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| Syria-Lebanon |
| Jihadi assembly point in Syria "abandoned" |
| 2003-11-04 |
| By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press. EFL What had once been an assembly point in Syria for Arabs eager to fight in Iraq is now abandoned. Posters of Palestinian Did any of them come back? Now, residents say it’s been months since they’ve heard of volunteers going to fight, bodies returning home or memorials held for slain men. "Nobody has gone to Iraq since the occupation and no one is "We lost!" Faisal Younes said no more fighters had gone to Iraq since the fall of Baghdad in April. The volunteers were betrayed by Iraqis, the 36-year-old Palestinian said. Fighting for Iraq and Saddam was "a big lie." The Iraqis who "betrayed" them were smart enough to recognize an enemy when they saw one. One poster, that of Mohammed Hadrous, said he was killed April 11 in Basra, in southern Iraq. Abdul-Rahman Jamal Amer Wonder how many "volunteers" "achieved gloruious martyrdom" versus how many came back alive? Most of the foreign fighters are believed to be Syrian, Lebanese, Palestinian, Yemeni, Kuwaiti and Saudi, the officials said. They said others are believed to include Arabs who carry Western passports, but said little intelligence information on them was available. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #9 Hmmm... 300 Syrians...assault Britney... Quick, call the Enquirer! |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-11-4 11:46:20 PM |
| #8 OP I pray you are right. But frankly I doubt it. This is a much smaller conflict... hell you couldn't get 300 Syrians a night to assault Britany. But... I still hope you're right. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-11-4 9:02:18 PM |
| #7 Talked to a guy stationed for awhile at H-2. He says it's not the US, but the Iraqi border guards. We train a class, distribute them to about 20 border regiments where they get hands-on experience, and they do the job. The guy I talked to said that they whack an average of 200-300 jihadis a NIGHT. Some get through but only a pittance. It's the Iraqis' fight, and they're doing a superb job of it. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-11-4 8:34:53 PM |
| #6 Alaskaman -- absolutely. Just think about how well they stand out in infrared at night. Anyone know where the AC-130s are? |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2003-11-4 7:40:41 PM |
| #5 I would bet a lot more Tangos are disappearing than anyone is saying. |
| Posted by: alaskaman 2003-11-4 6:56:02 PM |
| #4 Add to that the ones that went to Iraq and returned with stories of Iraqi's unsympathetic to their efforts to restore Saddam to power. Reminds me of the Pakistani's trudging back across the Afghanistan border pissed at the Mullahs preaching Jihad. |
| Posted by: Yank 2003-11-4 5:25:56 PM |
| #3 I sort of favor a tactic used in West Africa some 40 years ago - put the jihadis' heads on stakes within sight of the Syrian border. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2003-11-4 5:16:33 PM |
| #2 Too many of them disappearing into a black hole, not even notes of their deaths coming back to their families, has led to others refusing to take the same trip. Too bads these jihadis couldn't be identified and put on a list for public viewing under: "Roster of Eliminated Foreign Baath Sympathizers" |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-11-4 5:11:19 PM |
| #1 Sounds like we've reached the "tipping point" for foreign jihadis. Too many of them disappearing into a black hole, not even notes of their deaths coming back to their families, has led to others refusing to take the same trip. This is one of the keys I wrote about yesterday. This is a signal that the re-marketing of the war against Saddam as a war against Islam has failed. Things will get better in Iraq rather sooner than later. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-11-4 4:46:28 PM |