The new President of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, aka Mohammed al-Jolani, is in New York for what is widely being described as the first visit by a sitting Syrian president to the US in nearly six decades.
But even more significant is another fact: it’s also the first state visit to the US by a leading veteran of Al Qaeda and ISIS.
Just last year, al-Sharra/al-Jolani – the founding leader of Al Qaeda in Syria and a former deputy leader of ISIS -- was on the US terrorism list with a $10 million reward for his arrest. But after leading the overthrow of Syrian president Basher al-Assad, the US has removed that designation and welcomed Jolani’s ruling Al Qaeda offshoot government. After all, as Jake Sullivan put it at the outset of the dirty war in early, 2012, “Al Qaeda is on our side in Syria.”
Because the US is on Al Qaeda’s side in Syria, that also means overlooking atrocities under its founding leader’s watch. Since al-Sharaa/al-Jolani took power, government forces have committed sectarian violence against Syria’s minority groups. In March, hundreds – possibly thousands – of Alawite civilians were massacred in Syria’s coastal regions. In July, hundreds more, mostly Druze civilians, were killed in Syria's Suweida region.
The Grayzone’s Aaron Maté speaks to members of two Syrian minority communities about the ongoing sectarian violence at the hands of a ruling Al Qaeda offshoot that the US and allies helped put in power.
Guests:
Dr. Morhaf Ibrahim, head of the Alawite Association of the United States.
Hibbah Jarmakani, a Druze Syrian-American originally from Suweida province in Syria.
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The new President of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, aka Mohammed al-Jolani, is in New York for what is widely being described as the first visit by a sitting Syrian president to the US in nearly six decades.
But even more significant is another fact: it’s also the first state visit to the US by a leading veteran of Al Qaeda and ISIS.
Just last year, al-Sharra/al-Jolani – the founding leader of Al Qaeda in Syria and a former deputy leader of ISIS -- was on the US terrorism list with a $10 million reward for his arrest. But after leading the overthrow of Syrian president Basher al-Assad, the US has removed that designation and welcomed Jolani’s ruling Al Qaeda offshoot government. After all, as Jake Sullivan put it at the outset of the dirty war in early, 2012, “Al Qaeda is on our side in Syria.”
Because the US is on Al Qaeda’s side in Syria, that also means overlooking atrocities under its founding leader’s watch. Since al-Sharaa/al-Jolani took power, government forces have committed sectarian violence against Syria’s minority groups. In March, hundreds – possibly thousands – of Alawite civilians were massacred in Syria’s coastal regions. In July, hundreds more, mostly Druze civilians, were killed in Syria's Suweida region.
The Grayzone’s Aaron Maté speaks to members of two Syrian minority communities about the ongoing sectarian violence at the hands of a ruling Al Qaeda offshoot that the US and allies helped put in power.
Guests:
Dr. Morhaf Ibrahim, head of the Alawite Association of the United States.
Hibbah Jarmakani, a Druze Syrian-American originally from Suweida province in Syria.
French monitor: Ukraine, NATO provoked Russia in Donbas war
Pushback with Aaron Mate
1 hour 35 minutes 20 seconds
2 months ago
French monitor: Ukraine, NATO provoked Russia in Donbas war
Benoit Paré is a former French defense ministry analyst who worked as an international monitor in eastern Ukraine from 2015 to 2022.
In his first interview with a US outlet, Paré speaks to The Grayzone's Aaron Maté about the hidden reality of the Ukraine war in the Donbas region, where the US-backed Kyiv government fought Russia-backed rebels following the 2014 Maidan coup. Russia now demands that Ukraine accept its capture of the Donbas as a condition for ending the war.
When it comes to which party is responsible for the failure to implement the Minsk accords, the 2015 peace pact that could have prevented the 2022 Russian invasion, Paré says. "I will be very clear. For me the fault lies on Ukraine... by far." Paré also warns that Ukrainian ultra-nationalists, who violently resisted the Minsk accords, remain a major obstacle to peace.
Paré worked as a monitor for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), a predominately European group. He recounts his experience as an OSCE monitor in Ukraine in his new book, "What I saw in Ukraine: 2015-2022, Diary of an International Observer."
Benoit Paré's book: https://www.amazon.com/What-Saw-Ukraine-2015-2022-International/dp/295986011X
Pushback with Aaron Mate
The new President of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, aka Mohammed al-Jolani, is in New York for what is widely being described as the first visit by a sitting Syrian president to the US in nearly six decades.
But even more significant is another fact: it’s also the first state visit to the US by a leading veteran of Al Qaeda and ISIS.
Just last year, al-Sharra/al-Jolani – the founding leader of Al Qaeda in Syria and a former deputy leader of ISIS -- was on the US terrorism list with a $10 million reward for his arrest. But after leading the overthrow of Syrian president Basher al-Assad, the US has removed that designation and welcomed Jolani’s ruling Al Qaeda offshoot government. After all, as Jake Sullivan put it at the outset of the dirty war in early, 2012, “Al Qaeda is on our side in Syria.”
Because the US is on Al Qaeda’s side in Syria, that also means overlooking atrocities under its founding leader’s watch. Since al-Sharaa/al-Jolani took power, government forces have committed sectarian violence against Syria’s minority groups. In March, hundreds – possibly thousands – of Alawite civilians were massacred in Syria’s coastal regions. In July, hundreds more, mostly Druze civilians, were killed in Syria's Suweida region.
The Grayzone’s Aaron Maté speaks to members of two Syrian minority communities about the ongoing sectarian violence at the hands of a ruling Al Qaeda offshoot that the US and allies helped put in power.
Guests:
Dr. Morhaf Ibrahim, head of the Alawite Association of the United States.
Hibbah Jarmakani, a Druze Syrian-American originally from Suweida province in Syria.
