Hitting Syria, Five Years Late -EditorialAfter five years and six months during which Syria has been an active accomplice to the insurgency in Iraq, the U.S. has finally struck back. We wonder how differently the war in Iraq might have gone had the U.S. conducted this kind of raid as often as necessary in 2003 and 2004, or if it had put Assad on notice that his survival in power was at risk if he continued to support the insurgency.
Our guess is that the war would have been shorter and far less bloody for American and Iraqi troops.
There's a lesson in this for the next president. The Syrians interpreted diplomatic accommodation in the face of their anti-American acts as a sign of weakness to exploit.
(Wall Street Journal)
U.S.: Syria Raid Killed Terrorist Leader -Jonathan S. Landay & Nancy A. Youssef
A CIA-led raid on a compound in eastern Syria killed an Al-Qaeda in Iraq commander who oversaw the smuggling into Iraq of foreign fighters whose attacks claimed thousands of Iraqi and American lives, three U.S. officials said.
The body of Badran Turki Hishan al-Mazidih was flown out of Syria on a U.S. helicopter at the end of the operation Sunday.
"This was a significant blow to the foreign fighter pipeline between Syria and Iraq," said a U.S. official.
(McClatchy-Miami Herald)
Syria Plays the Victim When Its Own Border Is Breached -Editorial
The logic of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad seems to be that his regime can sponsor murders, arms trafficking, infiltrations and suicide bombings in neighboring countries while expecting to be shielded from any retaliation in kind by the diplomatic scruples of democracies.
If Sunday's raid serves only to put Assad on notice that the U.S. is no longer prepared to respect the sovereignty of a criminal regime, it will have been worthwhile.
Damascus should not be allowed to reap the diplomatic and economic rewards of a rapprochement while continuing to plant car bombs, transport illegal weapons and harbor terrorists.
Israel has let Assad know that it is prepared to respond to his terrorism with strikes against legitimate military targets. Now the U.S. has sent the same message.
(Washington Post)
UPDATES:
Syria Sentences 12 for Political Crimes
A Syrian court sentenced 12 dissidents to 2 1/2 years each in prison for political crimes after they had called for democratic reforms. The 11 men and a woman were arrested after holding a meeting to revive a movement calling for freedom of expression and a democratic constitution in Syria. The charges included "weakening national morale."
(Reuters)
Syria Comes Down on Dissidents - Stephen Starr
The 12 Syrian dissidents were held behind a cage in a court room packed with family members and well-wishers. After the sentences were read out, several of the detained shouted cries of defiance and locked hands together. About a dozen diplomats from various embassies, including Canadian and Dutch representatives, attended the proceedings.
Several Internet cafes dotted around Damascus have recently seen new regulations posted whereby every computer user must provide an identity card before being assigned a computer. The computer number and time spent on the Internet is then recorded.
(Asia Times-Hong Kong)
A CIA-led raid on a compound in eastern Syria killed an Al-Qaeda in Iraq commander who oversaw the smuggling into Iraq of foreign fighters whose attacks claimed thousands of Iraqi and American lives, three U.S. officials said.
The body of Badran Turki Hishan al-Mazidih was flown out of Syria on a U.S. helicopter at the end of the operation Sunday.
"This was a significant blow to the foreign fighter pipeline between Syria and Iraq," said a U.S. official.
(McClatchy-Miami Herald)
Syria Plays the Victim When Its Own Border Is Breached -Editorial
The logic of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad seems to be that his regime can sponsor murders, arms trafficking, infiltrations and suicide bombings in neighboring countries while expecting to be shielded from any retaliation in kind by the diplomatic scruples of democracies.
If Sunday's raid serves only to put Assad on notice that the U.S. is no longer prepared to respect the sovereignty of a criminal regime, it will have been worthwhile.
Damascus should not be allowed to reap the diplomatic and economic rewards of a rapprochement while continuing to plant car bombs, transport illegal weapons and harbor terrorists.
Israel has let Assad know that it is prepared to respond to his terrorism with strikes against legitimate military targets. Now the U.S. has sent the same message.
(Washington Post)
UPDATES:
Syria Sentences 12 for Political Crimes
A Syrian court sentenced 12 dissidents to 2 1/2 years each in prison for political crimes after they had called for democratic reforms. The 11 men and a woman were arrested after holding a meeting to revive a movement calling for freedom of expression and a democratic constitution in Syria. The charges included "weakening national morale."
(Reuters)
Syria Comes Down on Dissidents - Stephen Starr
The 12 Syrian dissidents were held behind a cage in a court room packed with family members and well-wishers. After the sentences were read out, several of the detained shouted cries of defiance and locked hands together. About a dozen diplomats from various embassies, including Canadian and Dutch representatives, attended the proceedings.
Several Internet cafes dotted around Damascus have recently seen new regulations posted whereby every computer user must provide an identity card before being assigned a computer. The computer number and time spent on the Internet is then recorded.
(Asia Times-Hong Kong)
1 comment:
Israel has shown it won't tolerate a nuclear neighbor bent on its destruction. The U.S. has shown it won't allow Syria tp cause trouble in an election year, unlike the last 18 months.
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