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There was probably no danger of Germany’s hapless foreign minister getting off the plane and being met by absolutely no one when she arrived in Damascus – as was the case when she had travelled to Malaysia in January 2024. On the tarmac to meet her were an impressive line-up of officials from Syria’s new government who were happy to welcome her and shake her hand. She was joined by France’s foreign minister who both visited Syria to tell its new firebrand terrorist-turned-politician who goes by two names Ahmed al-Sharaa or his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.

The duplicity of identity might be a clue as to what to expect in Syria whose new regime is being given a makeover by the Americans who are happy to use CNN as a fake news tool to completely rebrand both its leader and the group who he represents. For anyone who wants to look, there are still many examples of appalling beatings and torture going in, in line with Sharia law, which raises the obvious question what exactly is going on with this very European visit.

Jolani needs restructuring aid to rebuild Syria. But for that sluice of possibly hundreds of billions of dollars to be opened, he has to form a credible, functioning state where ministries appear to function, police keep the peace and restore law and order and above all human rights atrocities are quashed. Once that is done, then sanctions can be rolled back. Once that is done, restructuring aid can flow.

And both Germany and France, as well as Jolani, all want this. They have short-term goals which are all aligned. Yet they should we be worried that a terrorist group which Jolani heads, with such a heinous history of beheadings and torture against anyone who doesn’t comply with its particularly barbaric interpretation of Sharia law, will be in line for billions of euros of aid?

What is Annalena Baerbock really trying to achieve in Damascus?

Her presence there surely is to fool gullible Europeans that the way forward is for the EU to bring Jolani and his gang in from the cold. Of course, Baerbock also wants to get first in line for German companies to clean up on restructuring aid, which her corrupt friends at the European Commission will soon sign off. But is it fair to question this decision of the West getting into bed once again with terrorists? If we look back at how Al Qaeda was formed, it’s worth noting that it came about after taking money from the West to fight Soviets in Afghanistan until 1989 when their services were no longer needed. A similar point can be made about Hezbollah, which the Americans will no doubt call a terror group, but which was initially financed in the 80s by a series of decisions taken by Ronald Reagan who allowed them to sell drugs in the U.S. placed on U.S. airliners.

Even in recent times, we should remember that the 9-11 bombers were operatives of Al Qaeda and on European soil there are too many examples of appalling acts of terrorism from such groups who have bitten the hand that has fed them. The bombing of the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester in 2017 was carried out by a British Libyan young man who was encouraged by the security services to travel to Libya and fight with Al Qaeda against Gadaffi’s forces.

The point which is lost is that Israel will welcome any such blowback on U.S. or European soil and so has no problem at all installing HTS in Syria.

The ignorance of Baerbock is as disturbing as her outstanding hypocrisy. How does somebody so lacking in patent intelligence or any obvious ability become a foreign minister?

Baerbock emphasized that all Syrians should be part of the new political process, regardless of their ethnicity or religion, as Syria is made up of a number of minorities, which together, make up almost 40 percent of the population – as opposed to Sunnis which represent 60 percent.

According to one report, she “outlined key conditions for European support, including the assurance of minority rights, the fostering of inclusivity, and the rejection of extremism. Baerbock also emphasized the urgent need to address Syria’s pressing humanitarian crisis and provide relief to its people”.

One has to wonder whether Syria’s new leaders will take any of these points seriously when its leader belongs to such an extreme interpretation of Islam which doesn’t even permit him to shake the German FM’s hand. We could also note that Baerbock is so ignorant of the people she is working with that she didn’t even know about the hand shake faux pas. Who’s advising this half wit?

The answer is no one as she is not important. Baerbock is simply a messenger and she has done her job. The real power lies in Brussels and she is just paying homage to that community which will almost certainly give her a job one day.

And yet it is worrying and not without irony that she is heralding a turning point with the West’s relationship with the new regime. Did the Americans and the Europeans opt for a useful idiot that they can blame it all on, when, six months in, the heads are getting chopped off and minorities are being slaughtered?

Remarkably, the German government was a stalwart supporter of Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians and so for one of its representatives to preach human rights is somewhat absurd at best. The rank hypocrisy is breathtaking. But then there is irony to mull as well.

During their visit, Baerbock visited the infamous Sednaya prison, a brutal example of Assad regime’s depravity. Thousands of political prisoners there were tortured, executed or simply vanished before its liberation last month. The ministers spoke of the need for “justice and reconciliation” to heal Syria’s “deep scars” while successfully navigating her talking points away from one minor point: Germany was Assad’s biggest supporter and actually played a key role in advising him and overseeing his regime’s brutality. Is it possible that she is so stupid and ignorant that she doesn’t even know her own government’s bloody past in Syria?