Helicopters attack border point with Iraq: Syria

Originally posted by Terrapop
The USA were lecturing Russia about international sovereignty two months ago. The Russians have a fleet present in Syrian harbours.

This is AN ILLEGAL ACT of agression against a souverain nation.

This is no less than a declaration of war to Russia, Iran and Syria...

your leaving pakistan off the list ... a situation that was made worse by US infantry firing across the border at pakistani army nationals with small arms

Look im not syaing the deaths of 8 folks is not a big deal..it is. But the incedent as a whole is not a big deal meaning that nothing major is going to come of this.

Come on kids...please do not act like every time some event happens like this that its going to touch off some major armed conflict. It wont.

Originally posted by Terrapop
No big deal?

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — U.S. military helicopters attacked territory inside Syria close to its border with Iraq Sunday, killing eight people in a strike the Syrian government condemned as "serious aggression."

A U.S. military official said the raid by special forces targeted the foreign fighter network that travels through Syria into Iraq in an area where the Americans have been unable to shut it down because it was out of the military's reach.

"We are taking matters into our own hands," the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivity of cross-border raids.

ap.google.com...

Originally posted by princeofpeace
Come on kids...please do not act like every time some event happens like this that its going to touch off some major armed conflict. It wont.

Not a big deal? Come on kids...how would you feel if a foreign power flew into some buildings in NY and killed some US citizens?

Wake up. US have started more wars than any of these so called rouge nations. Even president Eisenhower warned about the military industrial power that demanded new wars and conflicts so that the industry could survive.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Bush regime tries to stir up things to support McSame's war ideology.


This might be an attempt to influence the election!

Originally posted by mrmonsoon
This could be one or several different things, imo.

It could be just what was stated, a way to stop/slow down the flow of fighters/weapons flowing from Syria into Iraq.

It could be the capturing of terrorist who live in the comfort of Syria's arms when they are not killing people.

It could be a signal/warning to Syria which has placed lots of tanks and men on the Lebanon border where they have invaded before. (Basically warning them to stay away from Israel and supporting hamas terrorists)

Sounds like a loaded message to me.Lol I read an article last night, that Iran's President is suffering from "exhaustion." I don't know how true it is though.

Originally posted by Kaploink
This whole thing is very odd. Why would they attack a small village in Syria?

So we can provoke an attack and steal more oil, while we at the same time claim that we respect their supremecy. Hypocrisy works well in politics. I'm sure our LORD will be very proud of us.

The reports are not adding up! It was a building said to be under construction, yet women and children was there? Its also my understanding that Special Forces went into the structure, these guys are the best of the best with the ability to take somebody alive who's not willing to. I find extremely hard to believe that collateral damage was done with the result of commandos being on the ground. It is also my understanding that all the deaths was members of one single family. If that is true there could be some guilt by association.

Also, I do see this as a big deal but certainly not no October surprise for the election at this point. I have no doubts they have the ability to come up with something better than this incident to swing voters at the last minute.

I am getting the feeling that this is just the set up for the Coup de'Gras of the US economy. First, cross border attacks in Pakistan... and now Syria. One more... uh... "terrorist" attack here as a result of blowback, and the economy is in the tubes. Hello NAU. Next stop, One world government..

One day, one of these nations are going to defend their borders with anti-aircraft weapons.

What happens when a helicopter goes down inside pakistan or syrian territory, and half a dozens US grunts are killed?

It would be a nightmare.

We brasonly broke the rules and impeded on their sovereignty by flowing attack craft into their country, attacking their buildings/men. They had a right to fire on us.

But, once its happened, I cant see the US turning around shruggin their shoulders and saying '' we deserved that ''

maybe thats it?

... Pakistan dont seem willing to shoot us down, weve crossed over heaps of times.
... Iran seem disciplined enough, they didnt shoot down that jet that was forced to land the other week
... Syria arent willing to either now..

how long are they going to hold back ?

Syria has "been cruising for a bruising" for a long time - it has provided
havens for some of the vilest terrorists and often used them as proxies
in war against Israel and the west. Is has provided arms for Hezbollah
and used them as proxy in war against Lebanon.

Just a year ago Israel (with US help) took out a secret nuclear facility being constructed in the eastern desert .

www.timesonline.co.uk...

