Syria-Iraq: Bloody Border, Messy Politics
I’ve been right up to that desolate border on a number of occasions. The terrorists just come across that border to murder and otherwise intimidate Iraqi villagers in Nineveh to achieve their nefarious ends. Some of the truck bombs in Nineveh and Mosul proper have been massive, and during one attack that I have previously written about, perhaps four to five hundred Yezidis were murdered within minutes. The Yezidis are very friendly toward Americans and have treated me like an honored guest. When they were attacked, it felt like a punch into my own stomach, and so I wrote “Stake Through Their Hearts” after hundreds were murdered.
The insurgency in Mosul is the last big thorn left in Iraq’s paw. That we struck targets in Syria does not surprise me and I am not appalled. I am appalled that Syria allows these groups to use its territory as a base and conduit to destabilize Iraq. A Syrian government that allows these groups to penetrate Iraq’s borders and murder Iraqis and Americans doesn’t have much moral standing to complain about an incursion into its territory.
Still, now comes the political posturing. The Iraqi government has condemned the action and is claiming that they didn’t authorize the U.S. attack. Of course Syria is doing the same. That’s okay. This is one way we give the new Iraqi government cover to do what has to be done. We can take the blame; they have to coexist with their neighbors. So we are a convenient public bad guy for both sides. But there is little doubt that Iraqis are taking some comfort that the “bad guy” is not respecting a border that is violated repeatedly by Syria. Syria has played a dangerous game, with few consequences until yesterday. If Syria wants its border to be respected, it will have to respect the border with Iraq.
Obama wants surrendor
Yon – The Iraqi government has condemned the action and is claiming that they didn’t authorize the U.S. attack. Of course Syria is doing the same. That’s okay. This is one way we give the new Iraqi government cover to do what has to be done. We can take the blame; they have to coexist with their neighbors.
Man I love Michael Yon and his awesomeness to step up as both a reporter and a patriot and tell Americans the real story, but man, oh, man I disagree with his take on the “noble purple-fingered democracy Iraqi freedom-lovers” (better defined as “untrustworthy shitheads”).
This is an Iraqi government that very, very soon – must protect it’s own borders, and protect against terrorists within. Against the people that blow Iraqis up. Yet Malaki and the other shitheads are hardly sending “brave Iraqi freedom-lovers” out without frenetic efforts by Americans to coaxe, beg, or pay off the relevant party. (I hate to think how many manila envelopes stuffed with 100 dollar American bills had to be paid to Iraqis before they agreed to help us against the Mahdi Army).
When the “Iraqi freedom-lovers” under Malaki visit Syria, apparantly it is to issue joint statements deploring America and the West for “civilian deaths”.
What shitheads!
Now they condemn us for blowing up AQ in Syria before they move their operatives, HE and bomb electronics? Down ratlines Maliki has yet to commit to help us shut down?
“I am appalled that Syria allows these groups to use its territory as a base and conduit to destabilize Iraq.”
Appalled but not surprised. Assad did the same thing to Lebanon in the mid to late 80′s.
Remember, Obama voters, that your candidate plans to negotiate directly with Syria, Iran and others who openly sponsor terrorism. Only one with the naivete (and blatent stupidity) of Jimmy Carter would engage in such a fool’s errand. So fasten your seat belts, folks, we may be in for some turbulence.
And the Lord said, I will spare Sodom and Gomorrah for only one good man.
Well, Lot had to get the hell out of there & He annihilated them. 10 bucks says they were once in Mesopotamia.
Michael:
I am so glad that Assad’s tactics of allowing these foreign Jihadii’s access to his borders to commit murder and mayhem has finally been exposed to the light of day. My son has flown Huey gunships out of Al Qaim and has interdicted foreigners from around the world. I just have one question.Was Scarface involved in this? If so, then Semper Fi
TO Saltherring: Maybe you should come up to speed on the US’s misbehavior in the Middle East and Latin America over the past decades, including subverting governments, especially during Reagan’s term. We have more than enough blood on our hands to come off as complete hypocrites in refusing to negotiate. Iran in particular has good reason to not like us or trust us given our past treatments. We have no high horse here.
Its unfortunate that this attack did not occur three or four months ago. I am not familiar with the situation on the ground in Iraq, but it took courage on someone’s part (or perhaps on the part of several) to order this attack. Compliments are in order.
the ONLY THING WE SHOULD REGRET ABOUT THIS IS WE DIDNT GET THAT SCUM TRASH BASHAR ASSAD.
Here is a 3 A M phone call waiting to happen. Think long and hard before you vote who you want answering that phone. In 1954 it was Eisenhower vs a senator from Illinois. Will history repeat itself?
