Independent military author and researcher. Transnational rebel.
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Jul 1 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
BREAKING: Trump quietly removed U.S. sanctions on two notorious Syrian warlords, Abu Amsha (Suleiman Shah Brigade) & Sayf Abu Bakr (Hamza Division) accused of abduction, torture & rape, disproportionately targeting Kurds. No announcement. No transparency. Just gone. 🧵 1/ Their crimes were detailed in Aug 2023 via an OFAC press release, citing serious human rights abuses in Afrin: kidnappings, sexual violence, ransom extortion of Kurds and Arabs. These men were sanctioned under E.O. 13894. 🔗home.treasury.gov/news/press-rel…
Jun 27 • 16 tweets • 3 min read
1/ Thread🧵
Day 3 since the ceasefire in the 12-Day War between Israel and Iran. Putin says the war is over. Trump calls it a “victory for everyone.” While interceptors are restocked, launchers repositioned, and satellites realigned. Is this peace, or operational pause? 2/ Russia’s tone has shifted from “favoring a ceasefire” to skepticism about its longevity. Putin at the Minsk forum played a diplomatic middle ground hoping the Iran–Israel fighting could “be considered a thing of the past". But, no defence pact, and no S400.
Jun 22 • 15 tweets • 4 min read
1/ They’ll tell you this is just ISIS. That it’s ISIS alone.
That the Syrian Interim Government. Blessed by Trump himself and led by Ahmed al-Sharaa (formerly known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani) has been fighting ISIS since taking over Damascus in November. 2/ And that might be technically true. Yes, Jolani split from ISIS back in 2013. He led Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria. But what they never tell you, what they deliberately omit every single time, is this:
The split was political, never ideological.
Jun 12 • 14 tweets • 5 min read
🧵A WAR Simulation: IRAN vs. US, ISRAEL
No, this isn’t your favorite X space or another “D.C. Thinkfluencer” hot take. We’re talking peer-reviewed wargames, defense PhDs, and classified scenarios the Twitter mob can’t even pronounce.
Ready for a reality check? ↓ 1/ In 2002, the U.S. spent $250 million running the “Millennium Challenge” war game—a simulated war in the Persian Gulf. The OPFOR, led by Marine Gen. Paul Van Riper, tossed out Pentagon playbooks: no radios, no satellites. Orders went by motorcycle courier and mosque loudspeakers.
May 29 • 17 tweets • 6 min read
🧵Everything You Know About Sykes-Picot Is Wrong
"The Middle East was carved up by the Sykes-Picot Agreement in 1916."
We’ve all heard it. But what if that's just a convenient myth? Citing historian Ayşe Hür (@HurAyse) a deep dive in the most misunderstood map in modern history.1/
First, what was the Sykes-Picot Agreement?
A secret deal in 1916 between Britain & France (with Russia's blessing) to carve up Ottoman lands into spheres of influence—not to draw state borders.
May 27 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
🧵Part 2: From Thesis to Warfare
🎓 1999: Thesis
🕵️♂️ 2010–2023: Execution
As a cadet Fidan discussed his thesis as a theoretical vision, as a MIT chief during the Syrian CW, he put it into practice-- building a bloody transnational instrument of hegemony. ⬇️
2/ In his thesis, Fidan praises the CIA for mastering covert empire-building; citing regime change, propaganda, and economic sabotage as successes worth copying.
In the same breath he accuses Syria, Greece and Iraq of using the PKK in their own covert actions.
May 27 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
🧵1/ I managed to get my hands on Hakan Fidan’s 1999 master’s thesis. Erdoğan’s projected successor.
He laid out his strategic doctrine long before his meteoric rise. A roadmap for a new Turkish empire built through intelligence, surveillance, and covert operations. ⬇️ 2/ The thesis, titled "Intelligence and Foreign Policy: A Comparison of British, American and Turkish Intelligence Systems", was submitted at Bilkent University. Written in English, it’s shockingly candid about Turkey’s strategic ambitions after the Cold War.
May 23 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
🇸🇾 🇨🇳 [Thread] How China seized Syria’s most strategic port—without firing a shot.
A 30-year deal.
