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| Iraq |
| Baby Assad - Feeling The Heat? |
| 2003-11-19 |
| U.S. deploys 20,000 troops near Syrian border The United States has deployed 20,000 troops along the Syrian border after Syria failed to stop militants from crossing into Iraq. Or they don’t care; either way, we’ve noticed... As late as October, U.S. officials said hundreds of Islamic insurgents were crossing into Iraqi from Syria. They said Syrian authorities had failed to respond to U.S. appeals to stop the flow of insurgents. Time for Operation Bitch Slap! U.S. military officials said the U.S. troop presence was bolstered beginning in September and has resulted in a significant drop in infiltration from Syria. The U.S. troops are based in the Iraqi province of Anbar, Middle East Newsline reported. Great, I’m reporting old news... Maj. Gen. Charles Swannack, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, said the military completed a 200 percent increase in U.S. troops at Anbar. Swannack told a briefing in Baghdad on Tuesday that the increased deployment was also meant to stop infiltration from other Iraqi neighbors, such as Jordan and Saudi Arabia. So we had troops on the border before, and now the number is 20,000? That’s my take, FWIW... But the U.S. presence has not halted the flow of insurgents from Syria. On Monday, the U.S. military said six suspected insurgents were captured near the Syrian border. One of them was later killed when he tried to attack a guard. Stupid fuck... Swannack said the U.S. troop presence in Anbar has resulted in reducing the flow of insurgents from Syria. He said Islamic insurgents have launched attacks against the U.S. force near the 500-kilometer Syrian border. But he called the attacks ineffective. "Mahmoud, go fetch my exploding donkey!" "We are not fighting foreign fighters coming across the border in significant numbers," Swannack said. "We are fighting mostly former regime locals." Check the passports. All of them... |
| Posted by:Raj |
| #14 I miss the futures game, though I agree it's immoral to allow the big money bets. I take the Israelis, in April. There will be talk of the Turks...but they'll waffle and waver, attempting to eeek more and more out of the deal, until they (once again) walk away with nothing. |
| Posted by: B 2003-11-20 8:07:35 AM |
| #13 I'd rather have the Turks than the Israelis. Good God, no! Between the Turks blocking the northern front and sending their special ops guys into areas we were patrolling, I just don't trust them enough. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2003-11-19 11:18:30 PM |
| #12 I agree Syria's "army" would collapse in three days, or less. That's becoming the standard. The problem is the irregulars at that point. Will Iraq be stable enough for the US to deal with both countries. No infiltration through the West would help. The political situation, if clear cut as you describe, could help Bush because the Democrats would be put in a bind of looking very weak, or going against their hardcore at about the time of the primaries. And as soon as the puppet show starts marching Bush's ratings go up and the left's ratings go down. |
| Posted by: Yank 2003-11-19 9:38:22 PM |
| #11 The ones they intercepted were trying to get out. Commuters? You know, heading back to the hotel after a hard day's work .... |
| Posted by: anon 2003-11-19 7:44:31 PM |
| #10 I'd rather have the Turks than the Israelis. Depends on whether or not al-Qaeda can make the Turks angry enough. |
| Posted by: Dishman 2003-11-19 7:29:08 PM |
| #9 The other thing Loftus said was that the expectation is that Syria's "army" would be destroyed in about 3 days by a coordinated US-Israeli attack. |
| Posted by: Tibor 2003-11-19 7:19:21 PM |
| #8 Yank -- That was my thought, too, but Loftus' explanation is that Kay's report will be out by then and will implicate Syria in the diversion of Iraq's WMD. He thinks that the political situation in Iran (Syria's puppetmaster) will be sufficiently bad for the mullahs that nobody but Hezbollah will be willing to fight for Syria, and Israel will have a good excuse (another suicide bombing or more Kessam rockets) to pave Southern Lebanon (i.e., pull a Hama on Hezbollah). One can always hope . . . . |
| Posted by: Tibor 2003-11-19 7:16:48 PM |
| #7 US Army should move west until they can stop infiltration across the LEbanon border. Tibor, I want to believe you but I just don't see any kind of invasion in an election year. |
| Posted by: Yank 2003-11-19 7:07:17 PM |
| #6 If theat one rail line gets reconnected, we ought to fill the first passenger car full of headless bodies of inflitrators. Would kind of send an interesting message. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-11-19 6:24:45 PM |
| #5 The ones they intercepted were trying to get out. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-11-19 6:06:29 PM |
| #4 I've never been to Leb, so I don't know the terrain and only know the Bekaa Valley by rep. Is it conducive to SF raids? Difficult to get into and out of by choppers? Anyone know??? |
| Posted by: RMcLeod 2003-11-19 5:44:00 PM |
| #3 I heard a guy on the radio (John Loftus of www.john-loftus.com, who has interesting intelligence contacts) say that it looks like the Syrian invasion will be in the Spring. He also says the missing WMD is in Syria and in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley (guarded by a Syrian tank battalion). |
| Posted by: Tibor 2003-11-19 5:37:34 PM |
| #2 Like I said, it's time to start a betting pool. First Border Skirmish First Bombing Sortie Invasion |
| Posted by: Daniel King 2003-11-19 5:19:24 PM |
| #1 If the 82nd is there, most likely they are supporting SF nasty boys. Hopefully we're sending direct action teams out to herd them into 82nd firesacks. Or deep into Syria to blow up the camps and kill them on their way to the border. A few heads on sticks on their side will make baby assad crappen the ol' pants. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-11-19 5:13:11 PM |