Eight reported killed in U.S. attack inside Syria

U.S. commanders say Syria is the main transit point for foreign jihadists crossing into Iraq. Washington has blamed Damascus for turning a blind eye to the problem.

But not one word on why this building was attacked. This is not the first time I have read a completely inadequate general explanation for a very specific attack.

Shooting at people crossing borders is one thing, but attacking a building in a border village is quite another.

What is this about? Were the troops following orders or acting at random? Are we ever going to get an explanation for this? --Cirroc

Looks like a snatch and grab operation - perhaps al-Masri?

Reminds me of that old Dead Kennedies song whose lines go something like this, "The economy is looking bad let's start another war."

What a joke. If there was a legitimate target, why didn't they go in and fix it up on the quiet. Helicopters and all the rest is like inviting CNN along for the ride.

This isnt the news I want to hear but I also realize that its a war and this is what happens in many situations. If people think that secretively planned operations will be made public before going through with them then they have lost their minds... Families in this part of the world must deal with such emotional devastation everyday. It boggles my mind to even fathom life in war torn regions. It`s time to find commonalities among nations and assist one another. We do it in sport, art, education, friendship etc. but never in politics... interesting.

U.S. commanders say Syria is the main transit point for foreign jihadists crossing into Iraq. Washington has blamed Damascus for turning a blind eye to the problem.

Blind eye. Different problem. It wouldn't be surprising if some "jihadists" cross the border to do their damage in Iraq. Syria (population 20 million) has taken in about 1 million Iraqi refugees. The US (population 300 million) has taken in perhaps less than 20 thousand. We don't exactly brag about the total.

October surprise?

This is exactly the kind of strategy Obama have long advocated for the Pakistani boarder region. Yet McCain talked about how this would infringe on territorial rights and all that political fodder.

There is absolutely no excuse for attacking anybody in Syria. This is an attack on Syria period. I can not understand why the US or Iraq would do something as stupid as this.

We've made a mess over in the Middle East and now we're about to tempt fate. We don't have the troops to take on another front. < :-)

Yet McCain talked about how this would infringe on territorial rights and all that political fodder.

No he didn't. McCain suggested doing it on the sly while Obama insisted on warning the government of the nation involved if not getting their permission first. McCain's response was more like strike first and ask permission later. -- Cirroc

America will also bring democracy to Syria?

This is why people hate America - it's a country that seems to have no respect for other countries' terroritorial sovereignty. This double standard tends to apply only if you are a Muslim country, of course. Israel's integrity is sacrosanct, despite having far less legitimacy than many of America's "enemies".

Imagine an attack on American soil by foreign goverments or their agents? 3,000 dead in the world trade centre led to countless hundreds of thousands of innocent people dead as a consequence of disproportionate and plainly ill-advised U.S. policy. But who cares, eh, they're mainly just poor muslims half a world away from the heartland?

I hate the violence on both sides of this sordid war, but I can understand the flawed and dogmatic motivation for it on both sides, however wrong it is

This is sort of like the Cambodia bombings during the Vietnam War isn't it? And the White House, replied totally by the script.

To be very cynical, you could argue that this little stunt is just a case of Curious George handing out his going away presents before he leaves office.

I figured people here would be telling us that this is blowback for Syria allowing militants to cross into Iraq.

The U.S. military said it is investigating claims from Syria that U.S. helicopters based in Iraq killed eight people and wounded another Sunday in an attack inside Syria's territory Sunday." I still haven't found any kind of confirmation that this was a US led. If it were special type forces, would they go in with US markings? Could this have been the Mosad or even A Syrian helicopter to escalate things?

Or could this been some like what the poster above seems to believe that this was something to throw off the election?

syria brought this upon themselves. by friday the big lie will be that it was a wedding party. punk nations like syria need to be taught lessons. we will never get the real story.

we will never get the real story." Even if we did, most won't believe it.

This is nothing short of murder.

The US went into Syria and killed innocent civilians. This was only meant to terrorize and not to kill any assumed jihadists.

You know what effect this raid will have, I hope. This once ordinary village will start producing jihadists. Before this act of murder the villagers may have only heard that the US was evil, but it had nothing to do with them. Now experience will have convinced them that the US is evil and must be fought.

It's like the 9/11 effect.

Has this been confirmed yet?

jeancolmar:

You are right to express what you post here, but if you want to take it the way you are, why can't any of us who have lost people in 9-11 have the same feelings or why do we have to forgive and forget?

using your logic: Before this act of murder the villagers may have only heard that the US was evil, but it had nothing to do with them." Before the act(s) of murder by Islamic terrorist in 93 and 2001, many in the US thought the Islamic religion was just a backwards, racist, supremest, and fascist conquering religion but thought it would stay where it originated...... see how it goes?

This is of course, if indeed it was US Forces which I am having trouble finding any type of confirmations.

skip: You are right to express what you post here, but if you want to take it the way you are, why can't any of us who have lost people in 9-11 have the same feelings or why do we have to forgive and forget?

For some people it's very simple. If you kill a Muslim his family will become terrorists. The same lesson doesn't apply to the families of those killed in 9/11 because they were not Muslim. Had they been Muslim, Mr. Colmar would be here telling us that they're all terrorists now. Obviously he feels Westerners are more evolved whereas Muslims are one event away from killing as many innocents as they can.

skip: This is of course, if indeed it was US Forces which I am having trouble finding any type of confirmations.