Okay, maybe I’m the only conspiracy theorist out there, but doesn’t it strike anyone besides me odd that this raid took place a week before the election? As Michael has said, this has been going on for years. It was going on in 2003-2004 when my son was in Mosul and Tal Afar. I’m all for that Senator from Illinois. I want to see military decisions based on need, not on political calculations.
This is anotoher story that will be mistold by the L.A. Times, which does as little as possible to credit the U.S. Forces. The L.A. Rag-Times, I mean. Those same fighters for al-Quaeda that travel to Iraq might well be heading for Canada and Mexico to plan attacks in the U.S. if our forces were not keeping them busy in the mid-East.
But we must remember that General Barack Hussein Obama has already formed a plan for bringing peace to the mid-East, that he is targeting Pakistan, and that he has visions that give him such plans. He is going to change the national anthem, the design of the U.S. flag (according to his visoion) and will guide his generals in the proper way to end this war.
He most likely has not read any of the Michael Yon dispatches, nor would he, because they don’t stress socialist thinking.
What needs to happen next is that one of those al-Quaeda convoys of explosives blows up inside of Syria, but close to the border, sort of an accident that is long overdue.
Take care Michael. Our prayers are with you.
CNN, without any evidence to support it, is reporting that civilians were killed (“witnesses say”)
Whenever the U.S strikes at terror camps and convoys in relatively unpopulated and isolated regions, like in Syria, or in Pakistan, there is always unsubstantiated claims of “civilian deaths” without any evidence, and it is always reported as fact by the “news”
NObama is going to make us all wish for the days of Carter
Sandra…
you’re joking, right? the reason for the escalation is knowing you’ve got about a week or so to do what you need to do before the messiah’s coronation(even though he won’t technically take over till January, you don’t want to look to guilty as a lame duck in office) everyone knows the need for speed in using the current intelligence to take out as much as possible that we know we need to strike, right now, just in case…
Oh, I don’t know, Masked Man. I sort of think they’re looking for Obama’s purple thumbprint on go-ahead instructions for Syrian/Iranian terrorists to kill Americans. Isn’t that what negotiating with Iran would come down to any way?
BC – is there any scenario you can dream up where you would be happy to complete this sentence: “I am proud of America because …”
No? I didn’t think so.
MaskedMan
I’m serious as a heart attack. I don’t buy the ‘we’ve only got a week to do…’ when we’ve had 5 years to do it. This conversation scares me. I’ve been a great fan of Michael’s since his days with the Deuce Four, but the tone on here is not what I’ve grown to admire and support about him and his blog. Maybe time for me to depart. Thank you, Michael. I think I’ll stick to the articles and skip the commentary.
OBAMA FAKE CROWDS:
http://strata-sphere.com/blog/index.php/archives/6765
Please, read it if you want, but please, please send it to Rush, one of our last mouthes:
ElRushbo@eibnet.com
MY PROVIDER BLOCKS IT ALL THE TIME, PLEASE HELP ME,
OBAMA REALLY FAKES HIS CROWDS!!!!!!!!!
Send it to Rush or wherever you like, spread it, please,
DON’T LET THEM KILL OUR SPIRIT WITH THEIR FAKED POLLS!
http://twana.wordpress.com/2008/10/27/us-special-operations-forces-struck-positions-across-the-syrian-iraq-order-inside-of-syria/
I wouldn’t vote for Obama for MONEY. But, if you think this guy won’t have American soldiers kill people to preserve his own political power and legacy, you need to put the crack pipe down. I don’t think for a minute that this guy is as squishy as Carter.
Given the status of the success in Iraq right now, a President Obama will be in no hurry to get American soldiers out of there. He will not want to be the President who snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. In fact, if the guy is serious, he will soon enough get us into a shooting war in Pakistan. He may do it for no other reason than to prove he’s not a pussy.
This raid, like nothing else, has just sent a message to Assad: “If you don’t get a handle on your borders, then we’ll do the job for you. And if you don’t like the way we do it, tough s***.”
I’ll bet there’s panic in the Syrian presidential palace right now–and that’s exactly the way it should be. This raid may well have the same effect as the Son Tay Raid in 1970:
http://home.earthlink.net/~aircommando1/SONTAYRA1.htm
Assad knows that if we can land 8 km. inside the border undetected, we can in go even farther–and there’s not a damn thing the Chinless Wonder can do about it.
