“In Syria there are 23 Million Christians and 23 Million Muslims”. Forced into Exile by U.S. Sponsored Al Qaeda’s Al-Sharaa Regime

Our thoughts are with Syria’s Grand Mufti, Dr. Ahmad Badr Al-Din Hassoun, a man of peace and humility, whose house was recently attacked in Aleppo, but who is now safe outside of Syria.

Hassoun is emblematic of an anti-sectarian, pluralist, unified Syria, explaining to investigative reporter Eva Bartlett in 2018 that

‘In Syria, there are 23 million Christians, and 23 million Muslims. My title is Grand Mufti of the Syrian Arab Republic, not the Mufti of a particular denomination.’” (1)

His statement reflects those of most Syrians who do not define themselves in terms of religious labels and associations, who reject sectarian hatred, extremism and terrorism — all products and instruments of Western Regime Change operations.

I remember meeting Syria’s Grand Mufti Hassoun years ago, in 2016, as Syria was being besieged by Western-supported sectarian terrorists, the same ones who now claim to govern Syria. He said then that profiting from arms manufacturing should be illegal.

He was right. War profiteering has been a significant driver behind the war on Syria, as it is with NATO expansionism.

What Dr. Hassoun may have overlooked at the time is the pernicious role of International Finance as leading war profiteers.

International Financial Institutions helped set the stage for the war on Syria in the first place.  Prof. Michel Chossudovsky notes in “SYRIA: NATO’s Next “Humanitarian” War?” that IMF guidance in 2006 included austerity measures, a freeze on wages, the deregulation of the financial system, trade reform and privatization … leading to unemployment, “social unrest and mass protest.” (2)

Syrians were (by design) ripe for productive change, but not the fake “revolution” and Western-imposed sectarian carnage that would soon dismantle their country.

Now that the elected government has fallen, with al Qaeda posing as the new government, International Financial Institutions are again circling Syria like vultures, keen to profit from Syria’s Western-imposed misery.

According to SANA news, “a roadmap for the economic vision” was discussed at a recent conference in Saudi Arabia, where the conference addressed “reintegration of the Central Bank of Syria into the international system, and the representation of Syria in the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.”

Importantly, prior to the Western-imposed Regime Change War, Syria reportedly had NO EXTERNAL DEBT. (3)

International Financial Institutions, seemingly far-removed from the mass death and misery that they helped to orchestrate, are in fact some of the key (though largely hidden) villains that will profit from the demise of Syria as a sovereign, pluralist, anti-sectarian nation. Big Finance loans and  conditionalities will dictate much of Syria’s political-economy, largely hidden from view.

Tolerance and pluralism are increasingly unwelcome in the “New Syria” fronted by al Qaeda/HTS’ Al-Sharaa.

Largely unseen bad actors have played an important role in this well-planned catastrophe.

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Mark Taliano is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG) and the author of Voices from Syria, Global Research Publishers, 2017. He writes on his website where this article was originally published.

Notes

(1) Eva Bartlett, “Syria’s Grand Mufti Hassoun Discusses Peaceful Coexistence, Love, and an Inclusive, Nonsectarian Syria.” IN GAZA and beyond, December 6, 2018. (https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2018/12/06/syrias-grand-mufti-hassoun-discusses-peaceful-coexistence-love-and-an-inclusive-nonsectarian-syria/?fbclid=IwY2xjawIhzlNleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHfSqWxahog__C5GjnbWDKDAL9isaQ8bN_FUWQau8v7BYE0OZUZJFb20iDw_aem_PmAIBFyliKhJRPBqz-Ug4g) Accessed 19 February, 2025.

See also: https://mintpressnews.cn/interview-grand-mufti-ahmad-badr-al-din-hassoun-syria/252590/

(2) Prof. Michel Chossudovsky, “SYRIA: NATO’s Next ‘Humanitarian’ War?” Global Research, 11 February, 2012. (https://www.globalresearch.ca/syria-nato-s-next-humanitarian-war/29234) Accessed 19 February, 2025.

(3) Mark Taliano, “Syria Expresses Its Freedom Through Resistance.” Global Research, September 20, 2019.(https://www.globalresearch.ca/syria-expresses-freedom-resistance/5689718) Accessed 19 February, 2025.

Featured image: The author with Syria’s Grand Mufti Hassoun in Damascus Syria, 2016 (Source: Mark Taliano)

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