2 December 2025
More than thirteen years after the Syrian uprising began, the landscape of the country remains fragmented—politically, socially, and militarily. Few journalists have observed Syria’s transformation as closely or as continuously as Bilal Abdul Kareem, the American war correspondent who first entered the country in 2012 and has remained there ever since. Through his platform, On the Ground News, he documents the day-to-day realities of Syrians living through political upheaval, foreign intervention, and shifting alliances.
In a recent in-depth conversation with South African radio host Liaaqat Tobias, Abdul Kareem provided one of his frankest assessments yet of the country’s evolving power dynamics—from the Syrian people’s fading optimism, to the expanding influence of Israel and the United States, to the growing sense of betrayal felt by fighters and civilians alike.
A Revolution’s Promise, Shaken But Not Forgotten
Asked about the mood among ordinary Syrians, Abdul Kareem emphasized that despite the devastation, one sentiment remains unchanged: no one wishes for the return of Bashar al-Assad.
“People are still happy that Bashar al-Assad is gone,” he stated bluntly. “This idea that someone is wishing he was still here—it’s like a unicorn.”
Yet the optimism that surged earlier in the year has cooled, he explained, especially in areas previously held by the rebels. Those who lived under regime control—having experienced what he called “Bashar’s evil on a ninety-nine percent level”—feel a relative improvement even amid new hardships. But for communities who sacrificed the most during the war, the political compromises now being made by their leaders are difficult to swallow.
Many Syrians, he says, are still grappling with the contradictory alliances forming between the new Syrian leadership and the very powers that once supported Assad or opposed the rebels.
The Kurdish Question: A “Cosmetic” Unity at Best
The prospect of unifying Kurdish SDF forces with the Syrian national army remains dim.
According to Abdul Kareem, Kurdish militias seek autonomy, territorial control, and the right to enter the Syrian military as a single consolidated bloc—conditions many Syrians view as destabilizing. Their defacto protection by the United States, and their control over resource-rich territories in the northeast, further complicates negotiations.
“If it happens, it’s only going to be cosmetic,” he warned. “Because if you anger them, they leave as one block—and take their territory and their goodies with them.”
Israel’s Expanding Footprint in the South
Perhaps the most startling portion of Abdul Kareem’s report concerned the increasing Israeli military and political presence in southern Syria.
The Druze-majority province of Suwayda, he said, is now openly flying Israeli flags, has severed ties with Damascus, and is even considering renaming itself. How this territorial shift occurred—especially after local tribal forces briefly retook the area this summer—remains unclear.
In Quneitra, along the occupied Golan Heights, Israeli forces have repeatedly crossed the 1974 demarcation line, expanding checkpoints and military observation posts without resistance.
Even more alarming was an incident involving four Israeli helicopters and roughly sixty troops conducting a two-hour operation only minutes from the capital—without a single shot fired, and without official explanation.
“I’m not telling you who is on whose side,” Abdul Kareem said. “I’m telling you what happened.”
The United States: Five Bases and an Expanding Covert War
Abdul Kareem identified five U.S. military installations inside Syria—including one near Damascus that Washington denies exists.
He noted that since joining the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS, the Syrian government has permitted drone operations that have killed dozens of individuals—but with deeply questionable justification. Of the thirteen people assassinated by drones in 2025, eleven had “no credible link” to ISIS, he said.
More disturbing to many Syrians is the increasingly warm relationship between Syrian president Ahmed al-Shah and U.S. officials.
Images of al-Shah playing basketball with CENTCOM officers—including commanders associated with controversial operations in Afghanistan—have outraged many who previously supported him for his anti-American, pro-Islamic rhetoric.
“They’re feeling betrayed,” Abdul Kareem said. “These are the people who are killing Muslims. And now they’re smiling together at the White House.”
Double Standards in the Government’s Treatment of Protesters
Recent anti-government unrest in coastal Alawite regions has been met with restraint from Syrian authorities. Protesters were given space and security—an approach Abdul Kareem says is appropriate but inconsistent.
He contrasted this with the state’s brutally heavy-handed response to Muslim protesters in Idlib last year, many of whom demonstrated against arbitrary detention and torture.
“Now they’ve got white gloves on,” he said of the government’s sudden shift in behavior. “Something ain’t right. And nobody wants to explain it.”
UN Resolution 2799: A New Threat to Foreign Fighters
The interview closed with a warning about United Nations Resolution 2799, passed on November 6, which delisted key Syrian officials but also introduced language that Abdul Kareem says could criminalize nearly any foreign fighter who came to Syria to defend civilians.
The resolution lists foreign terrorist fighters, ISIS, and al-Qaeda as separate targets—meaning guilt by association can be applied broadly.
He suggested the resolution may represent a political trade-off: concessions given in exchange for others removed.
“It makes every fighter who’s calling to Islam eligible for a drone strike,” he said. “Who’s deciding who’s ISIS and who’s not? Nobody is walking around with an al-Qaeda ID card.”
“Voices of Truth”: Preserving Memory Before It Is Rewritten
Abdul Kareem ended by highlighting his new project, Voices of Truth, a series documenting firsthand testimonies from former prisoners, torture survivors, and families of the disappeared.
“If we don’t know the past, people will forget. They’ll start saying maybe Bashar wasn’t such a bad guy. No—we need these voices before history is rewritten.”
His message was clear: the Syrian revolution is unfinished not because it failed, but because its story is still unfolding, still contested, and still threatened by the forces that seek to shape its legacy for their own ends.
