Syria resulted in the overthrow of Assad and the rise of a radical government in the country. “Never ever trust US, they will claim to mediate for peace, and then support jihadi leaders,” the person added.
An individual highlighted that the United States maintained a $10 million bounty on al-Sharaa’s head until a short time ago and mocked that he took the opportunity to meet Trump in person and secured much more than the amount.
A netizen stated that in 1983, Ronald Reagan held a discussion with the Afghan Mujahideen in the Oval Office and now Trump has met with al-Sharaa in Riyadh, outlining the consistent policy of Washington to legitimize Islamist groups and terrorism to meet its strategic goals.
The encounter between Trump and al-Sharaa has certainly taken many by surprise on a global scale. However, individuals familiar with the duplicity of the United States understand that the country operates solely for its own interests, devoid of any principles or standards. This has been repeatedly showcased by arming jihadi groups in Afghanistan and other parts of the world, supporting Pakistan and now engaging with the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Osama bin Laden and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi must be turning in their graves over the lost chance.
Nonetheless, the United States would not cease its rhetoric to other nations about secularism, tolerance, peace and whatnot even as it openly backs and legitimizes Islamists for its personal gains. More importantly, the discourse surrounding a “rules-based global order” from the US and Western nations seems directed at other countries, as they readily adjust the same to their advantage, without a moment’s pause.
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