A French shipping firm as front man.
And two weeks later, Trump reverse policy, lifts sanctions and calls the former al Qaeda chief “handsome.”
Here’s the story no one’s telling: 2/ May 1st: headlines said a French giant was taking over Syria’s Port of Latakia.
After some digging it turns out CMA CGM is French in name only: In 2013, China dropped €400 million for 49% of CMA’s terminals. Another $1 billion in loans turned it into a Belt & Road weapon.
May 19 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
ENDGAME 🧵
A 10-day ultimatum has been issued. the SDF must submit to Damascus, or dissolve. Today, clashes erupted near the Tişrin Dam; just kilometers from Kobani.
This isn’t just a skirmish. This is Clausewitz culminating point of attack: the moment where offensive force must achieve decisive victory or collapse under its own momentum.1/ I’ve written many threads tracing how Ahmed al-Sharaa (Jolani), now declared interim president of Syria with the endorsement of key actors in the imperial core, is navigating the passage from insurgent to head of state.
May 6 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
🧵1/ Macron is about to welcome Syria’s “new president,” Ahmed al-Sharaa, to Paris.
You might know his name. Not his body count.
Meet al-Jolani, “former” al-Qaeda Emir. While the West cashes in, Syria bleeds — its worst sectarian massacre in a decade. 👇 2/ You know that trope where the villain shaves, puts on a suit, and suddenly he’s in charge?
That’s literally what happened.
Ahmed al-Sharaa is Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, ex–al-Qaeda, ex–jihadist warlord, now rebranded as “Syria’s hope” after Assad’s fall.
Mar 16 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
Tomorrow, Brussels hosts the 9th #Syria Conference, one of the most shameful moments in European diplomacy; @vonderleyen’s DEI appointees, are about to roll out the red carpet for jihadists—days after they orchestrated a massacre of Syrian minorities.
Europe has fallen—🧵 2/ The EU claims this conference will foster a "Syrian-led inclusive transition." Sounds fine; except the commissioners in charge know nothing about Syria and ignore that this “transition” is supposed to be led by an ISIS offshoot committing war crimes as we speak.
Mar 13 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
1/ 🧵A massacre is unfolding in Syria. Alawite civilians are being slaughtered; executed, displaced, wiped out. And the world? Silent. Worse, some are justifying it. Let’s break down the lies that make genocide acceptable. ↓ 2/ The killers want you to believe these Alawites are just “Assad remnants.” That’s the cover-up. These are civilians <men, women, children> being murdered because of who they are, not because of any allegiance.
Mar 8 • 12 tweets • 4 min read
1/ On March 7, 2025, an Alawite hecatomb: humanity butchered in blood-soaked rituals, perpetrators proudly filming their infernal spectacle. Women wailed in horror as children were dragged from homes and slaughtered alongside husbands, fathers, and grandfathers.
2/ Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, absurdly recognized internationally as Syria’s "legitimate security forces," proudly broadcasted their atrocities: civilians forced to crawl, bark, beg—until bullets silenced their pleas; women’s and children’s bodies piled into a grotesque monument.
Mar 2 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
A thread — 🧵“And all across the land, men looked up at the sky and saw the dragons coming, and they knew their doom.”
Jaramana #جرمانا might have been a meaningless Damascus sub-district, a citadel nobody ever heard of, as unknown as the Druze brigade bearing its name, standing in its defense.
But not anymore.
The self-crowned president may have just set his throne ablaze—trying to take it by force. #Syria1/ A century ago, European diplomats carved arbitrary lines across the Middle East. Today, we call them the Sykes-Picot borders. We pretend these lines are sacred, while ignoring the people forced to endure decades of war and displacement because of them—people like the Druze of southern Syria.
Today, those borders mean little to the fighters in Jaramana, where Druze gunmen refuse to surrender their district to Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the new rulers of Damascus. The battle isn’t just over a neighborhood—it’s about survival in a country that has erased so many minorities before them.
Feb 20 • 13 tweets • 5 min read
— A Thread 🧵
The U.S. and Russia are negotiating Ukraine’s future—without Ukraine. Zelensky calls it illegitimate, but the truth is far more horrifying.
