HTS has changed a lot in 7 years. Back then they were essentially an al-Qaeda front group, but now they have explicitly separated from them and are more focused on Syrian national politics than religious theocracy.
Time will tell whether that holds up, and what Syria looks like is definitely a big unknown. But seven years ago HTS was quite different than it is now.
Holy shit you mean organizations can change over time, and that geopolitics has nuance that requires historical context???
Nahhh get outta here with that bullshit, we’re here to shit on the US clearly
Don’t think that absolves an organization from past crimes
How does an organization make amends then? HTS has been governing Aleppo for some time now. They’re reaching out to groups they have been fighting to organize into a coalition. Even the former US ambassador to Syria has nice things to say about them. Whether HTS is a force for good or not remains to be seen - governing a country is different than rebelling obviously - but I don’t really agree with the premise of your statement. I think the way to absolve yourself is to do good works and to own your past.
From the US’ POV, having Syria devolve into a theocracy is a small price to pay for the harm this inflicts on Russia (most notably losing their only port on the Mediterranean and forcing them to transit through the Hellespont, subject to the whims of Turkey)
Don’t forget that it also greatly benefits Israel!
A minor price to pay.
Biden, 2024
Not really. Al-Assad was a known quantity and the relationship, while certainly not friendly, was at least stable (by Middle-Eastern standards). These guys on the other hand are an unknown, and that lack of predictability makes neighbours uneasy.
Israel literally already annexed some new territory out of Syria. Al-Assad supported the Palestinian resistance and Hezbollah through weapons transfer. This is an undeniable less for Palestine and Lebanon.
They’ve been trying to grab that last slice of Golan for decades — don’t conflate opportunism with long-term policy. There’s absolutely no reason to believe that HTS would support Palestine less than al-Assad did. You may enjoy this analysis: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20241209-is-the-overthrow-of-assad-good-for-the-palestinians/
Okay, and how are they not still terrorists? They sure seem like a gang who overtook the country and toppled a government.
Kind of like the States founding father’s?
