The chaos unfolding in Syria raises a pressing question: Was this a carefully planned coup, or is the region simply unraveling all at once?
What comes next for Syria and the region may be best described as, from the Mel Brooks’s song, “Hope for the best but expect the worst!”
The writing is already on the wall with terrorists being repackaged as moderates, a land grab on all fronts, particularly by Israel and Turkey, an international community that is too hapless to stand up for any semblance of moral authority and just turns a blind-eye to what may be best described as havoc, genocide and a feeding-frenzy over land and resources.
The major players—Israel, Turkey, Iran and the United States—each pursue their own agendas, (Jordan to a lesser degree) but there is a deep irony in their relentless pursuits: sometimes the only thing worse than not getting what you want is achieving it, only to realize it brings far more responsibility than you anticipated—and perhaps you didn’t really want it after all!
How long before these separate agendas begin to conflict, turning potential victories into costly debacles? History has shown us time and again the dangers of unchecked ambition. Have these powers already forgotten the lessons of Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan?
Or, if we look further back, the painful experiences of the French and Americans in Indochina?
It certainly seems that they have.
Metamorphosis: So what will befall Syria next??
Has the collective West and the NATO alliance already forgotten the mess they made in Libya, and just walked away? It is still a mess, very much so. They turned a perfectly well-functioning country into a failed state, one full of squabbling militias and slave markets.
It is necessary to consider the possible consequences of the fall of the Assad regime, if it ends up like in Libya, this is the worst option, but perhaps it will be a new Afghanistan. But more likely, the failed state may collapse the region as a whole into chaos.
In Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, the plot revolves around a traveling salesman who wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a vermin or gigantic insect. The central theme of things not turning out as expected is woven throughout the narrative.
The same may prove true for what Syria will develop into and how it will be treated in the world and region, as was the “giant cockroach” in that famous piece of fiction.
The Suez Crisis of 1956 should serve as a stark reminder for today’s policymakers. At that time, Britain, France, and Israel believed they had everything under control after seizing the Suez Canal at gunpoint. However, their illusion of victory quickly collapsed when someone with moral authority—in this case, President Dwight D. Eisenhower—took a principled stand and forced them to give back what they had stolen.
No Coherent Master Plan!
It was a decisive moment that exposed the flaws in their overconfidence. What we are witnessing now does not appear close to anything that is a well-thought-out master plan. Instead, it resembles a desperate improvisation, as though the powers at play have dusted off the CIA’s outdated 1950s playbook and are running strategies haphazardly, almost at random, in the hope that something will work. The results are chaotic, and the incompetence is impossible to ignore.
Western-backed factions, that now appear to be seemingly unshakable, are faltering; their grip slipping as chaos spreads, and they do not have the ability to manage the country.
A terrorist, by any name—freedom fighter, moderate, or otherwise—always remains a terrorist. No matter the attempts to rebrand or rehabilitate, the fundamental nature cannot be erased. It is like a venomous snake, it will inevitably strike, including the hand that feeds it—sooner or later.
Pepe Escobar makes a good point, describing how the terrorist group HTS *had advanced technology from NATO, and the Russians and Iranians chose to withdraw in order to avoid a bloodbath. Syria might become a failed state where “all of the players are fighting all the other ones.”
This reality echoes the warning of former CIA intelligence officer Graham Fuller, who argues the West is sowing its own destruction in Syria while Russia has avoided the trap. In a recent interview, Fuller described the Jihadist takeover of Syria as a profound tragedy for its people, who risk suffering the fate of Libya. Yet for Russia, the situation is different: Moscow does not overextend itself into unwinnable wars, as Washington so often does.
Instead, Russia appears to be allowing its adversaries to plant the seeds of their own defeat. If history proves one thing, it is that any HITs-ISIS*/Al-Qaeda-led* governments will always return to haunt the United States.
Imam Elahi Criticizes Netanyahu’s Message to the Iranian People
Amid this turmoil, Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi, an Iranian-American religious leader and U.S. citizen for over 33 years, delivered a scathing critique of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent message to the Iranian people.
You must be furious imagining the new roads, schools, hospitals that could have been built with the tens of billions of dollars your dictators wasted backing terrorists who lose over and over and over again.
Speaking during his Friday sermon on December 13, 2024, Imam Elahi accused Netanyahu of hypocrisy and questioned his moral authority to lecture others about peace and stability in the Middle East.
“It is audacious for a criminal prime minister to preach about freedom and righteousness while ignoring his own government’s actions,” Elahi stated.
He called on Netanyahu to apply his “freedom prescription” to Palestinians, who, Elahi pointed out, have been living under occupation for 76 years.
Elahi further highlighted Netanyahu’s criminal and murderous record, noting the Israeli leader’s pending International Criminal Court arrest warrant for war crimes, along with accusations of corruption by Israeli courts. “Netanyahu should be the last person to deliver moral lessons to anyone,” Elahi asserted.
Addressing Netanyahu’s vision for the region, Elahi delivered a stark warning:
“Netanyahu, remember: violence is not victory. Do you think you’re shaping a new Middle East? No—you’re digging a deeper ditch for Israel. Intoxicated by U.S. military support, you’re leading Israel toward self-destruction.”
The Imam also issued a broader moral rebuke, invoking universal religious principles:
“Might do not make right, and the ends don’t justify the means. The Ten Commandments teach us: do not lie, do not kill, and do not steal. Yet, Netanyahu, and those who support him or stand by silently, violate them all. This is a profound moral collapse and complete moral bankruptcy.”
Elahi concluded with a warning about the historical legacy of such actions: “Your legacy will be full of shame.” He also touches upon who was also responsible for October 7th, and the destruction of Syrian infrastructure in the post Assad period and subsequent land grab. Imam Elahi’s remarks underscored a broader critique of Israeli policies and serve as a call for accountability, justice, and a renewed commitment to ethical leadership in the region.
The overlapping themes in Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine, and across the region as a whole, are impossible to ignore: old playbooks are failing, alliances are fraying, and those who seek control will face unintended consequences. What remains is an urgent need for moral clarity and regional leadership that prioritizes peace over power, and justice over short-term gains.
But what escapes critical attention is that some elite units of the Syrian army remain, and they have gone to the hills. They might be the core that will break down some of these artificial barriers between different regions and nationalities in Syria, make friends of old enemies. And with new alliances, they may face off with the invading infidels together—with some outside assistance.
Different Agendas
Russia may be the clever one, by not getting more involved, withdrawing to its bases, choosing a wait and see approach, and to let nature take its course. The problem with Syria is not that the US and Turkish “good terrorists” who liberated it may have a different agenda, but how soon many of the warring factions in Syria will be making new friends within Syria and the region.
Meanwhile, terrorist supporters, especially the US and Turkey, who lack any semblance of historical or institutional memory, “won’t know what hit them when the locals settle their differences”, inevitably they will close ranks and take on their common enemies, these being outsiders and select nearby neighbors, which can also include Iraq and Iran.
We can hope that some semblance of a level playing field will come with the Trump administration, but this may be wishing for too much under the complicated circumstances.
However, one thing is clear, this is likely a gamble to distract from the abandonment of Ukraine, Trump has already made his position clear on that bloodletting– a conflict that should never have happened in the first place, and a stepping stone to strikes on Iran in the final analysis.
The destruction of Syria and the proclaimed victory over Assad will be regretted in the long term, and for decades to come!
Seth Ferris, investigative journalist and political scientist, expert on Middle Eastern affairs