It has provided havens for suicide bombers on way to Iraq and helped
smuggled them across border

This was a warning

Bush is doing this to help his party's vote, not for McCain, because of how you look certain to damn his Presidency. A good war will stiffen national ego and turn out those dead cert Republican voters who might not turn out this time. A good frightening (terrorist - there's enough files) enemy like Syria which is thousands of miles away looks like a dead cert bet. Except one thing, most election policy theories were written at a time when people weren't educated, and we're all to wise to know that we want this. I should IMHO this, but prefer, 'I hope.'

And CNN's first paragraph on the story is "(CNN) -- The U.S. military said it is investigating claims from Syria that U.S. helicopters based in Iraq killed eight people and wounded another Sunday in an attack inside Syria's territory Sunday. "

What the hell does that mean? "Investigating claims"?

That reminds me of September 11, 2001, when some spokesman for the White House claimed that it was unclear whether a certain passenger jet was shot down by the USAF or crashed for some other reason.

These are highly trained officers acting on orders, aren't they? Certainly they're aware they're in Syrian air space. Why is there any "investigation" of claims required?

You should see how many investigations we have.

1. We went into Iraq because of irrefutible and legal proof of WMD critically at terrorists fingertips.
2. No investigation.
3. Attacks back home, 1 innocent gets killed. (sorry any Brazilian, it was a disaster).
4. An investigation.
5. Investigations on your own soil hold some weight, in some distant far off country, well...........

I don't believe the 'investigation' you refer to deserves anything other than your already expressed mirth.

BBC news have just reported it on tv.

It is my belief that there was a HVT, or operation, in that vicinity and the US decided to act. Not only to target this objective but to also put Syria on notice that if they do enforce their borders, we'll do it for them. The overwhelming majority of foreign fighter coming into Iraq are entering from Syria. These foreign fighter are the worst kind, coming through the global network of Jihadis brining not only money but expertise in explosives. US and Iraqi forces have been patrolling the Syrian sector and constructing physical barriers but unless you shut down the staging point (Syria), it's not an effective strategy.

Of course officially the US/Iraq will not confirm anything, as is customary. Unofficially everyone gets the message, and it's about time. We won't attack deep into Syria but all the border regions are now within our sights.

A U.S. military official said the raid by special forces targeted the network of al-Qaida-linked foreign fighters moving through Syria into Iraq. The Americans have been unable to shut the network down in the area because Syria was out of the military's reach.

"We are taking matters into our own hands," the official told The Associated Press in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivity of cross-border raids.

The attack came just days after the commander of U.S. forces in western Iraq said American troops were redoubling efforts to secure the Syrian border, which he called an "uncontrolled" gateway for fighters entering Iraq.

The area targeted is near the Iraqi border city of Qaim, which had been a major crossing point for fighters, weapons and money coming into Iraq to fuel the Sunni insurgency.

Iraqi travelers making their way home across the border reported hearing many explosions, said Farhan al-Mahalawi, mayor of Qaim.

Link

A missile strike killed 6 people in Pakistan last week and there wasnt nearly as much concern as this on this board. Why?

I wonder if there is any connection to the recent developments in the domestic situation in Iraq, with the main Sunni party breaking relations with the US civil and military authority ahead of provincial elections over an incident in Anbar. Isolate the Sunni tribal leaders at a crucial time, instigate a threat to Iraq from Syria to bring them back into the fold.

Iraq's main Sunni party suspends contacts with US

Originally posted by princeofpeace
A missile strike killed 6 people in Pakistan last week and there wasnt nearly as much concern as this on this board. Why?

Because we still think Pakistan is an ally in the WOT due to the amount of foreign aid we give them.

www.voanews.com...

Syria is part of the Axis of Evil.

Syria is a blow hard just like Iran and Haaretz summed it up....Syria hasnt done anything about it before and they wont now.

"It has become apparent nobody takes Syria seriously, given the repeated violations of its territory."

www.haaretz.com...

reply to post by whaaa


Pakistan allows cigarettes from what I gather which is not too Islamic, from what I gather. They're OK but don't need sh1t from Iraq when trying to pursuade their population about the nature of terrorism with what is their direct neighbour. You harbour terrorists, you share their war. Many tribal elders do not see foreign as beyond ten miles beyond their border and you start killing their Muslim neighbours. It's an effing tragedy.