US Terrorist List: More Flexible Than Your Weekend Plans
CBS News, in a dazzling display of journalistic whiplash, reports on former President Trump meeting with Syrian leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa, just days after Al-Sharaa was conveniently purged from the U.S. terrorist watch list. The article frames this as a significant diplomatic shift, implying Al-Sharaa's recent PR offensive, touting his fight against ISIS, is what earned him this newfound legitimacy.
What they omit, with the precision of a Pentagon drone strike, is the historical context of how a senior al-Qaeda leader, formerly Abu Mohammad al-Jolani of Jabhat al-Nusra, became a palatable 'Syrian leader' in the first place. One might recall that the US government, alongside its Gulf allies, spent years arming and funding various Syrian opposition groups, many of which had direct or indirect
ties to extremist elements, including Al-Nusra. As Seymour Hersh reported even in 2014 ( London Review of Books ), a 'rat line' existed for weapons from Libya into Syria, often ending up in the hands of groups like al-Nusra. Now, a key beneficiary of that chaotic, ill-conceived policy is being presented by CBS as a potential partner, with his terrorist designation quietly rescinded. The speed with
which 'terrorist' becomes 'leader' when it suits geopolitical maneuvering almost gives one whiplash. How many more 'terrorists' can we rehab in the name of 'stability' when our own policies helped create them?