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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria says border troops fired on by U.S. forces
2005-07-21
DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syria said on Thursday its border troops had been fired on by U.S. and Iraqi forces and accused Washington, London and Baghdad of lack of cooperation in preventing insurgents infiltrating into Iraq. It was the first time Syria, which has a 600 km (375 mile) desert border with Iraq, had reported cases of U.S. troops firing on its forces.
The Foreign Ministry told heads of diplomatic missions in Damascus in a letter obtained by Reuters that Syrian border troops had been subject to attacks "not only by infiltrators and smugglers but by the Iraqi and American forces." "The border clashes amounted to about 100 armed clashes, some of which were carried out by American soldiers who opened fire arbitrarily at those present behind the dirt rampart due to loss of self control," said the ministry.
Trust me, if we lose self-control, you'll know about it
The U.S. military in Iraq has launched several operations against insurgents near the border in the past few months but has not reported any cross-border fire.
Sounds like a few stray rounds went overhead and the border guards wet their drawers

U.S. officials accuse Syria of not doing enough to stop insurgents from crossing into Iraq to fight U.S. and Iraqi forces and often say that guerrillas are using Syria as a conduit for the transfer of funds to fuel the insurgency. "Syria ... needs to take steps to go after those ... elements that may be operating on their territory and they need to play a helpful role with their neighbors," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. "Syria has been out of step with the rest of the Middle East. The Middle East has been leaning more and more in the direction of freedom and democracy," said McClellan.
The ministry said Syria was doing its utmost to seal its border with Iraq from being crossed by Syrian and other foreign insurgents. Syria had prevented 1,240 suspects from crossing into Iraq and extradited most of them to their respective countries, said the ministry. About 4,000 Syrians "who left or attempted to leave to Iraq to fight there have been investigated," it said.
The United States and Britain had failed to respond to Syrian requests for night vision and radar-based monitoring systems to prevent night infiltrations, said the letter, delivered to envoys by Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed al-Mualem.
Maybe those "stray rounds" were your answer
Syria said daytime infiltrations were now "a very difficult issue (for insurgents) but the problem of infiltrations still persists to a certain extent during the night because of the lack of necessary technical equipment to monitor the border."
It said Iraq had so far failed to ratify a protocol for security cooperation signed in Damascus in July 2004 and subsequent agreements.
Stability in Iraq was in the interest of Syria because it paved the way for the end of the presence of U.S.-led forces in Iraq, said the letter.
Those troops making you nervous? Good.
Posted by:Steve

#10  Mebbe they can ask their Hizbullah buddies for some of the 10,000 Katyushas now pointed at the zionist entity TM
Posted by: borgboy   2005-07-21 23:49  

#9  I found the suggestion of US troop "loss of control" amusing. You'll know there was loss of control when the dead lie thick on the tortured ground because officers stopped controlling the rules of engagement and started using 1/10th of 1% of the firepower we have in the region.
Posted by: too true   2005-07-21 19:40  

#8  Are the Syrians still alive?

Then it wasn't our troops.

Just sayin', 's all. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2005-07-21 18:47  

#7  Can we give them some night vision gear that secretly sends back to us what they are looking at and where they are? Could be interesting.
Posted by: Glenmore   2005-07-21 18:20  

#6  Keep shooting until the infiltration stops. The asshats from Syria aren't going to Iraq for vacation.
Posted by: John Q. Citizen   2005-07-21 18:15  

#5  I hope that the US did respond tothe night vision request .... a two response.
Posted by: Super Hose   2005-07-21 17:25  

#4  Send a note to the Syrian governement that the shots were from a wedding party for a couple of our soldiers.
Posted by: Super Hose   2005-07-21 17:23  

#3  If Syria needs advanced equipment, like night-vision stuff, let them talk to Pootie Poot. He was willing to give them missiles, so he should be able to part with a few night vision goggles.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2005-07-21 16:29  

#2  Syria said on Thursday its border troops had been fired on by U.S. and Iraqi forces..

Fantastic!! Can we do it again?

..and accused Washington, London and Baghdad of lack of cooperation in preventing insurgents infiltrating into Iraq.

One question: Where is the infiltration COMING FROM???

Uh huh. Now how is it that Syria needs some kind of "cooperation" from us?

The United States and Britain had failed to respond to Syrian requests for night vision and radar-based monitoring systems to prevent night infiltrations, said the letter,..

Oh, I get it now. They want some of our advanced equipment, so they can copy it or appropriate it permanently. Boy, these guys do have nerve, I'll say that much.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2005-07-21 16:12  

#1  "Ooops"

Don't make us fire "arbitarily" again.
Posted by: mmurray821   2005-07-21 15:44  

00:00