It's been in the news for a few weeks now, so I’m sure you haven't been able to escape the talk. For those of you who have been solely focused on the current US political situation, and I don't blame you, I have only one word: Syria.
Last week, thousands of Syrians congregated in Damascus to protest the US Special Forces raid across the border from Iraq. The raid, which intended to capture Abu Ghadiya, a top Syrian and Ba'thist militant, actually killed him and eight Syrian civilians, according to leaders in Damascus. Abu Ghadiya was mentioned many times during Saudi interrogations of al-Qaeda suspects, as a Saudi source stated on CNN (see link above). It was believed that Ghadiya was using Ba'th money to smuggle militants across the border into Iraq, many of whom contributed to violence associated with al-Qaeda in Iraq.
The ramifications of this are far-reaching. First, the immense outpour of protesting alone (although this could have been a ploy by the Syrian government, known for pressuring its citizens into various types of actions). Nonetheless, seeing so many people up in arms is worrisome. Second, not only did the Syrian government condemn the raid, but the Iraqi government did the same. Third, the US closed its Syrian embassy amidst protests from the Syrian people and aggression from the Syrian government. And finally, in the aftermath, Damascus pulled its border patrols off the Iraqi-Syrian desert border, forcing Iraqi guards to control the entire region.
The last two results are the most worrisome. Closing the US embassy is a huge statement, and one not taken upon lightly by the US government, I’m sure. And further, now the Iraqi military will be responsible for solely combating the militants crossing the border from Syria. Which, in turn, could lead to the US also being held accountable for who comes and goes. Not to mention that violence levels could incline because of this, even after we’ve made so much progress.
I understand the need for targeting known anti-US militants, but at the expense of our progress, our troops and our reputation? It seems that this type of thinking has been the legacy of the Bush administration: decisions made without much thought to the repercussions.
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I agree. The Bush Administration has never really understood the how properly manage America's "Soft Power" in the Middle East. Raids such as this one are devastating to America's image and ultimately fuel long-term resentment.
Where is the criticism of Syria? Is it the United States that is hosting terrorists near one of its neighbors borders? The US would love not to have to launch missiles and kill people, but if other governments refuse to police their own territory, than who will? If Abu Ghadiya was still alive and planning and implementing terrorist attacks, who will be the one to explain to the families of the ones his actions killed, why he was left alone. Yes, it is true that the US must be careful to respect other nations sovereignty and to make sure they think of all the ramifications of such an attack. But how was Syria respecting Iraq's sovereignty when they let known terrorists enter their country?
Patrick: I welcome your comments and completely agree with you; Syria needs to take as much responsibility for securing the region as Iraq, the Coalition forces and every other country in the area. However, and unfortunately, it seems that this would only happen in a perfect world. Everyone knows how to milk the political situation that we've created in Iraq for all it's worth, and Syria is most definitely on that list. The problem is precisely what you said: they get to house terrorists and then scream bloody murder when we try to stop them. However, I think that there are right ways and wrong ways of doing that, and I believe that launching an undercover raid from Iraq into Syria (and then getting caught doing it) was one of the wrong ways.
In my opinion, we should draw a lot of attention and publicity to the fact that they’re aiding terrorists, and try to get some help. The US really needs to ditch the cowboy attitude of doing everything ourselves. If our allies still refuse to back us, then we can decide to go it alone.
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