The Man Who Booted Assad Out Of Syria

‘It is no surprise that the Islamist rebel chose Damascus’ venerated Umayyad mosque — not a TV studio, nor newly absented presidential palace, but a place of towering religious significance, which at 1,300 years old is one of the world’s most ancient mosques’ — CNN reported, to deliver his message. All Photographs: Mahmoud Hassano/Reuters

CNN reported: ‘In a country where the God you chose, and how you pray, can define your class, limit your aspirations and pit you against your neighbour, Golani sent a very clear signal in the Umayyad mosque. He is a Sunni Muslim, part of Syria’s majority. Assad was an Alawite. There are Christians, Druze, Shia Muslims, Ismailis and more.’
‘Yet the words he chose appeared intended to break those old bounds. “This new triumph, my brothers, marks a new chapter in the history of the region, a history fraught with dangers (that left) Syria as a playground for Iranian ambitions, spreading sectarianism, stirring corruption,” he said.’

‘Singling Iran out appears to be a message to Tehran’s theocracy — that their meddling is over, their easy land access to their mega proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon is over, their support for Syrian Hezbollah is over, and gone too is the home they once had for Iran’s weapons stockpiles,’ CNN observed.
‘But it is a message Golani will know is being heard in Tel Aviv and Washington, where he is considered to be a member of a proscribed terrorist organisation with a $10 million bounty on his head,’ CNN added.

‘Golani has been at pains on his race to Damascus to make sure US President Joe Biden and even President-elect Donald Trump know his intent,’ CNN pointed out, adding, ‘It is no coincidence that he picked a US TV network, CNN, and not an Arab one, for a key interview in the days before he ousted Assad, claiming he had parted company from other jihadists because of their brutal tactics.’

IMAGE: Earlier, CNN reported that Golani ‘cut his teeth as a young fighter for al-Qaeda against the US in Iraq. Returning to his homeland during the Syrian civil war, he led the terror group’s affiliate in Syria when it was under the name Jabhat Al Nusra. He would go on to break ties with al-Qaeda and his organisation evolved into Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, also known as the Organization for the Liberation of the Levant, in early 2017.’

‘Golani’s message was also tuned for regional powers he’ll need to keep onside, promising to clean shop,’ CNN noted.
‘”Syria is being purified,” he said, referring to the country’s regional reputation as a narco-state, saying Assad’s Syria had “become the world’s leading source of Captagon,” an amphetamine-type drug, and criminality through the region.’