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Order Michael Finch’s new book, A Time to Stand: HERE. Prof. Jason Hill calls it “an aesthetic and political tour de force.”
Sign up to attend Michael’s talk in Los Angeles on Thursday, November 20: HERE.
Trump’s invitation to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to the White House is a windfall for the former Al-Qaeda leader and a victory for the global jihad.
Al-Sharaa has now walked away with a deal that likely surprises even him. He has been escorted into the Western fold with recognition as a legitimate dignitary, no longer sanctioned, and has even signed on to the global coalition to defeat ISIS.
It is critical to review the background of al-Sharaa (known, in his days as a jihad leader, as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani) to appreciate the significance of his meeting with Trump — at the White House, no less.
Al-Sharaa led the jihad group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTM), which was responsible for former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s fall. The process “essentially began in July 2011, when Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi—then the leader of the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI), previously known as al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI)—sent Abu Mohammed al-Jolani to spearhead his group’s entry into Syria.” Al-Jolani would later become the head of HTS, change his name to Ahmed al-Sharaa, and put on a suit to appeal to naive Westerners. He has done extraordinarily well, given how seasoned he is not only at violent jihad, but at stealth jihad as well.
In April 2013, al-Baghdadi released an audio statement reaffirming that al-Jolani’s Jabhat al-Nusra (JN) group was part of the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI). Al-Baghdadi also announced that the two “would henceforth be collectively known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).”
Here you can see that Al-Jolani is no different than the savage al-Baghdadi. But al-Jolani ended up double-crossing al-Baghdadi. Within days, al-Jolani rejected the union of JN and ISI, and instead, he “pledged continued allegiance to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.” This became a critical juncture: the battle for preeminence between Sunni jihadist groups in Syria was on.
In February 2014, “al-Qaeda formally disassociated itself from ISIS.” Some months afterward in June, ISIS stormed into Mosul, and in July, al-Baghdadi announced the restoration of the Islamic caliphate under his own leadership.
In January 2017, al-Jolani’s Jabhat al-Nusra (JN) adopted the formal new name Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) “as a vehicle to advance its position in the Syrian insurgency and further its own goals as [al-Qaeda’s] affiliate in Syria.”
HTS finally overthrew al-Assad in December 2024; in doing so, it had strong backing from Turkey. The prior leader of HTS had already begun a public relations facelift for the group. Abu Jaber Shaykh, who preceded Ahmed al-Sharaa as senior leader of HTS, declared that the purpose for which HTS was formed was “to safeguard the gains of the revolution and the land that was liberated with the blood of thousands of martyrs.” He also declared HTS to be the merger of all opposition factions; all others were “dissolved and disintegrated.”
Shaykh’s declaration was intended “to distance HTS from the legacy of al Qaeda’s official arm,” which he and others (including Ahmed al-Sharaa) now argue “no longer exists.” Abu Jaber Shaykh succeeded, and this brought about a unified “blessed revolution” to topple Assad’s regime. He stated that his “brothers” in HTS were at “the forefront of the Syrian jihad,” and warned “all Sunnis in Syria of the dire circumstances they would face should the war be lost.” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who provided military and logistical backing to HTS, also called the new Syrian leadership his “brothers.”
Nothing has changed about al-Sharaa. He is a seasoned jihadist who is dedicated to regional dominance, and will manipulate a stealth strategy in his war as long as doing so helps him attain his goals.
The State Department designated al-Jolani as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in May 2013, offering up a $10 million bounty on him. But now it has removed that bounty, and al-Jolani is being embraced in the White House. Never mind the ongoing abuse of minorities in Syria and his threat to Israel, which prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to issue a stern statement last year about Israel’s determination to defend its security amid the Turkish-supported Syrian siege.
In an additional benefit to al-Sharaa, the US has now waived sanctions, and Trump vowed “to do everything he can to make Syria successful” after meeting al-Sharaa.
