Assad himself turned out to be a disappointment to the bloodthirsty dictator narrative. His leaked emails had memes he sent to his wife and songs. No torture logs, no repression plans. He studied to be an ophthalmologist in London, met his cardiologist wife there. He didn't want to rule – his older brother died in a car crash. He started with liberal reforms, released political prisoners (who then fought him), dissolved the mukhabarat, took away the old guard's money. France gave him the Legion of Honour in 2001 for his reforms. He returned it in 2018, said it's shameful to wear a medal from a slave state that supports terrorists alongside the US. Now he lives in Russia, plays video games, and studies to work as an ophthalmologist. Meanwhile al-Sharaa, the guy who threw away his education to join al-Qaeda, gets diplomatic visits and Tesla Cybertrucks in Syria. They even invited him to the Abraham Accords. The only thing stopping him is the Golan Heights – for now.

The war isn't over. The Kurds are getting crushed between Turkey, the new Syrian government, and the US that abandoned them. The Druze are fighting. Hezbollah is still around. Israel bombs every few days. The new constitution is a super-presidential system with sharia as the main source of law. They basically copied Hafez al-Assad's constitution but replaced Arab nationalism with Islamism. They promised elections in a few years – "transition is hard," they say. Sure it is. Just like inclusivity. Just like democracy. Just like the human face of jihad.

And the best part? The guy who inspired al-Sharaa is Osama bin Laden. CNN actually reported this. Bin Laden was his hero. When he saw the planes hit the towers, he didn't see horror. He saw a shooting star and made a wish. The wish came true. Now he runs a country. The West calls him a pragmatic leader. And people wonder why nobody trusts anything anymore.