Syria next?

[Pure_Evil]

DAMASCUS (Reuters) – Syria accused the United States on Monday of "terrorist aggression" after a raid near its border with Iraq in which it said eight civilians were killed but Washington refused to say whether its troops were involved.
Syria says four U.S. helicopters attacked al-Sukkari farm on Sunday in the Albou Kamal area in eastern Syria and that U.S. soldiers stormed a building there. Washington blames Damascus for failing to stem the flow of al Qaeda fighters and other insurgents from crossing into Iraq.
"The Americans do it in the daylight. This means it is not a mistake, it is by blunt determination. For that we consider this criminal and terrorist aggression," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem told a news conference in London.
The Iraqi government said the strike targeted insurgents who attack Iraq. Moualem said Syria would ask the United States and Iraq for an investigation into the attack.
"We put the responsibility on the American government and the need to investigate and return back to us with the result and explanation why they did it," Moualem said.
Iraq's territories should not be used "to launch aggression against Syria," he said.
Washington has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for Sunday's raid. If confirmed, it would be the first such U.S. military strike inside Syria since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
"I will say this once and you can ask me as many times as you want to: I have no comment on any alleged operation in Syria," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino also refused to comment on any questions relating to the reported incident in Syria.
"I am not able to comment on reports about this reported incident, and I'm not going to. I'm not going to do so, you can come up here and try to beat it out of me but I will not be commenting on this in any way, shape or form today, or tomorrow," she said.
INSURGENTS "LIVE OPENLY" IN SYRIA
Asked whether the Syrians would use force if the Americans conducted a similar raid in future, Moualem said: "As long as you are saying if, I will tell you if they do it again ... we will defend our territories."
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the attack was launched against "terrorist groups operating from Syria against Iraq," including one which had killed 13 police recruits in an Iraqi border village.
"Iraq had asked Syria to hand over this group, which uses Syria as a base for its terrorist activities," Dabbagh said. He did not say who had carried out the raid.
A U.S. general said last week that U.S. and Iraqi security measures had reduced the flow of insurgents from Syria.
"The Iraqi security forces and the Iraqi intelligence forces feel that al Qaeda operatives and others operate, live pretty openly on the Syrian side," Marine Major General John Kelly, who commands U.S. forces in western Iraq, told reporters.
"And periodically we know that they try to come across," he said, citing a May 2 raid that killed 11 Iraqi police.
Syrian Interior Minister Bassam Abdel Majeed said last week that his country "refuses to be a launching pad for threats against Iraq."
U.S. forces in western Iraq denied involvement. But the mayor of the Iraqi border town of Qaim told Reuters on Sunday that U.S. helicopters had struck a village on the Syrian side.
Reuters Television footage showed a small fenced farm and a truck riddled with bullet holes. Blood stained the ground. Syrian state television showed a building site and a nearby tent with food and blankets and spent bullets lay around.
The official Syrian news agency SANA quoted a survivor, Souad al-Jasim, as saying that U.S. soldiers fired on her and her children in the tent. "Then they opened fire on the workers on site," she said. Jasim's husband was killed in the attack. One of her children was wounded.
Thousands of people attended a funeral held for those killed in the raid, SANA said.Syria's foreign ministry summoned the U.S. charge d'affaires in Damascus on Sunday to protest. Russia condemned the assault. The Arab League also denounced the raid and called for an investigation.
(Additional reporting by Samia Nakhoul, Adrian Croft, Mariam Karouny, Will Rasmussen, Christian Lowe, Andrew Gray and Tabassum Zakaria; Writing by Dominic Evans and Yara Bayoumy)






interesting......

[OUTLAWS Tip]

Looks like the got the right people to me. Seven dead men that don't appear to be civilians.

Oct 27, 5:40 PM (ET)

By ZEINA KARAM and HUSSEIN MALLA
SUKKARIYEH, Syria (AP) - A cross-border raid by U.S. special forces killed the al-Qaida-linked head of a Syrian network that smuggled fighters, weapons and cash into Iraq, an American counterterrorism official said Monday. Blood stained the earth in this border village as anguished Syrians buried relatives they said were killed in the U.S. helicopter attack Sunday. Some shouted anti-American slogans and carried banners reading "Down with Bush and the American enemy."
The operation targeted the home of Abu Ghadiyah, the nickname for the leader of a key cell of foreign fighters in Iraq, the U.S. official told The Associated Press from Washington. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive intelligence.
The U.S. Treasury Department has named Abu Ghadiyah as one of four major figures in al-Qaida's Iraq wing who were living in Syria.
U.S. authorities have said Abu Ghadiyah's real name is Badran Turki al-Mazidih, an Iraqi in his early 30s who served as al-Qaida in Iraq's head of logistics in Syria since 2004. His job included providing foreign fighters with passports, weapons, guides and safe houses as they slipped into Iraq and made their way to Baghdad and other major cities where the Sunni insurgency was raging.


