On the first anniversary of Assad's fall, leaked videos surfaced showing him touring Eastern Ghouta with his media advisor Luna al-Shibl, who is believed to have been killed by the regime five months before its collapse.

In one clip, al-Shibl mocks Hezbollah's fighting role: "The Party has gone quiet... we don't hear from them anymore." Assad doesn't object.

What looks like ingratitude is actually a late admission of truth: Assad never saw Hezbollah as a partner. He saw a tool.