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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| U.S. shifts troops to stop fighters entering from Syria |
| 2004-05-31 |
| The U.S. military is moving troops that were withdrawn from Sunni and Shi’ite cities to areas near the Syrian border. The units have orders to stop Islamic insurgents from entering Iraq from Syria. U.S. officials said the military has redeployed marines from Faluja to the Syrian border. They said the marines have been operating in the Anbar province in an effort to prevent the flow of Al Qaida-inspired insurgents from Syria into Iraq. "They were able to go ahead and pull some of those forces back out to not only secure the borders," Maj. Gen. John Sattler, Central Command operations director, said. "But also to work the towns along the Syrian border, which is important to make sure that there are no safe havens in those towns." Officials said the military has made the prevention of foreign insurgency movement from Syria to Iraq a high priority, Middle East Newsline reported. The officials said thousands of mostly Sunni insurgents from throughout the Middle East have arrived in Syria for the trek to Iraq. The initiative to stop Islamic insurgents from crossing the Iraqi-Syrian border has been bloody. On May 29, three Marines were killed in Anbar during what officials termed security and stability operations. No further details were reported. For his part, Sattler said the U.S. military has contained the flow of insurgents from Syria into Iraq. But he said the 900-kilometer border between the two countries provides lots of opportunities for insurgents. "They [marines] were able to go ahead and pull some of those forces back out to," Sattler, in a Pentagon briefing from Qatar, said, "not only secure the borders but also to work the towns along the Syrian border, which is important – all the same reasons: to make sure that there are no safe havens in those towns and, in addition, to work civil military operations projects, bring some degree of commerce, bring money into the town and go ahead and enhance the quality of life." In May, the military killed more than 20 people at an Iraqi facility near the Syrian border said to have been used as an insurgency way-station. Officials dismissed assertions by Iraqi sources that those killed were revelers at a wedding party. "We have very good intelligence that indicates beyond our shadow of a doubt that that safe house was in fact being used as a safe house to bring fighters across the border and into Iraq," Sattler said. "It was a halfway house where there were clothes there, there were weapons there, there were false documentation there." |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |
| #9 Since the US has declared other sanctions against Syria, why not just close the border between Syria and Iraq? Drop leaflets over the sparsely inhabited areas, then after a few days shoot anything that crosses the "line in the sand". |
| Posted by: Tresho 2004-06-01 12:21:26 AM |
| #8 Now, now Frank, we don't want Colin Powell exasperated, over the lost of humanity on that "highway"! |
| Posted by: smn 2004-05-31 10:55:22 PM |
| #7 no argument this mission was overlooked/underplayed. I'd prefer 24/7 spookys leaving new highway of death |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-05-31 10:47:17 PM |
| #6 The blame for this falls at least partly on the frikking backstabbing Turks - had the 4th ID been allowed to enter the northern routes, its job was to swing west and secure the borders with Syria. Not to be pissing in Rantburg's Wheaties, but this is something that the current administration and command have really screwed up. They should have planned to secure the borders from day 1 with whatever forces we had at hand. It would have been a good use for the otherwise unemployed regular Iraqi Army along wiht secureing weapons depots and ammo dumps (sans high level officers) - especially on the Iranian border area. Solves 2 things - gets them out of the cities, puts them far away from where they could do harm, and keeps them from splintering into fragments that the local tribes could use (like Sadr and his gang). |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2004-05-31 10:41:43 PM |
| #5 The second phase of the counter-jihad war has begun. |
| Posted by: Mark Espinola 2004-05-31 10:30:50 PM |
| #4 RWV - I dunno about having an RoE, heh. Unless we're talking about extra points for UN vehicles... Okay, just kidding, sorta. I do prefer, for ANY crossing point unauthorized by US Mil Cmd, the shoot first then check it out approach, however. No more smuggling. No more jihadis. No more frelancing BS. Kill it then count it. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-05-31 10:28:21 PM |
| #3 Perhaps we'll be able to develop techniques that will be of use with Mexico. |
| Posted by: Mr. Davis 2004-05-31 10:26:44 PM |
| #2 Last week I thought I read that the Marines were building berms along the border to impede the flow of jihadis. .com has the right idea as long as the right rules of engagement are employed. |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-05-31 10:22:41 PM |
| #1 This is a classic figure-eight UAV patrolling and/or stationary blimp function with on-call Air Cav forces backed by a Spooky or two and a tribe of Apaches to warm things up prior to boots on the site. Put a 20MM in every square foot of the suspect ground and then come have a look-see. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-05-31 10:13:42 PM |