US Special Forces launch rare attack inside Syria
 

You can run but you cannot hide..... Bet that left a mark....

Team Sergeant




US Special Forces launch rare attack inside Syria
By ALBERT AJI, Associated Press Writer Albert Aji, Associated Press Writer – Sun Oct 26, 7:26 pm ET

DAMASCUS, Syria – U.S. military helicopters launched an extremely rare attack Sunday on Syrian territory close to the border with Iraq, killing eight people in a strike the government in Damascus condemned as "serious aggression."

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.

A Syrian government statement said the helicopters attacked the Sukkariyeh Farm near the town of Abu Kamal, five miles inside the Syrian border. Four helicopters attacked a civilian building under construction shortly before sundown and fired on workers inside, the statement said.

The government said civilians were among the dead, including four children.

A resident of the nearby village of Hwijeh said some of the helicopters landed and troops exited the aircraft and fired on a building. He said the aircraft flew along the Euphrates River into the area of farms and several brick factories. The witness spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information,

Syria's Foreign Ministry said it summoned the charges d'affaires of the United States and Iraq to protest against the strike.

"Syria condemns this aggression and holds the American forces responsible for this aggression and all its repercussions. Syria also calls on the Iraqi government to shoulder its responsibilities and launch and immediate investigation into this serious violation and prevent the use of Iraqi territory for aggression against Syria," the government statement said.

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.

On Thursday, U.S. Maj. Gen. John Kelly said Iraq's western borders with Saudi Arabia and Jordan were fairly tight as a result of good policing by security forces in those countries but that Syria was a "different story."

"The Syrian side is, I guess, uncontrolled by their side," Kelly said. "We still have a certain level of foreign fighter movement."

He added that the U.S. was helping construct a sand berm and ditches along the border.

"There hasn't been much, in the way of a physical barrier, along that border for years," Kelly said.

The foreign fighters network sends militants from North Africa and elsewhere in the Middle East to Syria, where elements of the Syrian military are in league with al-Qaida and loyalists of Saddam Hussein's Baath party, the U.S. military official said.

He said that while American forces have had considerable success, with Iraqi help, in shutting down the "rat lines" in Iraq, and with foreign government help in North Africa, the Syrian node has been out of reach.

"The one piece of the puzzle we have not been showing success on is the nexus in Syria," the official said.

The White House in August approved similar special forces raids from Afghanistan across the border of Pakistan to target al-Qaida and Taliban operatives. At least one has been carried out.

The flow of foreign fighters into Iraq has been cut to an estimated 20 a month, a senior U.S. military intelligence official told the Associated Press in July. That's a 50 percent decline from six months ago, and just a fifth of the estimated 100 foreign fighters who were infiltrating Iraq a year ago, according to the official.

Ninety percent of the foreign fighters enter through Syria, according to U.S. intelligence. Foreigners are some of the most deadly fighters in Iraq, trained in bomb-making and with small-arms expertise and more likely to be willing suicide bombers than Iraqis.

Foreign fighters toting cash have been al-Qaida in Iraq's chief source of income. They contributed more than 70 percent of operating budgets in one sector in Iraq, according to documents captured in September 2007 on the Syrian border. Most of the fighters were conveyed through professional smuggling networks, according to the report.

Iraqi insurgents seized Qaim in April 2005, forcing U.S. Marines to recapture the town the following month in heavy fighting. The area became secure only after Sunni tribes in Anbar turned against al-Qaida in late 2006 and joined forces with the Americans.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem accused the United States earlier this year of not giving his country the equipment needed to prevent foreign fighters from crossing into Iraq. He said Washington feared Syria could use such equipment against Israel.

Though Syria has long been viewed by the U.S. as a destabilizing country in the Middle East, in recent months, Damascus has been trying to change its image and end years of global seclusion.

Its president, Bashar Assad, has pursued indirect peace talks with Israel, mediated by Turkey, and says he wants direct talks next year. Syria also has agreed to establish diplomatic ties with Lebanon, a country it used to dominate both politically and militarily, and has worked harder at stemming the flow of militants into Iraq.

The U.S. military in Baghdad did not immediately respond to a request for comment after Sunday's raid.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081026/..._syria_us_raid

I always have a sense of gratification when we chase some vermin to ground. But in this case I do wonder if this action results from a short-term perspective. From a strategic point of view, might it have been more prudent to respect the Syrian border?

It may have been useful to send a message--we are willing to kill you anywhere, anytime--but doesn't this put the Iraqi government in an awkward position? Perhaps the targets had strategic value, I don't know.

The Iranians and Russians are trying to use this against us as well. OK, rant on. But add this to the recent Pakistan raid and how do our European allies view this? And why this raid now? I'm curious about the strategic thinking that went into this decision.

It sounds like everyone made it back intact. Good work men. :lifter

video of attack
 

Here is a nice news clip from the local News station.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=268_1225110420

Nickname: Abu Ghadiyah
Real name: Badran Turki al-Mazidih
Nationality: Iraqi
Age: early 30s
Position: Al-Qaida in Iraq's head of logistics in Syria since 2004
Duties: Providing foreign fighters with passports, weapons, guides and safe houses enroute to Iraq

Good for them, hope they got good intel.......

Nice spin on the operation they've got going there. Nothing less than stellar reporting from Memri TV. They always tell the truth :rolleyes:

I'm thoroughly suprised that it wasn't 3000 women and children.

Gotta love the sound of that mini-gun rippin into some terrorist ass!! :D

Good hunting, Gents!

Oh hell yeah! Outstanding!:lifter

Holly

I've been saying for several years now that the border "situations" in Iraq and Afghanistan show uncanny similarities to those of the Vietnam War. I'm glad to hear that we're finally taking their sanctuaries away from them and running them to ground. And I couldn't think of a better group of hard-chargers to carry these operations out. Good on ya, boys!

Yes, excellent hunting, job well done.

i am very much for chasing these people around but at the same time, violating a nation borders is pretty serious stuff, to say nothing of the shitstorm that would have manifested if the intel was wrong. With that said, way to rock guys.

Morolen, the countless deaths of our brothers in uniform, not to mention the lives lost of dedicated Iraqi's and innocent civilians is pretty serious as well. Seems to me, the intel was right on the money,,,,,

I just wish it could have avoided international attention.

Indeed!!!

It is nice to know that lines on a map are just that; and not a barrier to hunting down an enemy.

Strong message to enemies! Press be damned!

My $.02.


RF 1

And if the Viet Nam analogy applies, the only s***storm that will ensue will be brought about by our own Congressmen. Remember, it was they that pressed the issue of incursions into Laos and Cambodia.

Big time shit head.

How does the saying go?

Oh yeah, "Wish I could'a been there."