Sunday's operation in Sukkariyeh, about five miles from the Iraqi border, came just days after the commander of U.S. forces in western Iraq called the Syrian border an "uncontrolled" gateway for fighters into Iraq and said efforts were being stepped up to secure it.
The raid was another sign the United States is aggressively launching military raids across the borders of Afghanistan and Iraq to destroy insurgent sanctuaries. In Pakistan, U.S. missile strikes have killed at least two senior al-Qaida operatives this year.
The Syrian government said Sunday's attack by four U.S. military helicopters targeted a civilian building under construction in Sukkariyeh shortly before sundown, and killed eight people, including four children.
However, local officials said seven men were killed and two people were wounded, including a woman. An AP reporter saw the bodies of seven men at the funerals Monday.
Amateur video taken by a villager on a cell phone Sunday showed four helicopters flying overhead as villagers pointed to the skies in alarm. The grainy images, viewed Monday by the AP, did not show the helicopters landing.
Another villager told the AP he saw at least two men taken into custody by U.S. forces, and whisked away by helicopter. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared for his life.
At the targeted building, the floor was bloodstained Monday, with abandoned tennis shoes scattered amid pieces of human flesh. A tent pitched near the site had bags of bread, pots and pans and wool blankets.
There was no visible security presence and visitors could move freely, a sign the normally tightly restrictive government wanted the damage seen.
About 30 women dressed in black wept in a small courtyard outside the home of Dawoud al-Hamad, who was killed in the bombing along with his four sons.
"They were innocent laborers who worked from dusk to dawn," said the man's wife, Rima. She said work at the construction site started last week.
Asked about U.S. reports that an al-Qaida-linked group used the site, Siham, the widow of one of the man's sons, Ibrahim, said: "I don't know about any of that."
"All I know is that they went to work and never came back," said the mother of seven.
Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem denounced the raid as "cowboy politics."
"I hope it doesn't come to a confrontation, but if that's what they want, then we'll be ready," he told reporters in London.
Iran condemned the attack as did Russia, which has had close ties with Syria since Soviet times.
Iraqi officials said they had no advance warning of the raid, and the government responded carefully to the aftermath, seeking to contain diplomatic damage with Syria while not offending the U.S.
Chief spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Iraq was seeking good relations with Syria but added that Baghdad had asked the Syrians in the past to "hand over terror groups operating on Syrian territory."
He also noted the attack occurred in an area where "anti-Iraq terror activity" had taken place.
"We cannot judge this operation at the moment," he said. "We must wait for our investigation to finish. We are in touch with the American side and we expect them to hand us a report on the raid."
U.S. and Iraqi officials have long been concerned about infiltration across the Syrian border. American special operations troops have been working for months to shut down Sunni extremist networks that smuggle weapons and fighters through Iraq's northern desert to Mosul, where al-Qaida and other Sunni militants remain active.
But the timing of the raid raised concerns it could hurt an uncertain U.S.-Iraq security agreement. Parliament must approve the measure before the U.N. mandate expires Dec. 31, but Iraqi Shiite lawmakers have expressed doubts the current version would pass.
"Now neighboring countries have a good reason to be concerned about the continued U.S. presence in Iraq," Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman said.

[Sirc]

What is Syria gonna do about it? Seriously. We have air superiority in the region. Any Middle Eastern country can be struck fast and hard and have it's air force annihilated within a few days. And there's always Israel, that has already demonstrated on several occasions that it can strike a massive blow on it's own. And they are just chomping at the bit to hit Syria, and Iran for that matter.

Nothing is going to happen. Lots of yelling and protesting and Muslims killing each other in a few riots maybe, but nothing else. It's just the Bush administration getting in a free whack while it still can.

[Pure_Evil]

If I remember correctly, Sr did a similar thing on his way out too, only Jr isn't quite as bright.

[Sirc]

only Jr isn't quite as bright.

If nothing else, we can agree on that. :)

Sr could have easily taken down Saddam's regime in the first Gulf war, but he choose not to. He (and/or his advisers) foresaw the consequences of removing the Iron Hand that kept the region in check.

Jr decided to remove the Iron Hand. And after all these years we're still wondering, now what do we do?

[Pure_Evil]

Now Sirc, you make it sound as if we never agree on anything, I remember a Oasis of agreement :D sheesh!

The one thing I'm shocked about the fact Bin Ladden is still at large, wtf, Sadaam didn't kill, or wasn't responsible for as many American deaths, on US soil. That HAS to change

[Nitro]

Now Sirc, you make it sound as if we never agree on anything, I remember a Oasis of agreement :D sheesh!