Al-Sharaa has also now achieved Syria’s signing on to a political cooperation declaration with the global coalition to defeat ISIS, which is ridiculous given al-Sharaa’s past brief alliance with and then jihadist competition with the Islamic State. The Coalition, which began in 2014 with 12 original members, now has 89 members “to combat ISIS in Iraq, Syria, and globally.”
Unfortunately, numerous ISIS affiliates have continued to emerge, despite the coalition. For example, in Afghanistan there is ISIS-Khorasan, and there are other ISIS affiliates in sub-Saharan Africa.
According to the Washington Institute, “the coalition has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in stabilization assistance annually, adding up to billions of dollars invested” between 2019 and 2024. This large sum of money is going toward meeting “critical needs” in both Syria and Iraq.
The Washington Institute continues:
It addresses vulnerabilities previously exploited by ISIS and closes gaps in local needs, including for essential services, education, community reintegration, and accountability for the organization’s heinous crimes.
Now think about al-Sharaa’s history, his leadership of al-Qaeda in competition with the Islamic State, and the money that will flow to him as part of the global coalition to defeat ISIS. Al-Sharaa doesn’t care about the spread of jihad per se; he’s a jihadist himself, but he does care about keeping ISIS at bay, given his historic conflict with the group. Al-Sharaa is an untrustworthy force in the coalition. Meanwhile, his domestic forces continue to persecute Christians, as jihadists usually do:
Syrian Christians and Alawites are being slaughtered in Syria by soldiers of the ISIS/AlQaeda terrorist government. The death toll is 1800 in just the last few days, with many victims still missing. Entire villages are being slaughtered by these terrorist govt forces. These… pic.twitter.com/Gm0YVlg9VM
— Iraqi Christian Foundation (@iraqschristians) March 8, 2025
Violent jihadists rule Syria. Upon the collapse of Assad’s regime, Israel thus immediately set up a defense perimeter, despite the unreasonable demands and objections of its Arab neighbors, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, as well as those of the UN, which condemned Israel for a supposed “dangerous land grab in Syria.” Of course, it was not a land grab, but about protecting the Jewish state from more jihadist attacks.
Whatever the reason for welcoming former al-Qaeda commander al-Sharaa to the White House, it is an insult to the massive number of victims that al-Sharaa and his forces murdered, assaulted and pillaged.
The manipulative al-Sharaa is a jihadist — and he has managed to pull off a substantial victory, not only for himself personally, but for the global jihad.
So no reasons given why Trump should do this? And a mild rebuke of him doing it? Not exactly hard hitting, but very informational.
Here is another example of how Trump is doing stupid things…
There’s pictures of Abu Mohammed al-Jolani/Ahmed al-Sharaa holding the heads in each hand of two victims beheaded…
Wherever satanic islam goes… death and destruction follows.
President Trump is not a deep and long range thinker and common sense is simply not enough to understand deep and long range issues.
“Americans are the most reality-oriented people on earth. Their outstanding characteristic is the childhood form of reasoning: common sense. It is their only protection. But common sense is not enough where theoretical knowledge is required: it can make simple, concrete-bound connections—it cannot integrate complex issues, or deal with wide abstractions, or forecast the future.” – Ayn Rand
It’s too bad you have no common sense.
ah you arm chair POTUS keyboard warrior — you are not a deep thinker and Ayn Rand is FOS!
What the hell did Ayn Rand think is the result of “theoretical knowledge” – it can only be common sense all along. in order for it to work!
I don’t know what hands on work you have done in your life – I started out as an auto mechanic, I became an X-Ray tech and medical assistant and then went into computers before the term IT was coined and used.
I learned investing on my own, not in classes and when I retired I made critical investments that made me a self made millionaire 2.5 times over that is still in perpetual growth!
All that is hands on common sense critical thinking from theoretical knowledge, proving Ayn Rand was half baked and those who stop at Ayn Rand for their spiritual growth are 1/4 baked!
BTW….the same is applied to the Bible’s information that is proven over life and hence is employed in critical thinking common sense!
Excellent comment, Muggs.
