Learning and acting upon the Syrian victory

Abu Hussein al-Shar’a – The Real Jolani

There is a reason why HTS leadership tends to hide their real identities. It is because if they were honest about who they were, their lineage, their history, it would be very easy to notice their origins in the Syrian Regime Mukhabarat.

Jolani – real name Shar’a, was born into the Damascene elite. Born in Saudi Arabia
(his father lived there temporarily as an oil engineer), and growing up inone of the richest neighborhoods in Damascus (Mezzeh), his father was an economist for the regime, and was known to hold pan arab beliefs. In all honesty, there is not much to say about his childhood. Yet he was a “baa’thi” child who lived a privileged lifestyle due to his fathers wealth and links to the regime.

The first important part to cover takes place before he traveled to Iraq. At that time in Syria, there was a charismatic preacher, Abu al-Qaqa. Few knew it at the time, but Abu al-Qaqa was very likely a Mukhabarat agent who faciliated regime infiltration of the Iraqi Jihad. It is an open secret inside HTS circles that Jolani was known to attend the sermons of Abu al-Qaqa before traveling to Iraq, and furthermore, what is notable, is Jolani would visit Abu al-Qaqa before al-Qaqa became a household name amoung the Syrian Islamist movement. Essentially, while we are not quite sure that Jolani was a young regime agent himself, it is almost certain given the circumstances.

(Above is Qaqa, not Jolani)

The young, shy, and fairly uncarismatic Syrian quickly rose up to the highest ranks of Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad. Sheikh Zarqawi would not know it then, but Jolani would one day happily denounce him to millions of viewers on television. For the time being though, Jolani sought to manipulate the Mujahideen in what soon transformed into Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Through this manipulation he could increase his access to funds and climb the ranks, gaining a greater sized force. It is unclear when exactly he went to Camp Bucca but at some point Jolani was in the American prison.

Once he was released around 2008, he manipualted then sharia committee supervisor (and future Caliph) Abu Bakr al-Bagdadi, and was placed as commander of Nineveh, which the central leadership would have granted him considerable funds. Unfortunately, as is the case with much of the HTS leadership, they deliberately shadow their past, so not much more can be said about Jolani until 2011.

Jolani was given the position of Emir of Al-Nusra front. In theory, this would be the Syrian region of an Islamic State that sought to recapture the wisdom of the Ummayeds and the Salaf. In practice, Jolani never had any plans to remain loyal. Nor did he care one bit about Islam or Jihad. When Emir Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s lineage was researched and thus by 2013 Caliphate could be declared, Jolani, knowing he would forever be subordinate, revolted against his ruler he once pledged bayah to. At the time, he sneakily justified this as an expersion of loyalty to Al-Qaeda, which would become ridculous and hilarious in time given his future actions.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his Islamic State forces initiatially pushed “Nusra” to the dustbins of history, entirely ejecting them from Deir Ezzor and most of Syria. Jolani mostly was confined to small territorial hodgepodges in Idlib and Daraa. That being said, Jolani had the advantage of not being targeted by the international coalition, and an underhanded deal with the Assad regime that led other rebels to do the fighting. His most notable action during this time period of 2014-15 was liquidating Jamal Maarouf’s “Syrian Revolutionaries Front” as “Sahawat,” another one of his actions that would become quite hilarious in due time. Additionally, along with Ahrar al Sham and other small factions, they did seize Idlib, a city that had long been a weak spot of the regime, lacking much strategic relevance all in all.

