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Today is the day of the photo. The scene will be very significant and messages will be delivered in several directions. Today will mark the beginning of a new chapter and close an old one. A powerful man called Donald Trump will shake hands at the White House with another powerful man called Ahmad Al-Sharaa.
The American master of surprises will receive the man who took the Syrians, the Middle East and world by surprise. No Syrian president has entered the White House since the country gained its independence in 1946. The White House is where alarm, assurances, support and certificates of good conduct are handed out. Neither Hafez Assad nor his son Bashar ever received such a welcome or invitation. Al-Sharaa is treading where no one dared tread before.
Benjamin Netanyahu watches the screen. The date is worth waiting for and concerns him. He mutters to himself: this man would not be where he is now were it not for the tonnes of Israeli bombs that struck Iranian sites in Syria and were it not for the crackdown against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards that forced it to withdraw its factions, “advisers” and ambitions from Syria.
The successive strikes left Vladimir Putin’s forces helpless before the ensuing rapid developments. Saving “Mr. President” was no longer possible, like it was a few years earlier. All Russia could do was provide a plane that flew Bashar to his Russian exile on “humanitarian” grounds.
The rise of Al-Sharaa’s Syria changed balances of power and made the disarmament of armed groups a top priority in Lebanon and Iraq.
Ghassan Charbel
Netanyahu is envious. The West has never clamored to drop sanctions against a man the way it has done with Al-Sharaa. They dropped the tale of Abu Mohammed Al-Golani and opened the doors to President Al-Sharaa. Netanyahu does not shed a tear for Assad and “Iranian Syria.” He knows that, so far, Al-Sharaa has chosen to quit the military aspect of the conflict with Israel. However, celebrating Al-Sharaa could lead to American and Western pressure on Israel to make concessions in support of the new Syria’s stability.
How difficult it is for Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to watch the unfolding developments. He abhors Trump — the man who ordered the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the architect of the “Axis of Resistance” and its rockets and tunnels. The man who dispatched jets to strike his nuclear facilities and whose weapons Netanyahu used to rattle Iran’s image, invade its airspace and assassinate its generals and scientists.
He also abhors Al-Sharaa — the man who erased Iran’s border with Israel in Syria. The same border it took years, sacrifices and billions of dollars to build. Al-Sharaa’s rise broke the axis that had already been dealt a catastrophic blow with the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, Soleimani’s partner in building the alliance.
Iran also lost its border with Israel in Lebanon. The rise of Al-Sharaa’s Syria changed balances of power and made the disarmament of armed groups a top priority in Lebanon and Iraq. It is effectively an agenda aimed at eliminating Iran’s influence in these countries. The borders of the axis have been changed, so have the borders of Iran’s influence. Reclaiming Syria will be a daunting task.
Putin bitterly watches the unfolding developments. The people of the Middle East court Russia, while their hearts are actually with the US. We once saved Bashar, but Bashar did not save his regime. We advised him to cooperate just a bit with Recep Tayyip Erdogan but he arrogantly refused.
Erdogan himself, the heir of sultans, had bent to the storm and swallowed the bitter pill of seeing Russia and Iran protect Bashar. He waited patiently for the right moment for revenge and he pounced the second it presented itself. He did not hesitate in settling scores, doing so without gloating.
Al-Sharaa himself has chosen to forget that Russian jets had bloodied Idlib and the Syrian resistance. He has chosen to forget that these same jets were searching for him. He has chosen the slogan “Syria first” and has set aside disputes with everyone. He traveled to the Kremlin with an open mind and friendly demeanor. But Al-Sharaa knows that he needs Trump more than he needs Putin. He knows that the future of his regime depends on Washington, not Moscow. Al-Sharaa’s rise curbed Russia’s influence in the Middle East.
When the snow starts to pile up, Moscow can be so challenging for those who sought asylum there. The title of “former” or “ousted” president is a difficult pill to swallow. It was so difficult for him to quit a country he was promised to rule forever. His alliances have also evaporated. What a terrible situation. He once believed that the rebellious Idlib would be forced back into his grasp and that Al-Golani would flee and become nothing more than a vague memory.
He finds it hard to process the series of warm receptions accorded to Al-Sharaa everywhere he goes. The palace and Damascus are farther than ever from his grasp. He switches off the television. He cannot stand to see the White House. He tries to console himself. Ruling Syria is not easy at all. The West and those celebrating the new Syria will soon lose their enthusiasm. Syria is a minefield that is difficult to navigate. How difficult it is to sit back and wait, especially when there is no hope to cling on to. He used to walk into the Kremlin as a president, but now its doors are shut to him and his fate lies in the hands and mood of the czar.
This is the day of the photo. The scene in Washington is a continuation of the famous handshake in Riyadh, where Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman used his personal influence and the weight of his country and opened the American and Western door to the leader of the new Syria. The series of high-level meetings, however, only adds to the responsibilities on Al-Sharaa’s shoulders. He must now lead the process of reconstruction, fight poverty, build a state of law and consolidate the position of the new Syria, as well as its credibility inside the country and beyond. He must fight Daesh and extremist ideology and answer questions related to Israel and peace proposals. He is a powerful man on a difficult mission.
This is the photo of the day. Trump will warmly receive Al-Sharaa. The photo will go down in history, with the hope that Syria will turn to the future so that it can pave the way for stability in its surroundings and so that millions of Syrian refugees and expatriates can return home.
- Ghassan Charbel is editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper. X: @GhasanCharbel
This article first appeared in Asharq Al-Awsat.