Thoughts on Former al-Qaeda Terrorist Ahmed Al-Sharaa's White House Visit

Seeking reader feedback on how yesterday's mortal enemies in the Middle East become today's friends.

Dear Readers,

As many of you may be aware, I always read all of your comments, and I am always grateful for your feedback, including your critical feedback. I frequently receive text messages and emails from friends who disagree with my point of view, and I always endeavor to reflect on their messages in a dispassionate way.

Reviewing the comments to my post of this morning—When the Mask Slips—I realized that I would be extremely grateful if all readers who object to my view of this matter would let me know in the comments what they think of the following.

It wasn’t so long ago that the new Syrian President—Ahmed Al-Sharaa (AKA Muhammad Al-Jawlani) was regarded as a top al-Qaeda, “specially designated global terrorist” with a U.S. government ten million bounty on his head.

Exactly four months ago, on November 10—the official birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps and National Forget-Me-Not Day (commemorating the sacrifices returning soldiers have made of body, blood, and limb)—President Trump hosted him for an official state visit at the White House.

Ahmed Al-Sharaa began his career with the the Islamic State of Iraq (ISIL), joining the group in Iraq after the 2003 invasion. For those that don’t remember ISIL: the group was formed in 2004 by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden, and was known as Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI).

U.S. Marine Corps veterans remember Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as a key leader in the insurgency that fought the Marines during the first two battles of Fallujah in 2004—which included some of the hottest house to house fighting in U.S. Marine Corps history.

Indeed, the fighting got so hot during the first battle in March 2004 that President Bush decided to pause it—prompting the Marines to pull back from the city and give up their initial gains—because it was creating political blowback in the U.S., and “Dubya” was afraid it could hurt his reelection prospects. Two days after he was reelected in November, he sent the Marines back into the Fallujah meat grinder.

Al-Sharaa was detained by American troops in 2006 for planting explosives along a road near Mosul in northern Iraq and imprisoned for five years. As I wrote a few days ago, it was largely roadside explosives that caused the epidemic of traumatic brain injuries among U.S. service personnel (see 450,000 U.S. Soldiers Diagnosed with Traumatic Brain Injury Since 2001).

Following Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s adventures and prison sentence in Iraq, he shifted his attention to Syria. In 2012, he founded the Syrian group, Jabhat al-Nusra, and worked closely with ISIS and al-Qaeda in Syria until purportedly splitting from the former in 2013 and the latter in 2016.

Ahmed Al-Sharaa remained on the U.S. Wanted List with a ten million bounty on his head until November 7, 2025—three days before his White House visit. By all appearances, the U.S. government perceives that he has experienced a “damascene moment,” referring to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus.

During Al-Sharaa’s White House visit, President Trump emphasized the old idea of letting bygones be bygones.

“He’s a very strong leader. He comes from a very tough place, and he’s a tough guy. I liked him. I get along with him,” Trump told reporters.

“We’ll do everything we can to make Syria successful, because that’s part of the Middle East. We have peace now in the Middle East.”

Trump acknowledged that al-Sharaa has a “rough past,” but said, “We’ve all had rough pasts.”

Al-Sharaa’s “damascene moment” apparently occurred when he assisted in overthrowing former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad—a medical doctor who received his training in ophthalmology in London.

Platforming the former killer and maimer of U.S. Marines on the Marine Corps’s birthday likely generated some hard feelings amongst the parents and spouses of Marine veterans who were killed or horribly wounded in Iraq, given that these traumatic events of the past continue to affect them.

Dear Readers, please let me know what you think of Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s November 10, 2025 White House visit.

Specifically, please let me know if you support the U.S. government’s decision to release him from prison in Iraq—where he served a five year sentence for killing and maiming U.S. service personnel with roadside bombs—and later endorse his presidency of Syria, despite him being a “specially designated global terrorist” with a $10 million reward on his head. I greatly look forward to hearing your replies. Best regards, John Leake