BC:
Think about this before you slip into your Obama-print jammies tonight: if Dear Leader does, in fact, schmooze his way into the Oval Office and institutes his stated preference of punishing our friends while rewarding our enemies, he’ll be damn lucky to finish out his first term, much less run for a second.
You’re right, Maxims — Obama will do ANYTHING for his own political power.
It it said that we get the leaders we deserve. That axiom may be able to be proved again. The populace seems content to elect a president whose inexperience is unparalleled and whose plans are there for all to see.
Adolf Hitler used “Mein Kampf” to clearly outline his plans for the world. Read Obama’s Web site and listen to his pronunciations, and he’s doing the same thing. Like the Germans of that era, the majority of people either may not be listening due to their disdain for an unpopular president and a struggling economy (which will really go south if his plans are enacted) or are too stupid to realize what he really stands for.
I pray that either enough Americans wise up to keep him out of office — or that, at a minimum, the GOP can keep enough of a presence in the Senate to filibuster. I also hope the Republicans can clean themselves up, get rid of the lingering pustules of corruption (Ted Stevens is the latest example) and be ready to offer Americans a viable alternative by 2010.
Sandra,
It’s absurd to claim this is some sort of October Surprise ordered by Bush primarily to affect the election one week away. Virtually no one has even noticed this attack, the attack itself is small, and the President has not made a big speech. The fact that nothing new is claimed to justify the attack also cuts the other way. Surely Bush could come up with some claim that would hold up a week, that would justify this attack, and notice of which would gain attention.
Whatever happened to “you’re with us or you’re with the terrorists”? We’re just now getting around to crossing the Syrian border to get at these monsters? And from the tone of voice of a warrior like Yon somewhat tentative about it too?! This goes to the heart of our problem. We’re no longer angry, we’re no longer convinced of our cause. Well the Islamic world still has plenty of both, plus patience as well. If that baby-faced senator has his way, the Jihadists will be swarming over everything we’ve accomplished in Iraq and Afghanistan and covering it in sand. Then they’ll turn and come after us again.
Congratulations to those who made the decision to make the strike inside Syria. It was a safe harbor for terrorists until now. Regrettably the attack should have been done earlier.
I am certain that the Government of the United States has ample evidence that for many years large numbers of non-Iraki’s accompanied by large quantities of weapons and ammunition have infiltrated through the Syria-Irak border and committed murder and mayhem in Irak.
There are only two possibilities. Either these activities were condoned and approved by the Government of Syria or not.
In the former case, these represent acts of war against the Government of Irak, and its protector, the Government of the United States of America. It the Government of Syra admits that this is the case the Government of the United States has every right to consider this a Declaration of War by the Government of Syria against the Government of the Wnited States of America, and will not hesitate to respond in kind, and pursue this war to a conclusion.
It’ll be interesting to here the Dem canditates’ response to this news.
Joe Biden is asking the people to get behind the president and support
him when he will decide to take drastic actions that may not be popular
with everybody. Oh, I mean get behind president if he’s a democrat, if he’s Obama ….
Please support the president…just like Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Pelosi, Reid and their surrogates in the major media got behind the current president to support his efforts.
It’s so sad that so many American people cannot see the hype and emptiness behind
the rhetorical polish of Obama and the hypocracy of the Democrats.
What a bunch of idiots we as voters have become. How did these guys even make it
to the Senate?
Oh and congratulations to the team that pulled this operation off If gives some of us
hope that we can still use military operations when called for.
Apparently we are building a series of sand berms across busy border crossings. That should have been done 5 years ago. I was screaming to mine that hole border like the 38th parallel 6 months into the war. Well, finally somebody is getting somewhat serious about keeping out the suicide bombers.
I’m glad they did it and I’m sure there were no “innocents” wasted in the process, but, of course, the libtards are already spouting that trash. If they were there, they had the opportunity to leave when they figured out what was going on. Been going on for years? The “innocents” were long gone.
Michael Yon on Pajamas Media. Wise move for all concerned. Congrats.
To NahnCee and MarkJ: Your comments had absolutely to do with what I said about the US not having any high horse in these matters given its recent history.
And unlike you bozos, I actually would like to see this country do well and be a force for good in this world, as well as an inspiration. The last 8 years have been an embarrassment for all our supposed ideals, and Obama is pretty damn obviously the only candidate running who has even a chance of returning the US to being a ray of hope and trust.
BC:
Ha. Obama will change the U.S alright. He’ll change them for the worse
Michael I just finished your book it was great! I met you in 2005 while entertaining the troops. Even though I have been to Iraq a few times your book really helped me to understand the reasons things have been happening in Iraq. I congratulate you and hope you will keep up the good work.
