The sudden fall of the Assad regime in Syria has unleashed a wave of geopolitical chaos, exposing the intricate web of foreign interventions, extremist uprisings, and shifting alliances that continue to shape the region’s future.
The Swift Fall of Assad’s Regime: Western Influence and the Rise of HTS
The very next day after signing a ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS*), a group broke away from Al-Qaeda*, led by former Al-Qaeda Commander Ahmed al-Sharaa*, also known as Abu Muhamad al-Jolani – along with some other smaller militant terrorist groups, attacked Aleppo and swiftly toppled down Bashar al-Assad’s government. Evidence demonstrates that these groups were equipped with Western arms and ambitions. Surprisingly, the Syrian Army showed no considerable resistance to these terrorist groups.
What’s more intriguing is that in addition to Western media’s biased reporting in favor of these terrorist groups, al-Jolani also upgraded his attire. Many worldwide have found significant resemblance between al-Jolani and Zelensky’s attire. This pseudo-Jihadi coalition adopted a populist approach by announcing pardons to every criminal and prisoner. They even released prisoners from almost every prison in the country. The Western media, which has labeled him as a terrorist in the past, campaigned in his favor and portrayed his organization as a moderate religious organization opposing the tyrannies of the Assad government. The Western media also arranged and broadcast his interview.
The Geopolitical Consequences: A Trap Set for Russia and Iran
Bashar al-Assad’s international and regional allies, Iran, Turkey, and Russia, also stayed neutral during this conflict. The former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow after the takeover of the HTS* over his government. This organization is an amalgamation of different Wahabi/Salafi Takfiri terrorist groups, famous for their tenderness for brutally killing and beheading their ideological opponents. Just like Daesh and other terrorist organizations, HTS* also has recruits from different ethnicities and nationalities. Reports suggest that different Western countries have provided financial and military aid to this group against the Assad government to destabilize the region and help Israel in achieving its ambition of ‘Greater Israel’.
Analysts and observers from all over the world have provided numerous explanations for the inability of the Syrian Army to fight back these terrorists. They have also stated that Russia and Iran failed to support and back their allied government in Syria. They also allege that Russia and Iran were already aware of the developing situation in the country, considering the events happened weeks before the fall of Assad’s government. However, it seems that the West has fallen into its own trap. The actual ambition of the West was to engage Iran and Russia on multiple regional fronts directly.
Both countries advised Bashar al-Asad to flee the country to avoid the bloodshed of innocent civilians in the country. On the other hand, Turkey found an opportunity amidst all this fiasco to create a buffer zone along its border with Syria. Moreover, those holding that Turkey was also part of the West’s plot against Russia and Iran fail to realize that the latter is not in a position to antagonize Russia, Iran, and the Muslim population inside the country. Erdoğan needs to firmly counter Israel and its Western allies to stay relevant and popular in domestic politics. Moreover, Istanbul is already looking towards Russia for an alliance against Western hegemony. It seeks BRICS membership, which is impossible if it infuriates Russia or Iran. History portends that the United States is an unreliable ally while Russia is one of the significant and reliable superpowers of the new multipolar world, and Erdoğan knows that very well. Therefore, this assumption seems fallacious.
The West has fallen into the trap it set for its foes, Iran and Russia. It has opened new war fronts in the Middle East. Although HTS* and its allies have not yet retaliated to the Israeli bombardment in Syria, they will soon turn against the Western forces in the country. Al-Jolani must liberate the Golan Heights. However, the Israeli invasion of the Golan Heights will result in a conflict between the two sides in the coming days. Apparently, the US has once again made a similar mistake it made in Afghanistan. HTS* will also turn out to be another Taliban for the US in Syria. The chaos and civil war in the country will soon become uncontrollable for the US and its Western allies, and the world to see another humiliating exit of the West from the region in a decade or so.
This demonstrates that the US has made another strategic mistake in the Middle East. And just like Afghanistan, Russia and China will return to Syria in more favorable and suitable conditions. In my opinion, the ongoing Syrian crisis will turn out to be the final nail in the United States’ coffin and Syria will prove to be a graveyard for its hegemony.
*-banned in Russia
Abbas Hashemite – is a political observer and research analyst for regional and global geopolitical issues. He is currently working as an independent researcher and journalist.
