For a long time, I avoided writing about Syria — not because I ever doubted that one day it would be free, but because of the frustration and hopelessness that came with watching the country suffer under Bashar al-Assad’s brutal dictatorship.
More than 140,000 people have perished, including two American patriots: journalist Austin Tice and psychiatrist Dr. Majd Kamalmaz. They fought for American values deep in Syria, and President Donald Trump should posthumously award them the Medal of Freedom.
Imagine the agony of not knowing if someone is dead or trapped in the infamous Sednaya prison, a modern-day equivalent of a Nazi concentration camp.
Trump called Assad an “animal” back in 2018, and he was right — Syrians knew it, and the world should have, too.
My own family has suffered deeply. Two of my uncles were killed just days apart — one shot by a sniper, the other burned alive in his home — while the world, including the Obama administration, turned a blind eye.
The infamous “red line” moment cemented my disillusionment. Why revisit this pain now? Because history has finally shifted.
At 10 p.m. Colorado time on Dec. 8, Syria was finally free. The entire corrupt Assad infrastructure collapsed overnight. His regime, propped up by prison guards, drug dealers, and Iranian militias, was swept away. Assad and remnants fled to Moscow, as expected.
For the first time in more than 50 years, Syrians had no more fear of speaking their minds, no more oppression. In the past, even writing these words would have landed me in Sednaya for life, accused of “threatening national security.”
The first act of the new liberators? Freeing thousands of prisoners from Assad’s medieval dungeons. Some inmates had spent their entire lives in darkness, including toddlers who had never seen a bird or a tree. Yes, toddlers. I’ll let you imagine how. Women were raped and had children in prison multiple times, and these children don’t even know what a bird or a tree is. More than 630,000 are confirmed dead, but the true number is likely more than a million people. More than 140,000 people remain missing.
The world failed to intervene for 14 years — these Syrian liberators did it in just 11 days.
But real life is not a Hollywood ending. In the weeks after liberation, Syria saw moments of joy, including its first-ever official Christmas holiday, declared by the Muslim-led interim government.
Even so, some seized on a minor incident — a vandal bending a metal Christmas tree — as proof of religious tensions, falsely claiming “Muslims extremists are taking over!” when, in reality, it was just some idiot, like we would see after a crazy Christmas Eve party.
Syria is now in transition, forming a new government, appointing ministers, and launching a National Dialogue Conference. Unlike the failed attempts in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt, this revolution uprooted the Assad regime entirely. The people took to the streets not just to celebrate but to literally clean them — restoring neglected mosques, churches, and even synagogues.
Yes, synagogues.
Syrians are not surprised by this; outsiders might be. Syria is home to the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities — Aleppo and Damascus.
The diverse people of Syria have lived side by side for more than 5,000 years, long before Abraham, the patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, even existed.
Civilization itself was born here. Syrians understand history, culture, and religious coexistence in a way few others do.
For the last three months, Syrians have been living in a dream world. People walk with smiles, free from fear and anxiety for the first time in generations. The economy is in ruins, infrastructure is nonexistent, yet the people remain hopeful. They know rebuilding requires patience and collective effort.
However, the biggest obstacle isn’t internal — it’s external.
Sanctions, once imposed to weaken Assad, are now strangling Syria’s opportunity to rebuild. The EU and UK have started easing restrictions, testing how the new government will handle governance and economic reforms
But the U.S. remains silent. Biden’s administration ignored Syria, but a new Trump administration could bring a clean slate. The interim government, led by President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, has been lobbying for sanctions relief. Syria, now free from Iranian influence and Hezbollah, presents a rare opportunity for American diplomacy.
For those old enough to remember, the term “Axis of Evil” once referred to Syria, Iran, and North Korea. Today, Syrians have destroyed that axis themselves. They expelled Iran, Hezbollah, Russia, and, finally, Assad. This presents Trump with an unprecedented chance to reshape the Middle East.
A partnership with Syria could stabilize the entire region, benefiting Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and even Gulf nations like Qatar and the UAE.
Yet, just as hope began to settle in, remnants of Assad’s loyalists, now little more than drug-dealing outlaws, struck back. On March 6, they ambushed and murdered 15 police officers in Syria’s coastal regions.
The people reacted with grief and outrage, rallying in support of law enforcement. But tensions are high — armed factions, expected to disarm months ago, still hold weapons. The Syrian interim government must navigate a delicate balance: protecting civilians, eliminating the outlaws, and preventing vigilante factions from taking matters into their own hands.
This is where sectarianism — the very poison Assad thrived on — threatens to resurface.
The coastal regions, heavily populated by Alawites — the ousted Assad’s sect — have become the battleground for these outlaws. Assad cultivated a false narrative that Alawites were inseparable from his regime, grooming them into believing their existence depended on his survival.
This is a lie. Most Alawites, like all Syrians, suffered under Assad’s rule. But now, as anger and emotions run high, some are wrongly equating all Alawites with the dictator’s crimes.
Adding fuel to the fire, influential figures like Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson have irresponsibly spread misinformation. Musk retweeted claims that “Christians are being slaughtered in Syria” and asked, “How many people are being killed?”
Carlson echoed the notion that Assad “protected minorities.” These narratives are not only false but dangerous. Assad killed everyone — Christians, Muslims, Alawites, Sunnis, and Kurds. These Outlaws are following in Assad’s footsteps.
His sectarianism was a tool of control, not genuine protection. The truth is, right now, Syrian police forces — composed of all backgrounds — are the ones being targeted by the Assad outlaws.
To prevent chaos, the Syrian interim president has issued a presidential decree forming an independent investigative committee, led by judges and legal experts, to examine the March 6 events. The committee has full autonomy, with mandatory cooperation from all government agencies. Unlike Assad’s kangaroo courts, this investigation will be transparent.
But the greatest challenge remains: dismantling the last remnants of Assad’s power without descending into sectarianism. Assad loyalists, unable to comprehend life without corruption and unchecked power, are fighting to maintain their criminal networks. Some Alawites, conditioned to believe they were untouchable under Assad, now struggle with the reality of equal citizenship. These outlaws incite fear and division, hoping to drag Syria back into darkness.
Unfortunately, rather than supporting Syria’s historic transformation, some Trump ally influencers seem more preoccupied with stoking sectarian fears. Ironically, Trump himself appears more level-headed on Syria than his own supporters. The so-called MAGA caucus has always championed “America First,” yet some of its loudest voices are suddenly fixated on minority dynamics in Syria — a country where communities have coexisted for thousands of years. The Muslim led Syrian government’s first action was to make Christmas an official national holiday.
Syria’s interim government revealed this week that the Assad regime had outstanding warrants for 5 million citizens. That’s approximately 20% of the entire minority population in Syria. All the warrants have been cancelled by the Syrian government. The warrants were the work of Assad, who MAGA influencers have fallen for, today.
But Syrians will not fall for sectarianism. If anyone doubts this, look at the last three months. Look at Syria’s first free Christmas holiday, where Muslims and Christians celebrated together. Look at the people who have rejected vengeance in favor of rebuilding.
Misinformation is dangerous. But in the end, the truth will prevail. Syria has freed itself.
Now, the world must decide: Will it stand by this new chapter in history, or will it let the ghosts of Assad’s tyranny continue to haunt the nation?
Obeid Kaifo lives in Aurora, is a graduate of Overland High School, runs a Denver restaurant with his family and former Board member of the Syrian American Council.