Commanders Doubt Syria Is Entry Point - Officers See No Sign Of Foreign Fi

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A31535-2003Oct28?language=printer

Commanders Doubt Syria Is Entry Point

Officers See No Sign Of Foreign Fighters

SINJAR, Iraq -- Commanders of U.S. military forces responsible for monitoring the border between Iraq and Syria say there is no evidence from human intelligence sources or radar surveillance aircraft indicating that significant numbers of foreign fighters are crossing into Iraq illegally.

U.S. and Iraqi forces are working together to secure Iraq's borders against infiltration by foreigners intent on assisting attacks against troops and civilians associated with the occupation. U.S. officials blamed foreign fighters for four suicide car bombings in Baghdad on Monday that killed at least 35 people.

Along Iraq's 300-mile border with Syria, the 101st Airborne Division is guarding the northern portion of the frontier and the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment is watching the southern portion.

A 60-mile stretch of border north of the Euphrates River remains unpatrolled by U.S. forces or Iraqi border police but is being monitored by air. Under a project that the U.S. military calls Operation Chamberlain, sophisticated Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) planes are gathering information about vehicle movement and relaying it to ground forces.

Commanders from the 101st Airborne repeated this week that neither the aircraft nor human intelligence sources show significant infiltration from Syria. Foreign fighters could still be reaching Baghdad from Syria, Jordan, Turkey or Kuwait by passing through border posts with valid or forged travel documents, but concerns about illegal infiltration along the Syrian border appear unfounded, the officers said.

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[Bob3]

1. I've never bought the waves of foreign fighters pouring in Iraq

There seem be enough people with guns in iraq to cause no end of trouble - and there are pratical matters that bugged me about that - even if hordes of blood maddened syrians were pouring across the border they have to eat and sleep somewere? they'd have to get local inteillgence - if a foreign power occupied Canada and I wanted to fight them yeah I could sneak across the border but I wouldn't be able to pass as a native of Toronto - I'd give my self the instant i opened my mouth and I wouldn't know where anything is - i'd have to have help.

I can't imagine it's much different in the middle east -

[Mikimouse]

2. But, but, but, it MUST be foreign fighters,

* said the Iraqis loooovvvveee us! It has to be them rascally Syranians!:hippie:

[Flying_Pig]

3. Well, this certainly contrasts with opinions and reports from PNAC

and Israel's Sharon. Of course, both are trying to get the U.S. to invade Syria and Iran, and have been clandestinely conducting operations to make it look like Syria is involved in cross-border terrorist deeds, just like they did in Iraq in the run-up to the Iraq invasion.

[thebigidea]

4. Wolfie/Rumsfeld will form a new intelligence group

to give them data that DOES indicate a flood of nasty, eyepatch-wearing Syrians.

[smiley_glad_hands]

5. Even if there were

a flood of foreign fighters, what could we expect them to do about it. We can't secure our own borders from a flood foreigners, ie: Mexico.

[maxsolomon]

6. it wouldn't take very many

maybe a 100 foreigners, to supply hussein's suicide bomber needs.

i don't think we're at 100 suicide bombs yet.