West hopes for Al-Qaeda successors to take over Syria

(MENAFN) The West’s apparent embrace of the Syrian jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) raises uncomfortable questions about its foreign policy, especially considering the group's troubling history. Once openly linked to Al-Qaeda and notorious for committing severe human rights abuses, HTS has now found itself positioned as a potential alternative to Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria. Despite its dark record, including kidnappings, torture, and suicide bombings, the West seems willing to overlook these actions, even as HTS makes increasingly sanitized, Western-friendly statements.

In a bizarre turn, HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani has managed to rebrand the group as a force for social justice, with media outlets portraying him as a more "woke" version of a jihadist. His group's actions, including a rapid military advance through Syria that saw them take Aleppo and then Damascus, were initially condemned by the West. But now, with Assad’s fall, there’s a growing willingness to engage with HTS, with promises of a less repressive regime compared to the Taliban.

The situation mirrors past Western interventions, such as the disastrous NATO-led overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, which led to chaos and a failed state. Now, the West appears willing to back an Al-Qaeda successor group in Syria despite its founder’s longstanding ties to ISIS and a $10 million bounty on his head from the U.S. government.

The UN and European leaders have signaled cautious optimism over HTS's rise, with some even suggesting that this "watershed moment" could lead to peace and reconciliation. But given the group’s violent history and ideology, such optimism appears misplaced. It's as if the West is hoping this time, things will turn out differently—even though history suggests otherwise.

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