excellent article. thank you. On Oct 28, 4:50 am, "\"Lone Wolf\"" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > US military forces attack Syrian village, killing eight > By Patrick O’Connor > 28 October 2008 > > A ground assault conducted Sunday by the US military on a Syrian > village saw eight people shot dead, four of them reportedly children, > and others wounded. The raid has all the earmarks of a calculated > provocation by the outgoing administration of US President George Bush > aimed at derailing moves by the European powers to normalise relations > with the Syrian government. > > Syrian state media reported that two US helicopters landed on a farm > near the eastern village of Abu Kamal, about five miles from the Iraqi > border, on Sunday afternoon at 4.45 PM local time. Another two > helicopters flew overhead throughout the raid. > > Special forces reportedly emerged from the helicopters and fired on > construction workers at a building site, killing seven, before also > killing a fisherman outside the building. After the attack, the four > US helicopters flew back across the Iraqi border. > > Syrian officials said that all those killed were civilians. Local > doctors reported that another seven people were hospitalised with > bullet wounds. State television showed bullet casings littering the > ground at the scene of the raid. > > The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported the comments of villager > Souad al-Jassem, whose husband was killed: "We were surprised at five > in the evening when two helicopters landed near where we live. A > number of American soldiers, some of whom spoke Arabic, came out of > the helicopters and entered the tent where I live with my children and > husband, who works as groundkeeper for the building." > > Another local resident, Jumaa Ahmad al-Hamad, told the Associated > Press: "Shooting then started ringing for more than ten minutes." AP > reported that after the helicopters left the area, al-Hamad and other > villagers went to the site and discovered the bodies of his uncle, > Dawoud al-Hamad, and four of his uncle's sons, who he said were killed > in the raid. > > Hundreds of villagers participated in funerals held yesterday for > those killed. Mourners reportedly chanted slogans including "Death to > the criminal Bush" and "We will not go down on our knees before the > Americans." > > The Syrian government accused the Bush administration of "terrorist > aggression." The Arab League also denounced the attack, as did several > governments in the region, including the Lebanese and Iranian. > > The Russian government condemned the incident, saying "the war against > terror must not be used as a cover for attacking sovereign nations." > Other countries expressed their concern, including France, which > called for restraint and "strict respect" of nations' territorial > integrity. President Nicolas Sarkozy sent condolences to the victims' > friends and families. > > Neither the Bush administration nor the military has officially > acknowledged responsibility for the attack, but unnamed US officials > confirmed the cross-border raid. > > A military official told the Associated Press that a "foreign fighter > logistics network" was targeted and that due to Syrian government > inaction, the US was "taking matters into our own hands." Another > official told Agence France-Presse that Abu Ghadiya, "one of the most > prominent fighter facilitators in the region" and an alleged senior > member of Al Qaeda in Iraq, had been targeted. The source added, "The > operation was successful. He is believed to have been killed... Look, > when you've got an opportunity, an important one, you take it." > > Under the banner of the "war on terror," Washington has claimed the > right to disregard fundamental precepts of international law and > conduct aggressive military operations, including assassinations, in > any part of the world. Sunday's raid in Syria follows a series of > bombings and ground attacks in recent months inside Pakistan. > > A number of military analysts have questioned the timing of the Syrian > raid. Ever since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration > has complained of foreign fighters crossing the Syrian border into > Iraq, but a cross-border military operation of this character has > never been carried out before. > > The raid comes as the level of active resistance in Iraq's western > districts is significantly lower than in previous years, due to the US > military's bankrolling of local Sunni tribal militias which previously > fought against the occupation. According to the Associated Press, in > July a senior US military intelligence official reported that just 20 > foreign fighters now came into Iraq each month, 50 percent fewer than > six months earlier and down from 100 a month in mid-2007. The shift > was partly due to the Syrian government and military's compliance with > US demands that it step up its border control efforts. > > After referring to these developments, the US-based strategic think > tank Stratfor stated, "In other words, the raid appears to be > bizarre." > > There is every possibility that the military operation was intended to > heighten tensions internationally. The Guardian noted yesterday: "The > attack comes as Syria takes another step in from the cold today when > its foreign minister, Walid al-Mualim, visits London to hear praise > for its newly conciliatory policies in Lebanon—and to be urged to > distance itself from Iran. In recent months Syria has established > diplomatic relations with Lebanon and held several rounds of indirect > talks with Israel, with Turkey acting as broker. In July, President > Assad was invited to an EU summit in Paris." > > French President Sarkozy has been at the forefront of efforts to > integrate the Syrian regime into the European Union's strategic orbit > through the development of a negotiated settlement with Israel and the > severing of Assad's ties with Tehran. France's ruling elite also has > significant economic interests in its former colony, with oil company > Total licensed to exploit Syrian gas fields up to 2021. > > For the Bush administration, Syria remains a potential target in the > "war on terror." Many leading neo-conservatives regarded the country > as the logical next target following the invasion of Iraq and have > labelled the Assad government "low hanging fruit" that is ripe for > regime change. Damascus is seen as an obstacle to Washington's > strategic interests in the Middle East, especially in Lebanon, where > Syria wields significant influence, including through its support for > Hezbollah. > > There are sharp tactical divisions within the US foreign policy > establishment on how to deal with Syria. > > According to Syria expert and University of Oklahoma Professor Joshua > Landis: "Both the State Department and DOD [Department of Defense] > have consistently pushed for intelligence sharing with Damascus only > to be shot down by the vice president's office." > > In May 2007, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asked Syria's foreign > minister if two US generals could visit Damascus to resume > intelligence sharing, but the proposal fell through after Washington > refused to meet the Assad government's condition that moves towards > diplomatic normalisation be initiated. Professor Landis also reported > that in December 2007, General David Petraeus wanted to speak with > Syrian officials in Damascus but was refused permission by the White > House. > > One of the central recommendations of the 2006 Iraq Study Group > report, drawn up by a bipartisan panel headed by former Secretary of > State James Baker and former Democratic Congressman Lee Hamilton, was > that direct talks be initiated with the Assad government as part of a > broader "new diplomatic offensive" in the region aimed at bolstering > US imperialism's standing in the Middle East after the Iraq debacle. > > Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has endorsed this call. > Two Obama foreign policy advisors have this year visited Syria. In > February, Zbigniew Brzezinski, former national security advisor to > President Jimmy Carter, reportedly met with President Assad as part of > a RAND Corporation delegation. Daniel Kurtzer, who served as US > ambassador to Israel for four years following his nomination to the > post by President Bush in 2001, is Obama's senior advisor on Israeli- > Palestinian affairs. Kurtzer visited Syria in July and met with the > country's foreign minister. > > In this context, the US military attack on Sunday may mark an attempt > by the Bush administration to present an incoming Obama administration > with a fait accompli by destabilising the Syrian government, inflaming > regional tensions, and encouraging the most militaristic sections of > the Israeli political establishment amid their national election > campaign. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
* Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
