WAR: US Contemplating Syrian Incursion

Originally posted by Phoenix
It is important to note that word "incursion" used rather than "invasion"

I do believe that the Iraqi Ba'athists are in fact coordinating operations from the believed safety of Syria and that at some point the problem will have to be addressed - better that the Syrians do it themselves.

Is it going to be like the incursions into Cambodian territory in an attempt to kill or capture the Vietcong who were directing at least part of the attacks against US targets in Vietnam?

These things can always escalate into something more than it started out as.
In fact it already has as this is now going into another country.

The US does not have enough active duty soldiers to fight the insurgents in Iraq. They have to rely on State National Guard units. If anybody invades from the Mexican border, there will be no soldiers here to stop them, just ordinary citizens with non automatic weapons. The US needs to bring the soldiers home. We do not need to occupy the whole Mid East region. Sadaam is deposed. Bring the soldiers home already.

If anyone is going to invade "from the Mexican border," then they'll have to get Mexico's permission. Mexico's own forces only pale in comparision to that of their yanqui neighbors; they certainly have the most powerful military (bar the USA) in their region.

And what's this about "defended by civilians who don' t have automatic weapons" ?

You must be thinking of California . . .

Bring the troops home. Agreed.

Besides, all this can be done by the Air Force, which has little else to do.
IMHO, send Mr. Powell or Ms. Rice over on a "eye-opening" diplomatic trip to Damascus. Have them briefcase carry a few video's of the air campaign against Iraq. At the sametime, up the Air Force's activity along the Syrian border, maybe even make a couple sonic-boom type flyovers where they are 'discussing' the Syrian involvement in all this and I'm sure that Damascus will have to seriously consider the ramifications of such continued allowances from within their borders into Iraq.

Damascus only heeds one thing: applied force.
Israel has shown/proven this time and time again.
Deliver the message, the warning, and tell them the consequences for their continued involvement and allowances. They (Damascus) can and will ultimately decide which path they will choose....





seekerof

Originally posted by Seekerof
Bring the troops home. Agreed.

Besides, all this can be done by the Air Force, which has little else to do.

IMHO, send Mr. Powell or Ms. Rice over on a "eye-opening" diplomatic trip to Damascus. Have them briefcase carry a few video's of the air campaign against Iraq. At the sametime, up the Air Force's activity along the Syrian border, maybe even make a couple sonic-boom type flyovers where they are 'discussing' the Syrian involvement in all this and I'm sure that Damascus will have to seriously consider the ramifications of such continued allowances from within their borders into Iraq.

Damascus only heeds one thing: applied force.
Israel has shown/proven this time and time again.
Deliver the message, the warning, and tell them the consequences for their continued involvement and allowances. They (Damascus) can and will ultimately decide which path they will choose....

seekerof

Yeah, that strategy has really worked for Israel. Syria instead funneled its efforts into training and arming terrorists. And they haven't exactly been shy about using their proxy forces in Lebannon to attack Israel have they?

So, no, I don't think Syria is afraid of the show of power. They'll say the right things publically and turn Hizbullah and Hamas against American targets.

No, I don't think we need the sonic booms over Damascus. More like a silent run of B-2s and F-117s and a lot of bombs dropping on their heads. Then they might get the message.

as posted by rg73
No, I don't think we need the sonic booms over Damascus. More like a silent run of B-2s and F-117s and a lot of bombs dropping on their heads. Then they might get the message.

Come on rg73, I didn't want to say as directly as you just did. I mean geez, I wanted to give Damascus a little wee bit of heads up by doing the flyover.



seekerof

Belive or not, Syria has always been a thorn in the Middle East, eyes have never been off of them, but with recent activities in Iraq, well back that up, pretty much since the first Gulf War, Syria has had a dirty hand in the pot for awhile, especially after '91. When the war happened in '03, alot of Saddams assets, finances, high ranking personnel and other items (i.e.WMD) headed to Syria for safe haven. Saddam knew that we would come in looking for WMD, so wheres the best place to hide it and make the US look stupid in front of the world, Syria.
Now as far as other things that Syria is doing, for instance, terrorists, financing of attacks, and Ba'athists still operating are doing that from Syria...rule Turkey out, rule Saudi Arabia out, and the only thing Iran wants, if they could get there hands on it, is piece of land on its western borders due to the mining prospects it has and a substantial amount of wealth and income for the country. Syria has no control of it borders, wont control them, doesnt care to...
But as far as a war in Syria, it wont happen anytime soon, not until Iraq can stabilize itself...however, if a war was to happen, Syria doesnt have many allies at all and since reports coming quite frequently that they are harboring terrorists (though they deny it) alot of the other Middle Eastern countries and TRUE Muslims and Islamist denounce what Syria is doing. Overall, Syria is in a critical state politically at this point...therefore they are walking in egg shells at this point.
Iran, always been in the picture, not like Syria, they are trying to probe and infiltrate US and Coalition Forces for information in preparedness for a possible attack if comitted. To go to war with Iran anytime in the next yr or 2 is highly unlikely, cause its a delicate situation that will at best dealt with politically. If anything, military-wise it will be dealt with like a one day strike, only to warn not start a war, and that will only happen if all other courses of action have failed.

Just my input....

M.

Originally posted by mscbkc070904
Belive or not, Syria has always been a thorn in the Middle East, eyes have never been off of them, but with recent activities in Iraq, well back that up, pretty much since the first Gulf War . . .

well, try backing that up, pretty much since 1975, when they started hosting Hezbollah & allied incursions into Lebanon. They then started shelling, and by 1990 had turned what was originally a democratic banking/freetrade nexus into an islamist version of Greater Serbia. CIA's factbook says that there are still about 15,000 Syrian troops stationed on the Eastern outskirts of Beruit today . . .

They are beligerant; and in Lebanon, where Christian and Muslim populations had peacefully (and profitably) co-existed for generations, they basically drove the Christian and Dhruze out of public life to this day.

Ummmm, that would be great and all as far as bombing Damascus, but you need to look a little closer to the NBC arsenal this country has...thats why a show of power will NOT work on this country...thats why i said its a delicate situation...not to mention you have terrorist and their affiliates going thru there or what have you, personally and business-wise. And this NBC arsenal they have is only whats reported, not what may be stashed elsewhere in the countrys region, labs, underground facilities, storage areas and so forth...if it was that easy, we would have taken Damascus out long ago...in other words we dont want to wake a sleeping beast and possibly have the worst world nightmare.