This is CBS Eye on the World.

Here's John Batchelor.

I welcome Sinan Chidi of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy, reporting on an unusual pairing.

That is, the organization called Syrian Democratic Forces,

SDF, and the organization calling itself now the government of Damascus or of Syria.

But before that, it was Hayat Tarir al-Shahm, HS, an al-Qaeda-affiliated group.

This is a very strange bedfellow strange moment.

And I'm glad Sinan is here to explain because the Syrian Democratic forces

and the Kurdish forces in the new Syrian military

don't naturally fit into, oh, of course.

Sinan, a very good evening to you. You take into account that this just happened, an agreement

between Syria's interim government, HDS, Al-Qaeda linked, once upon a time, and the SDF,

which is 100,000 strong, much more than I've ever seen a number for

HTS. So, did this surprise you and what does it mean? First, the definition. What is the Syrian

Democratic forces and what is HTS in the region? Good evening to you. Good evening, John. And thanks

for having me again. Yeah, I mean, there's a lot to unpack here. First question, did it surprise me? Absolutely. Are they strange bedfellows? Yes.

You know, listeners across the world would be forgiven to being confused with all these

acronyms and what they mean. So you're right, HTS, but formally now dissolved, just referred to as essentially

the interim government of Syria with, you know, a leadership structure that, as you correctly say,

is previous al-Qaeda. I mean, these individuals, we should make no mistake. They're jihadists.

They were previously involved and well-documented in activities that resulted in what, you know, not only

the United States, but many sort of countries, including the United Nations, as well as other

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