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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Paper: U.S. massing troops near Syria
2005-06-15
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, June 15 (UPI) -- A United Arab Emirates daily, citing unnamed sources, reported Wednesday the United States was massing troops on the Syrian-Iraqi border.
Do tell...
The pro-government al-Bayan daily quoted unidentified Arab officials as saying that Egypt and Saudi Arabia "have reliable information from Damascus of U.S. military mobilization on the Syrian-Iraqi border." The sources also told the paper the U.S. forces have repeatedly crossed the Iraqi border with the "pretext of chasing infiltrators and Iraqi insurgents."
Gee, he sez that like it's a bad thing
They said that Egypt and Saudi Arabia will express their "grave concern over the growing U.S. administration's threats against Syria" during U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to the Middle East that starts at the end of the week.
Posted by:Steve

#22  Fairly simple:

The center of gravity in Baghdad has changed. IP and ING have managed to pacify a lot of it. ANd that means US units are free to move out of those areas, leaving behind intervention forces.

Where do all those troops go? Out into the triangle, and up on the border areas. Start choking off the flow and making the IP/ING job easier. Virtuous cycle.

Too bad the press doesnt see it - or mischaracterizes it as in this article.

Posted by: OldSpook   2005-06-15 23:31  

#21  :) Remember when the word was out that the US was massing 500,000 men to the north of Kuwait? No? Jeebus.
Posted by: Shipman   2005-06-15 17:33  

#20  "Border? What border? Frank, you see a border?"
Posted by: mojo   2005-06-15 16:51  

#19  If there's no border, it's time to make a border. I understand the US Army is fairly well equipped with engineers and surveyors, this would seem to be an ideal place for them.
Posted by: Shipman   2005-06-15 15:27  

#18  Fer Chuck, heh.
Posted by: .com   2005-06-15 15:05  

#17  Yo, Bashie...

Are your "affairs in order?"

I understand there are "Eye Exam 2000" franchises available, so you can return to your former profession....
Posted by: BigEd   2005-06-15 13:19  

#16  In the spirit of Queen Victoria's mom: "Lie back and think of YOUR CONTINUED EXISTENCE."
Posted by: Edward Yee   2005-06-15 12:38  

#15  C-Low - are you suggesting there IS a plan? Will you tell the Times?
Posted by: Bobby   2005-06-15 12:07  

#14   anon1

but ... glass is pretty.
Posted by: 3dc   2005-06-15 11:57  

#13  An officer who was in al Anbar province very recently told me the troops are there for interdiction: "The border is very very porous. In reality there's no border there at all."
Posted by: rkb   2005-06-15 11:39  

#12  I hope this is true however I sereously doubt the take over syria part I do believe that old Rumsfield & Rice would not have a problem with OKing the chase down the insergents into Syria and hitting certian training camps over the border of course all such moves would be denied and the Syrians if any sense at all would also deny the attacks for two reason 1) if they tried to stop the US it would turn into a take over syria and 2) if they admitted it and dindnt attack back they would look weak to thier people and when totalitarian regiems look week they usually are replaced in short order by the next thug.

I like the fact of if true US forces chasing and hitting camps across the border. It looks to me we have been making a layered advance. First we secured the Kurd North then Shia south. Now recently we have established police and Iraqo army in and somwhat secured or in process of finishing Baghdad and the imediate west of including Mosul, Ramadi, Falluja ect... and it looks we are moving to establish in the far west border region with our large number of attacks and searches soon I expect we will be setting up the Police and Iraqi Gov to begin Securing the newly taken territory. Once that is completed the next step is the death blow across into the syrian base territories on the border.

Once this is completed I imagine we will build Iraqi support forces resupply maintenance repair logistics air force ect.. to make them independent capable then a R&R for our forces a holding force like the S. Korea defense force then of course on to Phase 3.
Posted by: C-Low   2005-06-15 11:34  

#11  And 1000 spies in Australia, why invade when you can infiltrate?
Posted by: anon1   2005-06-15 11:23  

#10  We're coming to take you away
Ha ha
We're coming to take you away
Ho ho
Posted by: Chuck Simmins   2005-06-15 11:22  

#9  and 38 trucks to move those millions
Posted by: Frank G   2005-06-15 11:20  

#8  Al-aksa: long-range, the US had a choice, do that with a couple of nukes and change the culture, or do it piece-meal, humanely, sacrifice US lives, and try to remake the middle east into a functional modern region.

They humanely chose the latter. And it seems we are slowly winning in Iraq which means a long slow painful victory with plenty of setbacks.

But at least no radioactive glass.

Next threat though is plainly China. With an army of untold millions. And an arsenal of nukes.
Posted by: anon1   2005-06-15 11:15  

#7  Works for me. If Syria is unable or unwilling to stop terrorists from using the country as a base, someone needs to do it. The other part of the equation is to deal with the Saudi Imams that promote their Jihad package and the Saudi princes that finance it.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2005-06-15 11:11  

#6  Shutting off the ratlines that feed the insurgency in Iraq?
Posted by: anon1   2005-06-15 11:06  

#5  At least a month or two ago, Debka said that the US was going to start both pursuing bad boyz into Syria and going into Syria proper to hunt down some of the Baathist a-holes. They also said that while Syria might grumble about it a little, they would sit back and watch it happen, having been advised by Washington to lie back, relax and enjoy it or else. Any "build up" would be the personnel on the good side of the border needed for support.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2005-06-15 11:05  

#4  "They're coming for you, Bashar...."
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2005-06-15 10:53  

#3  I think it looks threatening and it blocks the incoming terrorist, no complaints here!
Posted by: Jutch Cheger5095   2005-06-15 10:46  

#2  I wish, but I doubt it.
Posted by: mmurray821   2005-06-15 10:21  

#1  I wish. They probably just mistook some US Army units conducting anti-infiltration operations for "massing troops." Of course, hot pursuit of infiltrators into Syria is a pretty good pretext for taking down the Assad regime, but I don't see it happening.
Posted by: Jonathan   2005-06-15 10:18  

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