The one thing I'm shocked about the fact Bin Ladden is still at large, wtf, Sadaam didn't kill, or wasn't responsible for as many American deaths, on US soil. That HAS to change

It's because Bin Laden (former employee of the CIA surprise, surprise) has been dead for years now. Internal French memos, officials of some Muslim countries, as well as BBC all reported on this several times. Obama promises he is going to "kill Bin Laden (WTF?!) but that will be not possible since he is dead. The US, it seems, will continue to hunt Bin Laden's ghost forever. Ohh, pop quiz: Who met with George Bush Sr. on the morning of 9-11-2001? Hint: Bin Laden's brother. But of course, this is a complete coincidence and has nothing to do with 9/11 *rolleyes*

[Mr Clean]

If nothing else, we can agree on that. :)

Sr could have easily taken down Saddam's regime in the first Gulf war, but he choose not to. He (and/or his advisers) foresaw the consequences of removing the Iron Hand that kept the region in check.

Jr decided to remove the Iron Hand. And after all these years we're still wondering, now what do we do?

Sr. didn't do it because the coaltion, which included several Muslim and Middle Eastern countries, would not have tolerated an American-led takeover of a fellow Muslim and Middle East country, and Sr didn't want to jepordize that. Tens of thousands of Saddam's fellow Iraqis died in the following years for no good reason, not to mention what Saddam did to the Kurds in northern Iraq after the first Gulf War. Then people from the same coalition countries helped fund Al-Qaeda to fly planes into the twin towers.

It was all about our new "friends", not Saddam's role in the Middle East...

[Sirc]

Sr. didn't do it because the coaltion, which included several Muslim and Middle Eastern countries, would not have tolerated an American-led takeover of a fellow Muslim and Middle East country, and Sr didn't want to jepordize that. Tens of thousands of Saddam's fellow Iraqis died in the following years for no good reason, not to mention what Saddam did to the Kurds in northern Iraq after the first Gulf War. Then people from the same coalition countries helped fund Al-Qaeda to fly planes into the twin towers.

It was all about our new "friends", not Saddam's role in the Middle East...

Not tolerated? What could they have done? It was a legal, UN-backed war. And even when Iraq forces were removed from Kuwait, Saddam still acted aggressively by continuing his attacks on Israel. Plenty of reason to keep moving north and hitting Baghdad.

Why did they "tolerate" Jr's invasion of Iraq, which was a non UN-backed war?

[Slay]

If I remember correctly, Sr did a similar thing on his way out too, only Jr isn't quite as bright.
You got that right :D

[SASQUATCH]

I would not be surprise if Syria or Iran is attack by December before Bush leaves office.

If by any chance Iran is attack, consider this, pick a city that will go up in flames by terrorism. Than expect major world powerful nation like Russia, China get involve and you will see that our America solders will not leave for a while like Vietnam but only much shorter time because eventually WW3 will become a reality.

This is going to happen in the coming year in the middle east but would rather delay it and hope that by miracle we pull away from it using diplomacy for peace.

The other matter is Pakistan and India, them two nation something will break out and it will affect everyone especially EUR and Asia region.

[Mr Clean]

Not tolerated? What could they have done? It was a legal, UN-backed war. And even when Iraq forces were removed from Kuwait, Saddam still acted aggressively by continuing his attacks on Israel. Plenty of reason to keep moving north and hitting Baghdad.

Why did they "tolerate" Jr's invasion of Iraq, which was a non UN-backed war?

The UN did not back taking over Iraq, just removing Iraqi forces from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The coalition was tasked with that and no more. Bush Sr. reportedly wanted to go further but there was no support for it in the UN, so it didn't happen. He decided the goodwill gained with Egypt and other nations was worth more, at the time, than getting Saddam.

W's invasion was for completely different reasons of course, and the coalition for that war was very different too. I don't know what the UN has said about it over the years, but it hasn't been much if they have...

[Sirc]

The UN did not back taking over Iraq, just removing Iraqi forces from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The coalition was tasked with that and no more. Bush Sr. reportedly wanted to go further but there was no support for it in the UN, so it didn't happen. He decided the goodwill gained with Egypt and other nations was worth more, at the time, than getting Saddam.

Yes, but at the same time Iraq was also attacking Israel, another UN nation. It could have happened, and no one would have the right to complain about Israel defending themselves. They showed incredible restraint, and if they would have made a move on Baghdad I'm pretty sure the US would have supported them. It was a razor edge situation and could have gone either way.

In my opinion the UN is pretty useless when it comes to acting efficiently and effectively in solving any immediate world problems. Partially because they know that the US will handle things (albeit not very well) if they decide to sit for months or even years with their thumbs up their asses. And partially because every nation has their own agendas and self interests.