On sunflower fields abused by monoculture, nitrogen… fertilized by blood and bone. Where men give battle to the death, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
For the deep metabolic rift extends to all of the earth.
2/—
Victory and defeat are mere propaganda frames.
Who sets the terms of peace? The Ukrainian people, or the transnational elites who profit from endless war?
Trump and Putin aren’t negotiating peace—they’re dividing the spoils. While Zelensky fights for relevance.
Feb 6 • 10 tweets • 5 min read
1/ The U.S. is About to Make a Catastrophic Mistake in Syria
The U.S. Department of Defense is reportedly drafting plans for a full military withdrawal from Syria.
This decision will:
✅ Hand Syria to Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an al-Qaeda and ISIS offshoot.
✅ Give state-grade weapons and funding to jihadist groups.
✅ Open the door for chemical weapons proliferation.
These facts are so unbelievable yet undeniable that I had to rebuild this thread from scratch, using only bipartisan, congressional sources.
📑 All sources are included below. Every claim is backed by declassified U.S. government reports.🧵2/ The U.S. Presence in Syria is Minimal But Critical
There are currently ~2,000 U.S. troops in Syria. Their role is:
• Supporting the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in counterterrorism operations.
• Preventing ISIS resurgence and terrorist attacks.
• Serving as a diplomatic shield for Kurdish-led forces that sacrificed 11,000 fighters to defeat ISIS.
This is not an "endless war"—it is a low-cost, high-impact deterrent. @CJTFOIR
Source;
📑 [CRS Report: IN12469]
Jan 29 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
1/ Three days ago, #Turkey's spymaster-turned-foreign minister, Fidan, bragged on Saudi TV about brokering a rapprochement between #Russia and the "new Syrian authority."
2/ Over the past month, almost the entire NATO leadership showed up in Damascus to shake hands with Jolani, once ISIS’s number two, desperately trying to push Russia out of the Mediterranean. But a double game was in motion.
Jan 25 • 15 tweets • 3 min read
1/ Imagine this: The CIA secretly partners with a group still labeled a terrorist organization. A group with deep ties to al-Qaeda and a bloody history of bombing civilians. Sounds familiar? That’s exactly what’s happening with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in #Syria. 2/ The Washington Post just revealed that the CIA shared intelligence with HTS—yes, HTS—to help thwart an alleged ISIS attack in Damascus. HTS, which once bombed a Damascus shrine in 2017, killing 76 civilians, is now being framed as a partner in stability. How did we get here?
Jan 25 • 16 tweets • 5 min read
1/ Trump’s fiery call with Denmark’s prime minister over buying Greenland underline deep issues of sovereignty, colonial legacies, and the future of autonomous regions. This wasn’t a joke—it was a threat rooted in global power struggles. 🧵 2/ Greenland is rich in resources, geopolitically crucial, & home to a proud Inuit population. Yet, its status as an autonomous territory of Denmark puts it in the crosshairs of powerful nations seeking control under the guise of “security” and “development.”
Jan 23 • 15 tweets • 7 min read
1/ Why are the architects of the global economy rebranding a faction born of ISIS, one that holds just 31% of #Syria from Damascus, as the “NEW SYRIAN AUTHORITY”? How did we arrive at a moment where Jolani’s HTS is treated as a legitimate government? A thread. 🧵 2/ In Dec 2024, Assad’s regime collapsed, leaving cities like Aleppo, Homs, Damascus, and Latakia up for grabs. Jolani seized the Baathist institutions as regime forces melted away.
Jan 19 • 17 tweets • 3 min read
1/ “What’s really driving the chaos in #Syria and #Turkey?” Cemil Bayik, co-chair of the KCK Executive Council, lays it all out in a rare, eye-opening interview. From the Kurdish question’s deep roots to its impact on today’s power struggles. A must-read breakdown of the forces shaping the region’s future.2/ At the heart of Bayik’s analysis is Abdullah Ocalan, long isolated but central to envisioning a democratized Middle East. His calls for Kurdish rights, gender equality, and decentralized governance aren’t abstract—they are grounded in the material realities of repression and inequality.