My guess is that US forces entered into Syria and took out Syrian threats. If it plays out like the Israeli strike, Syria will continue to release reports about an outrageous injustice then will quickly fall silent as the real details emerge. In the time between now and then they'll rely on the radical left to provide public relations for them. In the end the official Syrian story will be that the US sent in choppers, randomly killed innocent people, then left....kinda similar to how Israel flew into Syria and bombed a random building for no reason and then left.

frontandcentre: This is why people hate America

Agreed. Pretty much any government can make an unsubstantiated claim against the US and people such as yourself lap it up and ask for seconds. That's something that definitely adds to the anti-US feelings in the world.

I think the same lesson doesn't apply to the families of those killed in 9/11 because instead of access to AK47s and grenade launchers, they have access to 500-lb bombs, missiles, drones, helicopters, A-130 gunships, battleships, carrier groups and so on.

Of course the families of those who died in 9/11 were angry and of course they wanted to see justice done. But perhaps being willing to march off to a global, generational war because of 9/11 was no more a correct response than choosing terrorism because of the death of loved ones in a US missile strike--if, as skipthesong says, it was a US missile strike.

Er....

Helicopter strike. So many countries. So many methods.

Look, it does not take a rock scientist to see the obvious. You kill innocent people in their homes and the people who represent their friends and family and--importantly--their nation become your enemy. It is easy to take advantage of people who are angry as Bush did and as Islamic extremists have done. Whether people are Syrians or Americans they are pretty much the same when an enemy strikes them.

The people the Americans killed in Syria were ordinary civilians, including a guy and his sons.

I think the same lesson doesn't apply to the families of those killed in 9/11 because instead of access to AK47s and grenade launchers, they have access to 500-lb bombs, missiles, drones, helicopters, A-130 gunships, battleships, carrier groups and so on.

Gotcha... So the access to the materials is the key. New Yorkers are just as ready to personally kill innocents as Muslims are. They just don't because of logistics.

I think we're going in the wrong direction. I think people are angry when their loved ones are killed, but I don't think it makes them want to go out and become terrorists. I think that's true for both sides. But it's my belief that others think Muslims automatically become terrorists and that's pretty offensive. And I've spent quite a bit of time defending Muslims on here.

I mean a rocket scientist. But geologists are pretty smart too.

I wonder if you remember how many people volunteered for military service after 9/11. It is a fair guess that there are plenty of volunteers now in that village and in Syria that want to fight the Americans.

Unless outrage follows outrage this sort of momentum is hard to sustain. By the time Bush launched his illegal and unnecessary war against Iraq the momentum had flagged. Today, most Americans hate this war and few want to fight in it.

If the US really wants to stop foreign fighters in Iraq it would do well not to repeat this sort of outrage in Syria and elsewhere.

SuperLib: "Pretty much any government can make an unsubstantiated claim against the US and people such as yourself lap it up and ask for seconds."

Okay, so let's play like that. Where are the substantiated claims, then, that the US actually hit and killed terrorists? One can just as easily say that all the drone attacks and bombing runs in Pakistan, Syria, and other countries are being justified by US military by them saying they are actually hitting terrorists, but they can never substantiate it, and instead have no comments. Or worse yet, in many cases it comes to light that the country that makes the claims provides proof of all the innocent bodies, etc. and it's then fobbed off (after a lot of denial) by the US on 'bad intelligence'.

Syria should file a complaint with the international war crime tribunal, which in turn should demand the extradition of the parties involved. Only through a independent trail can justice be done. No one should be above international law.

But it's my belief that others think Muslims automatically become terrorists and that's pretty offensive.

That would be pretty offensive, but I don't think that's what people think. I think they think that one source of terrorists is the families of innocent people who are attacked with disproportionate and unequalable force in their own countries.

This is the Pentagon's attempt to get McCain elected. < :-)

This raid appears to be similar to earlier raids conducted by the US in Pakistan, and although the US has refused to confirm whether it was involved in a raid in Syria, a spokesman for the Iraqi government confirmed that the US had conducted such a raid. Whether the raid had been approved by the Iraqi government, however, is another question, because at least one member of the Iraqi Parliament has pointed out that Iraq's constitution prohibits using Iraq as a base for conducting an attack on another country.

This is the Pentagon's attempt to get McCain elected.

There have been many reports in the press indicating that the Pentagon, like the rest of the US, is divided about how best to proceed in the Middle East. More likely, this was the White House's attempt to assist McCain.

Haven't any of you ever rolled with a group of friends? This is just as immature only on a grander scale. Hey we got one poster justifying anything the Muslims do but come can't to understand any other people's anger at them. If you think Western people who have lost people to terrorist actions do not hve the right or need to get just as immature and angry, you are mixed up. I haven't heard any confirmation on whether this was the US or not, but reading several posts here, it doesn't matter. The Syrian government said it was the US and that is all these people in the village need. Even outside the village. But what ever action they take against any innocent people such as NYC or where ever it is now justified because JC says so.

Poor smith, colmar, and Syria....LOL.

skipthesong,

I really don't think anyone has the right to be immature or angry. I think that this is something that people do. They don't even have the need to do it. They just do it.

However, governments are supposed to act for the good of their people--at least democratic governments are. So I don't think it's a question of having a right to be angry or immature. I think it's a question of whether it's beneficial to your people to allow your anger and immaturity to lead you to do things which you do not have a right to do.