Lifting Sanctions on Syria is a Moral and Strategic Disaster

The European Union’s recent decision to lift economic sanctions on Syria, under the pretense of “giving a chance” to Ahmed al-Sharaa, is not just naive, it’s a dangerous, historically illiterate betrayal of our values. Let us be clear: Ahmed al-Sharaa is not a reformer. He is not a peace-bringer. He is not our friend.

He is a former commander in al-Qaeda and ISIS, and the architect of massacres, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity in Syria and Iraq. To reward him with normalization and oil contracts is to whitewash blood with euros, and to repeat the exact same mistakes we made with Vladimir Putin.

We cannot afford to forget: bad morals lead to bad leaders. And the cost of such compromises isn’t abstract. It’s war. It’s oppression. It’s body bags coming home decades later from crises we funded today with cheap oil.

Ahmed al-Sharaa: From Jihadist to “President”, The Rebrand No One Should Believe

Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani, spent the last two decades climbing the ranks of the world’s most violent jihadist movements. He joined al-Qaeda in Iraq after the U.S. invasion, a group responsible for suicide bombings, executions, and torture. He later became the founder and military commander of the al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, and a key figure in Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a rebranded jihadist coalition that controls parts of northern Syria today.

Let’s be clear about what his “leadership” has looked like:

• In Qalb Loze, his fighters executed more than 20 Druze villagers in cold blood, a massacre justified by sectarian ideology.
• In Hatla, dozens of Shia civilians were slaughtered as part of a broader campaign of ethnic and religious cleansing.
• Under his command, suicide bombings targeted schools, markets, and civilian neighborhoods.
• His group funded itself with kidnappings, ransom, and extortion.

Now, this same man stands at the head of a new “transitional government” after toppling Assad, a dictator, yes, but one tyrant does not absolve another. Criminals killing each other doesn’t make either of them heroes.

The Putin Parallel: How the West Keeps Making the Same Mistake

History should have taught us this lesson already. In the year 2000, Vladimir Putin was welcomed by the West as a “strong leader” who could bring stability to post-Soviet Russia. But even then, he was deeply entrenched in the mafia, in war crimes, and in the brutal suppression of Chechnya. The warning signs were all there. We ignored them, and the consequences have spanned decades: repression, assassinations, disinformation, the invasion of Georgia, Crimea, and Ukraine.

Today, we are watching the same movie, and pretending we don’t know the ending.

• Just like we propped up Putin with oil deals and political legitimacy,
• We are now shaking hands with Ahmed al-Sharaa because he’s selling us cheap gas.
• Just like we became dependent on Russian energy,
• We are now about to build the same dependency with Syria, under the rule of a man who once fought under the same flag as bin Laden.

Let us not pretend this is “realpolitik.” It’s moral cowardice dressed as strategy.

Oil: The Root of Compromise, The Fuel of Tyranny

Why do we keep cozying up to war criminals? Why do we keep sacrificing our values for deals with dictators? There is a simple answer: oil.

Our dependence on fossil fuels creates demand for corrupt regimes to survive and thrive. They have something we think we need, and we are willing to betray human rights, dignity, and the memory of genocide to keep the pumps running.

Every time we fill our cars with gasoline, we empower regimes like Putin’s Russia, like the Gulf monarchies, like Syria under al-Sharaa.

If we want to break this cycle, we must do the only thing that really ends tyranny’s cash flow: end our addiction to oil.

A Call to Action: The Moral and Strategic Imperative of Energy Transition

The solution is as clear as it is urgent: accelerate the transition to clean, renewable energy.

• Ban the sale of new gas and diesel vehicles. The faster we move to electric, the faster our geopolitical leverage returns.
• Invest in wind, solar, and storage technologies. Not just for climate, but for peace.
• End subsidies for fossil fuels and redirect them toward sustainable infrastructure.
• Build energy independence, not through deals with tyrants, but through innovation, resilience, and courage.

We cannot be held hostage by oil cartels and warlords. We cannot keep selling our morality for a barrel of crude. The stakes are too high. The parallels are too clear. And the excuses are gone.

No Deals With Devils

To the EU, the US, and every Western leader considering normalization with Ahmed al-Sharaa: you are legitimizing a terrorist warlord. You are repeating the Putin mistake. You are funding the next wave of oppression.

And to every citizen in the West: Vote for clean energy. Call out cowardice disguised as diplomacy.

Because the real path to peace does not lie through Damascus, Moscow, or Riyadh. It lies in breaking the chains of fossil fuel dependency, and in refusing to ever again trade lives for oil.

The enemy of our enemy is still our enemy. Let’s finally learn that.