On the other hand does it really take deep and long range thinking simply to realize that this Muslim is a blood-thirsty, mass murdering, psychopath and so is Putin?
What the hell is wrong with Trump?!
SMDH!
What the hell is wrong with Trump? As if you could be president.
Get off your ass and run for President
You’re an idiot Intrepid…
This dude is responsible for killing “tons” of American Troops! (As Nick… Valhalla VFT says)
And Trump calls him a great guy…
That comment supposed to make me change my mind? Sorry Scummy. It seems that the only thing you get a kick out of is insulting people.
You are a child. Thank God you aren’t President. Stick to the small stuff, like WH visitors. Small minds = small insults.
I don’t worry about visitors to the White House. There are way more important issues.
“Change your mind”???
Of course not Intrepid… most everything goes above your head… you lack discernment…
And most certain ly haven’t a clue of what has transpired in Syria over the years…
…
MTG is on Trump’s hit list for wanting the Epstein Files released…
But yet Trump welcomes a satanic worshiping muslim who has literally killed Americans… families without their husbands and/or fathers…
No… that wouldn’t be important to you…
Sicko…
Yup, it’s simply common sense, but, common sense isn’t so common in academia
If Trump wants to stick his hand in the fire to find out that it’s hot and burns, let him. It’s his hand!
Trump is hosting a known Islamic terrorist. No amount of white house visits are going to wash that stick off that Ahmed al-Sharaa savage.
Trump is exhibiting a level of naivety and doesn’t follow his own advice (anyone remember his often cited aphorism about the lady and the snake?)
Meeting with this Ahmed al-Sharaa guy. could blow up in his face somewhere down the line. Proof? Remember his assurances about Putin? How did that work out?
Yeah, Trump seems to finally have given up on Putin.
I wonder if Tucker and Candace will applaud this meeting with Sharaah?
aphorism about the lady and the snake
Sadly it is human nature not to take our own advice.
Unfortunately, we only take our own advice AFTER we realize we f**ked up and should’ve known better. That’s the folly of all human beings.
It mitigates as we age but still, there’s no fool like and old fool. Fortunately, they tend to be democrats (Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, et al.)
Well said! Thank you.
Since Trump got face to face with death in Butler PA. He developed some type of messianic complex. His obsession with creating world peace. Is clouding his thinking. I’m afraid he is in the prosses of making a bigger Middle East mess than Bush jr.
He better come back down to earth and stop this destructive tariff war and pursue economic policies that bring American prices down.
Americans are not going to vote for his candidates for Congress next year because he ended 10, 000 wars while they can’t make ends meet!
It’s the economy stupid.
Ah yes…the voice of Objectivist authority speaks.
“He better come back down to earth ” or you will do what? Have another temper tantrum?
If you want prices to come down then allow cheap foreign made products to flood the US. At the same time, those same companies will erect barriers (aka, tariffs) to prevent American made products from coming into their markets. Then sit back and watch American jobs get sucked into those countries.
You seem to forget that Ross Perot was 1000% right about NAFTA. The economy doesn’t work very well when people don’t have a job and must depend on the government for their existence.
Bottom line: Tariffs are ugly and disruptive but necessary from time to time. If not, then China wins, Mexico wins, and every other country with cheap labor and the ability to manufacture wins.
And so does the greedy politicians and the multinational corporations in this country who only care about their bottom line and don’t give a flying f**k about what’s good for America or the average American citizen. I retired from that world. I know how and what they think.
NAFTA …
“Free Trade” … as defined by the act
means 100% protectionism for foreign competitors
and American taxpayers must also pay the foreigners subsidies for the privilege of buying their junk
and we cannot make the same products here – unless we’re a multi-national with an army of lawyers and compliance officers –
but what really pisses me off-enough to post on social media
… is being accused of being lazy, stupid, incompetent, inefficient, and greedy …
while I’m literally training foreigners for jobs they are NOT qualified for.
At least Lefties openly hate our guts.
Who needs enemies when you have Establishment Republicans …
It’s one of the reasons I left the republican party in 2003 and became an independent. I have no use for republicans or democrats.
