For 14 years, Syria has been engulfed in a civil war. Until three months ago, dictator Bashar al-Assad controlled the government, but he was overthrown by the Jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist organization.
While Assad had many faults he did protect the Christian minority in Syria. However, as noted by commentator Tucker Carlson, as the civil war progressed, “the percentage of Christians in Syria went from ten percent to two percent.”
His removal was celebrated by neocons in this country, the same ones who worked to overthrow Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. While both were brutal dictators, their removal led to even worse results. Today, Iraq is a strong ally of Iran, the world’s foremost benefactor of terrorism, while Libya has been splintered into regions controlled by rival Jihadist organizations.
Similarly, after Assad fled for Russia, Ahmed al-Sharaa seized control as Syria’s new interim President. He is the former leader of HTS. Previously, the United States offered a $10 million reward for his capture, but the Biden administration removed it last December.
On Thursday, predictable revenge killings started in coastal areas of Syria, such as the town of Baniyas, still loyal to Assad. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, over 1,000 people were killed, including 745 innocent civilians.
Tragically, one of the victims was “Marwan Shahada, mayor of the Syrian Christian village of Mazraa in the Homs countryside.” He was found dead, killed by a machete attack.
In the city of Latakia, drinking water and electricity were suspended, creating a disastrous situation. Residents of Latakia also faced helicopter attacks, launched by the HTS government, targeting Assad loyalists.
Throughout the region, innocent civilians were killed by Sunni Muslim gunmen affiliated with the HTS government. The victims included Christians and “members of Assad’s minority Alawite sect.” Christian holy sites were also desecrated.
Ali Sheha, a Baniyas resident who witnessed the slaughter and fled with his family, told the Associated Press that Alawite residents were shot in homes, shops and on the streets. In addition, residences were looted and set on fire.
He said the Jihadist murderers “asked residents for their IDs to check their religion and their sect before killing them. He said the gunmen also…stole cars and robbed homes.” To avoid the “executions,” some Alawites fled to Lebanon, while others took refuge at a Russian airbase in Hmeimim, Syria.
In response to the carnage, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that our country “stands with Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities, including its Christian, Druze, Alawite, and Kurdish communities.” He called for a full investigation by Syrian authorities. France also expressed its “deep concern” about the massacre and called for an independent investigation to “shed full light on these crimes.”
Unfortunately, much of the international community has been silent about these atrocities. Even worse, the European Union (EU) exonerated the Jihadist government for the massacre. In their statement, the EU condemned “the recent attacks, reportedly by pro-Assad elements, on interim government forces in the coastal areas of Syria and all violence against civilians.”
A much more truthful view has been presented by the new U.S. Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who predicted these problems in Syria. For meeting with Assad in 2017, Gabbard was accused of being a Russian spy.
In her confirmation hearings Gabbard said, “I shed no tears for the fall of the Assad regime, but today we have an Islamist extremist who is now in charge of Syria. As I said, who danced on the streets to celebrate the 9/11 attack, who ruled over Idlib (Syria) with an Islamist extremist governance and who has already begun to persecute and kill and arrest religious minorities like Christians in Syria. Why that should be acceptable to anyone is beyond me. It is certainly not in our interests.”
Gabbard also testified, “I have no love for Assad or any dictator. I just hate al-Qaeda. I hate that our leaders cozy up to Islamist extremists, calling them ‘rebels’… Syria is now controlled by al-Qaeda offshoot HTS, led by an Islamist Jihadist who…was responsible for the killing of many American soldiers.”
Conservative UK Parliament member Andrew Rosindell likened the Syrian civilian attacks to the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023. He called it “nothing less than a brutal crime against humanity.” Rosindell claimed “Alawite Muslims, Christians, Druze and other minorities are being hunted down, tortured and murdered in cold blood.” He blamed “barbaric jihadist terrorists.”
Amazingly, as the massacre was occurring, the UK government lifted sanctions on “24 Syrian entities,” including the country’s airline, oil companies and central bank. A UK spokesperson absurdly claimed, “This approach underscores our commitment to help the people of Syria rebuild their country and economy, including through support for a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition process.”
Instead of a penalty for their involvement in the massacre, the Syrian terrorist regime was rewarded by the UK’s leftwing Labor government.
While the EU ignored the culpability of the Islamist Syrian government for the massacre and the UK rewarded the killers with the lifting of sanctions, Christian leaders in the country were sounding the alarm. For example, the Patriarchate of Antioch and the Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church posted on social media a warning for “all Syrian civilians from all denominations.” He advised all Christians “to take shelter in the nearest church they find, all churches and coastal monasteries open their doors to families and civilians.”
These attacks are troubling signs about the future of Syria. In the view of Aron Lund of Century International think tank, the new Islamist government is filled with “repressive power” and is made up of “jihadist zealots who think Alawites are enemies of God.”
Instead of rewarding such a regime, it would be better for the Western world to condemn and sanction them and thereafter get out of the sordid business of nation building, which never ends well for innocent civilians.
Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian and his award-winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs Saturdays from Noon until 1 p.m. CT nationally on Real America’s Voice TV Network & AmericasVoice.News and weekdays from 7-9 a.m. & 6-7 p.m. CT on WGSO 990-AM & Wgso.com. He is a political columnist, the author of America’s Last Chance and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and on Crouere.net. For more information, email him at jcrouere@gmail.com