(Declaration of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham)

In July 2016 Jolani declared his independence of Al-Qaeda and created “Jabhat Fateh al-Sham.” His propandga apparatus justified this as being neccesary to avoid the international coalition, but the truth is Jolani had long been disloyal to Al-Qaeda elements. This was merely his excuse to break free. The west didn’t buy that though, so Jolani decided to try another rebrand

(Flag of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham)

Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham was declared in January 2017, supposedly as a “unification project.” Ansar al-Din Front, Jaysh al-Sunna, Liwa al-Haqq, and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement joined, though all were privately expected to be subordinated to Jolani. Around this time, his schemes started getting considerably more manipulative. Jolani created a shell “Syrian Salvation Government” to both create a “civilian” scapegoat for HTS abuses, and also have a “non designated” shell government that would allow him to do behind the table dealing with Turkey and the West. It completely dropped even the illusion of “sharia,” using a Syrian Independence Flag, albeit with the stars replaced by the Shahada in an attempt to avert the suspicion of religous supporters. Immedietely, HTS began instigating fights with other groups, such as Ahrar al-Sham. However, Zenki, a fairly large and self sufficient faction itself, did not like HTS attempts to provoke infighting on behalf of the regime, so withdrew from the organization.

(Flag of Syrian Salvation Government, which threw a Shahadah in the middle in order to decieve Muslims into supporting their secular regime)

In 2019, Jolani gave the orders to liquidate Zenki, which collapsed in days. In all honesty, by that point, Zenki was likely thoroughly infiltrated by HTS. What is notable is HTS moves to crush groups such as Zenki, Division 13, and SRF have been a massive gift to the regime, and regime Jolani deals cannot be ruled out. Meanwhile, he increased the appearnce of this “Salvation Government” and stepped up a social media campaign to promote HTS as the only faction that is effective against the Syrian Regime. Around that year, due to an understand between Turkey and Russia, the regime launched an offensive into Idlib, with HTS mostly retreating and leaving much of the fighting to other factions. Due to this, many believe Jolani had a deal with the regime as well. The offensive stopped by March 6 2020 but by that time many cities had been lost and rival factions exhausted from fighitng. Later that year HTS attempted to takeover Ahrar al-Sham from within and dissolve it, but that attempt was foiled but other SLF factions who threatend intervention.

(HTS fighters having fully embraced the Sahawat “independence flag”)

Today, HTS goes farther and farther from Jolani’s old claimed values. It waves the tricolor revolutionary flag they once considered a sign of Sahawat. Jolani is known to have appealed to James Jeffery, seeking “friendship” with America and coordination against “terrorism.” Reportedly, in exchange for a deal with Iran, known for pushing ethnic cleansing and genocide against Sunni Muslims, HTS has given 100 million. Through its proxy the Salvation Government, HTS earns millions of dollars through smuggling and extortion. HTS officials committ all kinds of crime, living a luxurious life, worshippping money, and obsessed with sex. English speaking veterans in the organization have rebranded as “idlib residents” “researchers,” whitewashing HTS crimes and presenting an inaccurate depiction of the reality of life in Idlib. The remnants of Al Qaeda in Idlib, Hurras al Din, have been slowly getting annhilated by American drone strikes, and it is clear to most that Jolani has been selling their coordinates to America, as HaD is a threat to his regime in Idlib.

(Abu Mohammed al-Jolani today in western attire, attempting a PR campaign to win western support and funding)

Since the revolution, Jolani has done nothing but attack factions that fought for Islam, attacked factions that fought the regime, supported American imperialism, and change his positions faster than a Chameleon changes colors. Much like Hezbollah serves as the secret “border guard” of Israel, HTS only exists in Idlib because Assad, Turkey, Iran, Russia, and the west uses them to “contain” the Muslims of Idlib, which Jolani is happy to do in exchange for extreme personal profit and gain . The “Taliban” comparison is too kind. In all honesty, Jolani is much like Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a leech who is an asset of many intelligence agencies, and who gained their “strength” by exploting the bravery and valor of others then stabbing them in the back.

With all due respect. I have absolutely no idea what is happening in Syria because I am not there but as an Algerian I do know that many groups called themselves “Islamist” in my country and were also terrorists for over a decade. They were outsiders , that had nothing to do with Algeria and had absolutely nothing to do with Islam…spoiled the picture of Islam not only for the non Muslims but mainly for the Muslims . The reason why I allow myself to comment on the use of this word and would prefer to use one single word which is being Muslim if your intentions are pure and keep all political definitions aside