US Invad​ed Syria​ Kille​d Civil​ians

[Mrs. Sharon B. Hodge]

US Invad​ed Syria​ Kille​d Civil​ians






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U.
S Stages Raid Inside Syria?
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Wired
October 26, 2008

http://blog. wired. com/defense/2008/10/us-stages-raid. html

The Syrian press is claiming U.S. forces launched a helicopter raid inside Syrian territory today. Ruh roh! SANA, the country's state-run news agency, said four US military helicopters 'violated Syrian airspace' at 4:45 p.m. local time.
The report further claims that eight Syrian citizens were 'martyred' in the attack, allegedly launched from across the border in Iraq

The Los Angeles Times reports a non-denial from the Pentagon:

Details were sketchy. In Washington, several military representatives asked about the operation did not deny that a raid had taken place.
Although they would not confirm the attack, they used language typically employed after raids conducted by secretive Special Operations forces

We contacted the duty officer at U.S. Central Command public affairs; he said he had "no information" on the incident.
The latest update from SANA says that Syria's deputy foreign minister summoned the chargé d’affaires of the US Embassy in Damascus to protest the incident

If the Syrian allegations are in fact true, the incident sounds very similar to some of the hot pursuit raids we've seen inside Pakistan in recent months. A helicopter-borne assault by U.S. and Afghan special operations inside Pakistan last month provoked a storm of protest from Islamabad, with Pakistan's Foreign Ministry complaining of a "gross violation of Pakistan's territory" and "a grave provocation.
" But beyond the rhetoric, there seemed to have been very little diplomatic fallout

Lest we forget, there was also that Israeli air raid last September against a Syrian site that was supposed linked to clandestine nuclear activity.
The site of this latest attack, according to the Los Angeles Times, is in the same vicinity as that strike



Syrian television showing footage of an injured woman

Clothes and blankets inside a tent at a civilian building construction site are seen in this image from television Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008. U.S.
military helicopters have launched an extremely rare attack on Syrian territory close to the border with Iraq, killing eight people in a strike the government in Damascus condemned as "serious aggression" A Syrian government statement said four helicopters attacked a civilian building under construction shortly before sundown and fired on workers inside

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'US launches attack in Syria: American troops kill eight civilians'
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Belfast Times
27 October 2008

http://www. belfasttelegraph. co. uk/news/world-news/us-launches-at...

The United States has carried out a helicopter raid inside Syria, killing eight people including four children, according to Syrian officials


The official Syrian news agency Sana said four helicopters were used during the attack in the Abu Kamal border area

Syria has summoned the US and Iraqi charge d'affaires to Damascus to protest against the raid, the Syrian Arab news agency (Sana) reported last night

It is reported that American soldiers landed in helicopters in the village of Sukkiraya, 8km (5 miles) from the Iraqi border on Sunday night.
The troops then stormed a building under construction

"Four American helicopters violated Syrian airspace around 1645 local time [1345 GMT] on Sunday

"American soldiers emerged from helicopters and attacked a civilian building under construction and opened fire on the workers that were inside leading to the deaths of eight civilians

"The helicopters then left Syrian territory towards Iraqi territory," Sana said

A resident speaking on condition of anonymity said the helicopters flew along the Euphrates River into the area of farms and factories.
He said that some of the helicopters landed, commandos exited the aircraft, then fired on a building

Sana said that the civilian victims have now been identified as Daoud Mohammad al-Abdullah, his four sons, Ahmad Khalefa, Ali Abbas and his wife in addition to wounding another Syrian citizen

"Syria condemns and denounces this act of aggression and US forces will bear the responsibility for any consequences," a Syrian government official said

"Syria also demands that the Iraqi government accept its responsibilities and launches an immediate inquiry following this dangerous violation and forbids the use of Iraqi territory to launch attacks on Syria," the official added

The United States said it was investigating the reports

The US has previously accused Syria of allowing foreign militants into Iraq.
However last month Jalal Talabani, Iraq's president, told his US counterpart George Bush that Syria and Iran no longer pose a problem to Iraq's security





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SYRIA: What's behind U.
S raid?

Los Angeles Times
Oct 26, 2008

http://latimesblogs. latimes. com/babylonbeyond/2008/10/syria-whats...

U.S.
forces on Sunday afternoon apparently crossed the Iraqi border to launch a commando raid in a Syrian town that left at least eight people dead

It was a high-stakes move that could not only increase tensions between Washington and Damascus but could unnerve Iraqi officials contemplating the signing of a Status of Forces Agreement with the U.S.
that would legitamize the presence of American troops in Iraq

So why now at the end of the Bush administration, with Washington trying to play nice with Damascus and tensions easing throughout the region, would U.
S forces stage such a gambit?

The blog-o-sphere was all abuzz with theories and speculation. Bill Roggio, writing at the Long War Journal, said that the U.S.
must have had a compelling military reason for the attack, especially given the uptick of insurgent attacks in and around the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which is close to Syria and has became a haven for insurgents

Iraqi forces in northern Iraq launched a series of raids Sunday that netted 13 suspected insurgents, an official in Mosul said

"The US military must have detected a senior member of al Qaeda in Iraq in the region," he wrote.
"Abu Ayyub al Masri, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, is reported to have left the country earlier this year after the terror group lost its sanctuaries in Diyala province"

But others saw political considerations...

Political gossip site Wonkette somewhat playfully described the move as an "October Surprise" meant to change the course of the ongoing presidential elections

"Finally, the October Surprise!" Wonkette's Ken Layne writes:

We have a war, of sorts, in Syria! Who knows why or anything. It’s the Kissinger Doctrine all over again: Just bomb..., everywhere, whenever you feel like it Who’s gonna stop you, HEHNGHH?

Joshua Landis at Syria Comment says the attack "seems to fit into a broader pattern of the Bush administration initiating cross border attacks into countries that it is not officially at war with," including Pakistan

He speculates that White House officials angry at Syria "may assume that [they] can have a 'freebie' " striking at an old adversary knowing that it will nonethless remain on its best behavior to impress the next U.S.
administration

Indeed, despite glimmers of rapprochement, the Bush administration has remained chilly toward Damascus, frowning at European, Turkish and Israeli diplomatic initiatives aimed at drawing Syria away from its main ally Iran, writes BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus

"With the Bush administration on the way out, this US military incursion may represent something of a parting shot against the Syrians," he writes

— Borzou Daragahi in Beirut

Photo: A handout file picture released on Nov. 23, 2004, by the U.S.
Marines shows troops being picked up by a helicopter after conducting an operation near the Syrian border in western Iraq Credit: AFP / Getty Images

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