Portraits of Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem and his predecessor, Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed, during a commemoration ceremony in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Sept. 27, 2025. (Credit: Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)
They have probably never spoken. Nothing brings them together, except this question that history one day poses to all war leaders: What remains of an armed organization when it gives up existing outside the state?Mazloum Abdi has just given his answer. By announcing the dissolution of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and their integration into state institutions, he declared that the time had come to "trade the military uniform for civilian clothes" in order to serve his people from within institutions. His appointment, a few days later, as advisor to President Ahmad al-Sharaa gave concrete meaning to this idea. The former commander did not lay down his arms to disappear: He sought to convert the power they had given him into political influence within the new Syrian order. Zoom out Israel-Hezbollah: Suicide reprogrammed ...
They have probably never spoken. Nothing brings them together, except this question that history one day poses to all war leaders: What remains of an armed organization when it gives up existing outside the state?Mazloum Abdi has just given his answer. By announcing the dissolution of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and their integration into state institutions, he declared that the time had come to "trade the military uniform for civilian clothes" in order to serve his people from within institutions. His appointment, a few days later, as advisor to President Ahmad al-Sharaa gave concrete meaning to this idea. The former commander did not lay down his arms to disappear: He sought to convert the power they had given him into political influence within the new Syrian order. Zoom out Israel-Hezbollah: Suicide reprogrammed ...