The tariffs are brilliant
Absurd White House policies should have only been around during the Joe Biden years ,since he was only a puppet :”president ” and a feeble-minded buffion..
Now, with a real US President in the White House, .Donald Trump, such foolishness of awful policies of folly shoild limited to the past of the Biden administration.
Nevertheless ,as this jihad watch article revealed “We’re partnering with moderate Al Qaeda against extremist Al Qaeda so that Al Qaeda doesn’t win.”
The fact of reality reflected in the true saying ,which is :”the lesser of the two evils is still evil.”
It’s no surprise that idiot Joe Biden wouldn’t understand that , but President Trump , having a far greater intelligence overlooks that truism is rather odd..
Why cant trump read a book on islam???
Trump seems just as ignorant about Islam as GW Bush was. GW Bush once proclaim Islam a peaceful religion. That was a profoundly ignorant statement uttered by a man who wasn’t that smart to begin with.
Maybe we could get him to sit down if there was also a bowel of B&J Rachel Corrie Crunch at the table with the book
In terms of removing the stink, I see Trump did spray him with cologne. Or was it RAID?
Remember that as President of the United States, Trump has to
diplomatically deal with other monsters too – Xi Jinping of China,
Vladimir Putin of Russia, Kim Jong UN of North Korea to mention
a few.
To keep the Middle East from embroiling America in its bloodbaths
– while President Trump works to strengthen America from the
shellacking it took under Biden and Obama – Trump uses diplomacy
as well in dealing with the two-faced Tacquiya leaders of Qatar,
Saudi Arabia and the rest.
However, it is crucial to always keep in mind that Jihad and Islam are
the number one threat to America and to the world. And Syria’s
al-Sharaa is a vicious Jijadist. Thank God that journalists like Christine
Williams will keep us informed on him as we go along – so that We
The People don’t wind up as defenseless as those poor villagers so
massively slaughtered under Al-Sharaa’s just-getting-started regime.
Are you certain that your optimism is warranted?
Generally agreed.
But what the heck does America get from playing nice with this monster?
We need to be nice to Pootler – Xi – Mark Carney – and Claudia Sheinbaum
… but after that the list gets a bit thin.
Sucking up to Ahmed al-Sharaa seems foolish and stupid. I cannot think of a good reason for doing so.
The only ‘good’ thing we should do for Ahmed …
… is don’t drone him to death on the tarmac.
In fact, that should be the only ‘deal’ we make with him
– i.e. If he plays ball, he can go on breathing. –
And he doesn’t need a WH invite to issue that ‘deal’ …
It is true that Trump has chosen an unsavory option in Syria. But before criticizing his choice one has to ask is there a better option? What would a better choice look like? A more humane potential leader of Syria that could succeed? Does that person exist? Or just write Syria off and essentially turn them over to Iran, Russia and Turkey? I don’t know the answers to these questions, but I believe they have to asked and answered before condemning Trump.
Since al-Jolani is trying to keep Turkey and Russia happy at the same time, Why couldn’t we just have nothing to do with al-Jolani?
Keeping Russia and Turkey (and the United States and Iran) happy simultaneous is not possible since they all have different goals. The question is what can we do to make Syria less of a threat to Israel and other neighbors. And less of a threat to her own people. I don’t know if having nothing to do with al-Jolani is the best way of doing this – it could make Syria a vassal state of either Turkey or Iran. Not engaging with evil leaders may feel morally good, but does not always lead to an optimum result. I honestly don’t know what is the best strategy here. Having “nothing to do with al-Jolani” could be the best strategy – it is just not clear to me.
” The question is what can we do to make Syria less of a threat to Israel……”
I would suggest “glassing” the place if you know what I mean. But then I’m a no bullsh*t kinda person and a proponent of expeditiousness. Do what you gotta do posthaste and R.I.P. the issue. Problem solved.
Are you certain that your optimism is warranted?
That’s an astute observation. When the only choices are horsesh*t or bullsh*t, which one do you choose? In Syria and other places like it, those are Trump’s choices. They both stink. Pick one and deal with it.