Sincerely,
Jim McCue
embeddedcomedian.com
jimmccue.com
myspace.com/jimmccue
PS If you send me an address I would like to send you the book I wrote about what it is like entertaining the troops I mentioned you in it.
BC: I think you mean “moral high ground.”
Of course, if you really do find a “high horse” appealing, it might explain your attraction to Obama. The last eight years have been the first in the past thirty during which an American president has convincingly fought against Islamic terrorism (though you could make a case here and there for Reagan and Bush I). Our ideals as enshrined in the US Constitution are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. For all his many flaws, GWB fought against suicide bomber enablers (Life), liberated two nations from Islamist tyranny (Liberty) and consistently supported democratic capitalism at home and abroad (Pursuit of Happiness).
Obama’s main principle is the Marxist principle of Equality of Result (regardless of action). This is not an American principle, though an alarming percentage of Americans seem to have been scared by their economic fears into embracing it.
Perhaps you’ve confused popularity with adherence to principle. Truman and Reagan were both highly unpopular in their day, but I’d take their military legacies (and that of GWB) over the military legacy of Clinton any day and twice on Sundays. The minute you let go of your need to be liked by evil men, moral clarity will come to you. When it does, don’t fight it.
Actually, I need to correct myself above: GWB did not “consistently” support democracy in Pakistan, though I understand his reasons for not doing so. It would be more accurate to say he “pragmatically supported democracy where he thought he could get away with it,” which isn’t the same thing.
I apologize for the overstatement.
I wish some of you folks would not try to co-opt Michael’s blog with your personal political views. You have plenty of other places to vent and I doubt anyone will be swayed this close to election.
Re: 22
“I wouldn’t vote for Obama for MONEY. But, if you think this guy won’t have American soldiers kill people to preserve his own political power and legacy, you need to put the crack pipe down. I don’t think for a minute that this guy is as squishy as Carter.”
According to Obama’s friend Bill Ayres, (if he had succeeded with his plan), he’d have had American soldiers kill (eliminate) 29 million Americans to secure his power.
Something to think about before you got to the voting booth.
This once again demonstrates to Assad that his enemies can pretty much do whatever they want inside Syria. Last years Israeli raid on the nuclear facility was just the beginning. I expect more US operations like this and an Israeli raid on the ratlines coming through Syria to Hizbolla sometime soon.
The end result of this may well be a peace accord with Israel and closer US ties as the Syrians realize that Iran is using them for a doormat and can offer no protection or economic assistance. Should Israel destroy the Iranian nuke program that possibility becomes even more likely.
The Israeli raid and the current US one have the arab world making the required public statements but doing so quickly before they burst out laughing.
Spindok
For those decrying why this did not happen sooner, I would suggest that it was driven by a combination of zero action on the part of the Syrians and very actionable intel on the part of the US. We’ve probably been pressuring the Syrians for some time now, but with no result. We then got smart/lucky. The targets we wanted were all in one location close to the border that had few, if any, non-combatants. It was the ideal situation, so we took the opportunity presented to us.
cut em down and leave the bodies.good reminder for those that cross the border for the sake of terrorism.You threaten our secutity either off our soil or on our soil,your paid for.just as it should !
I have long wondered why we did not put more pressure on the Assad government to slow if not in fact stop altogether the flow of insurgents. Their excuse was not even close to anything any self respecting sovereign nation would admit to. Yet patrolling the Iranian much less the Syrian border has not been a priority due to man power constraints. I would consider this a gift to Assad from the US Armed services (Courtesy of course of a Surge that continues to yield up more successes). We’re just trying to help him put a lid on trouble makers his guys couldn’t handle (cough). Your welcome Syria.
Thank you, Michael for your dedication to bring us the truth from this region. To all the Obama chicken littles, let’s compare the records in a few years to what your beloved GWB has brought us. Either way, since when did the man in the White House define what makes America great or free? It is the Constitution and the American people who make this country great. All political stripes, all those who are willing to serve their country in a variety of ways. Grow up and don’t be so scared. It will be okay.
Thank you, Michael
Bush tried diplomacy with Syria and it got him a failed presidency. He should have served notice years ago that if you allow terrorists across the border we will use the sand free glass technique to stop you.
Namely we keep disintegrating border towns and stop until either the smuggling stops or Syria is a glass parking lot.
The only thing Syria understands is force, diplomacy is a sign of weakness. Assad understands glass.
Michael — Another excellent article, please stay safe!! Brian
SAF – That’d be a great nickname for a unit, “The Glassblowers”.
SAF – It does give a new meaning to the term, “Go pound sand!”