SYRIA'S EX ISIS PRESIDENT BUILDING UP ARMY

 

LEOPARDS CANNOT CHANGE THEIR SPOTS

• Ahmed Sharaa secretly building up Syrian military
• Instead of infrastructure, reconstruction, improving welfare of civilians 
• extremist ex ISIS regime focusing on arms buildup
• Sharaa diverting tax revenues, international aid
• to build large standing army and acquiring weapons 
• and trying to conceal its military expansion strategy
• Sharaa plans to strike Shia Hezbollah in Lebanon, which he despises
• and pro-Iranian Shi'ite militias in Iraq, which he also despises
• he is waiting for right moment
• for completion of advanced stages in force buildup 
• Sunni states seeking to moderate Sharaa's policies
• Saudi, UAE working around the clock to draw Sharaa closer to them
• They are investing money in him to soften his agenda
• distance him from extremist elements
• moderate his policies
• his well-known ISIS jihadist past
• relations between Turkey and Syria complicated
• Sharaa will not hand territory over to Erdogan
• or allow Erdogan to take control of military bases in Syria
• Sharaa wants to build Syria into regional power 
• future confrontations with neighbours only a matter of time

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.