Ahmed al-Sharaa’s fake face by Harry S. Taylor

The masks are off, and the truth is clawing its way to the surface like a long-buried corpse finally allowed to rot in the sunlight. For years, we have watched the Syrian chessboard shift, its players donning different disguises to fit the ever-changing narrative. But now, the veil has slipped from Ahmed al-Sharaa, and what we see is no reformist, no reluctant strongman, no pragmatic leader caught in the machinery of war. What we see is the raw, unfiltered face of fanaticism—an old-school Taliban sympathizer who thrives in the chaos of Syria's suffering.

Al-Sharaa, like so many before him, played the West like a cheap violin. He let the world believe he was a necessary evil, a stabilizing force in a region where stability is a currency that only warlords can trade. He paraded as the lesser of evils, a seasoned political player willing to negotiate with foreign powers, to flirt with diplomacy while ensuring his own grip on power remained unshaken. But now, the charade is over. The mask has cracked, and beneath it, we see a man whose ideology is stitched together with the same dark threads that wove the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and every other extremist movement that thrives on bloodshed and blind obedience.

Let’s not fool ourselves. The world has always loved its useful villains. For decades, the West played ball with dictators, terrorists-turned-politicians, and strongmen who knew exactly how to dangle the carrot while wielding the stick. And every time, the same tragic comedy unfolds: we let them build their power, we convince ourselves that we can control them, and when they finally show their true nature, we pretend to be shocked. But Ahmed al-Sharaa’s transformation or rather, the world’s belated realization of who he always was—should surprise no one.

This is not a man who was forced into radicalism by the brutality of war. This is not a man who turned to extremism out of desperation. This is a man who has long admired the Taliban’s model of power a ruthless blend of religious dogma, military intimidation, and political cunning that leaves no room for dissent. And like every fanatic before him, he wears his convictions with pride, wielding them as both shield and sword, ensuring that any attempt to challenge his authority is met with swift, merciless punishment.

The question now is not whether the world will act, it won’t. History has taught us that much. The question is how long we will continue the farce of diplomatic engagement, how many more times we will watch politicians, analysts, and media outlets try to paint al-Sharaa as a complex figure rather than what he truly is: a tyrant draped in religious extremism, a warlord cloaked in political strategy, and a fanatic with a taste for power that no peace talk or negotiation will ever satiate.

Syria is not a battleground of ideologies. It is not a stage for political maneuvering. It is a graveyard where the innocent are buried under the weight of the world’s indifference. And men like Ahmed al-Sharaa do not seek to rebuild, to negotiate, or to govern, they seek to rule, to impose, and to crush. The sooner we stop pretending otherwise, the sooner we will stop writing the same tragic story over and over again, expecting a different ending.