Militants Again Flow From Syria to Iraq

Administration defends cross-border operation as self-defense

(NEWSER) - Special forces carried out a secret raid in Syrian territory Sunday to kill an Iraqi militant, the US acknowledged yesterday. About two dozen American commandos swooped into a village on the Iraq-Syria border and fought a brief gun battle. While Syria condemned the raid as "terrorist aggression," top American officials told the New York Times that the Bush administration was determined to prosecute the war in sovereign nations even without their consent. More»

90% of Iraq's foreign fighters come across neighbor's borders, new report contends

(NEWSER) - Syria is a key jumping-off point for foreign militants in Iraq, with 90% entering through the Syrian border, the Pentagon reported yesterday. “It is not clear that Syria has made a strategic decision to deal with foreign terrorists using Syria as a transit point,” the report notes. Meanwhile, Iran's support of Shiite insurgents also remains troublesome, the AP reports. More»

Executive order fingers entities backing Iran, Syria, but could be enlarged

(NEWSER) - If you use technology to help a repressive regime commit human rights abuses, you'll find yourself slapped with US sanctions. That's the message from President Obama, who this morning announced a new executive order specifically targeting those backing Iran and Syria via technology, though it could be expanded to other regimes, reports the Washington Post . The new sanctions will include a US visa ban and financial restrictions on a number of Syrian and Iranian businesses and government agencies, along with a lone Syrian individual. More»

Bill Keller offers lessons from Iraq

(NEWSER) - As the drum-beating grows louder on Iran and Syria, Bill Keller looks back on Iraq and beyond. To avoid a debacle, there are five questions we should ask ourselves before entering a war, he writes in the New York Times :

1. "How is this our fight?" Are American interests directly involved, as in Afghanistan after 9/11? Are we supporting an ally? Or are we simply "promoting freedom"?
2. "At what cost?" While Libya was easily targeted at low risk to American troops, an attack on Syria would mean, in one military expert's view, "we'd be killing a lot more people." Then there's the cost of stretching troops and the financial implications of war.

Group may be looking to exploit the chaos

(NEWSER) - Al-Qaeda's Iraq branch is moving into the chaos in Syria, and is responsible for two recent bombings and most likely yesterday's bombing in Aleppo , US officials tell McClatchy . Intelligence reports seem to back up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad assertions—disputed by the opposition—that al-Qaeda has been involved in the 11-month uprising. More»