The hardest part of reading this article is getting those confounded sound alike izzylam names straight .
It’s like the Abbot and Costello routine of “Who’s on first?”
President Trump and his Stellar POTUS 47 Cabinet are not naive and are nit dumbed down.
Putin is a savage war criminal as much as Valensky of Ukraine. It’s not their blood on the battle field and it’s not their kin.
We did not criminalize the emperor of Japan and the heads of Japanese state after WW2. The Japanese emperor thought for sure he was going to be arrested and hung.
President Trump knows does not want USA to go in and topple regimes as USA has done in the past, unless they are a credible threat to USA as, for example, Venezuela is demonstrating now.
We need nations to unify in the defeat of jihad and in return, be brought into the commerce, opportunity, technology of the USA and cooperating nations under President Trump.
This is beyond, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
Peace agreements have never had this much to offer.
An entire nation will benefit, not just the leaders of that nation, with Peace and Cooperation with USA and partnering allies under President Trump’s cornucopia of opportunities.
So, note to all the armchair POTU’s keyboard warriors, we need to wait and see and I will hedge that I am correct.
If anyone of these nations steps out of line, on the agreement and discussions, hand shakes and documents not privy to the American public at this time, I would guess my take is right.
And I say now and I will say when I am facing YHVH and Yeshua Messiah out of my human body as I do now in my body: “Thank you GOD thank you Lord Jesus Christ for this day and thank you for President Donald J. Trump 45 & 47.
Who I wisely and prudently with all due diligence of mind and spirit, voted for President Trump in the three federal elections that he won. Albeit, the 2nd time running for POTUS, the election was rigged and stolen in a vile coup d’etat!
You’re off base…
America helped to oust Assad from Syria… because he was Shiite…
Now… Syria has a Sunni American killer in charge… and that’s what America wants, since it supports the satanic Sunni world…
So yes… toppling regimes continues onward…
As an end to my just posted previous comment: This does not mean these scumbags who conspired and ordered the shedding of human blood and life are off the hook with YHVH at the JUDGEMENT!
In a Just World this creep would have been lured to the meeting and then taken out and shot as soon as he arrived to send a clear message to all the other monsters. Just say’in………
What we know absolutely nothing about is–what did they discuss? Is it assumed that the smiling handshake was a reliable indicator? I’m more inclined to believe that Trump delivered a threat to Ahmed al-Sharaa that there is nowhere he can hide from US and Israeli surveillance and weaponry, with history as his backup. So there are certain limits he is “hoping” that his visitor will honor in the ME.
Just sayin’.
HAS TRUMP NO DECENT ADVISORS? HIS IGNORAMCE OF RADICAL ISLAM IS ASTOUNDING!!!
WHERE IS GORKA? TOO BAD TRUMP BOOTED WALZ – ANOTHER TUCKER QATARLSON RECOMMENDATION, LIKE BOITING POMPEO?? WAKE UP TRUMP!!
THE MORE TRUMP LISTENS TO QATARLSON AND TUCLER’S SURRAGATE VANCE, THE MORE MISTAKES TRUMP MAKES!
Trump is not as erudite as many falsely thinks he is. He sometimes come across as a real bozo and a’hole by saying some cringe worthy things at times that are beneath the dignity of the office he holds.
Personally, I like Trump, Always have. But I also think that at times, he can come across as a real dick and an asshole.
Nothing has changed in this black-hearted psychopath and his beard trim, removed turban and new suit glow red with innocent blood.
Trump is in bed with Islam and how far up his rear gear we may not know but we have heard his blustering rhetoric to Putin and to Hamas and now that they’ve learned it’s just talk, they are proceeding in advancing their goals in triumph over the west and in destroying Israel.
Pride has carried many a man into the desert and left him wandering in the echoes of his self aggrandizement where that mirage he’s believing in will never save him or the evil people he has courted.
The masks of both Al Shaara and Trump are falling….and innocent people are paying the price. Truly vile.