Syrians Protest Deadly U.S. Border Raid

TV Station Reports Damascus Pulling Troops From Iraq Border In Response To "American Aggression"

(AP)  Tens of thousands of Syrians poured out onto a Damascus square in a government-orchestrated rally Thursday to denounce a deadly U.S. raid near the Iraqi border and send a loud message to America: Leave us alone!

A private Syrian television station also reported that Damascus was reducing the number of troops on its border with Iraq in response to the "American aggression." The station, Dunia, showed footage of what appeared to be Syrian troops dismantling positions on the Iraqi border and leaving the area.

An Iraqi government official said Syria had sent additional troops to the border region after Sunday's raid and those troops withdrew from their positions today. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.

Syria had threatened it would end border security cooperation with the United States and Iraq in response to the attack. Earlier Thursday, a ranking government official challenged Washington to prove that U.S. helicopters targeted a top al Qaeda militant in the attack that Syria says killed eight civilians.

The demonstration in Damascus was held a mile away from the U.S. Embassy, which had shut down for the day over security concerns. But the protest passed without violence, and the flag-waving crowd dispersed peacefully after two hours of chanting anti-American slogans.

Hundreds of Syrian riot police in helmets, batons and protective shields ringed the embassy protectively. The demonstrators made no attempt to head for the U.S. compound in the upscale Maliki neighborhood. Plainclothes security agents stood at surrounding intersections.

The crowd at the central Youssef al-Azmi Square seemed to direct its anger mostly at U.S. President George W. Bush.

Ahmad Deeb, a 30-year-old civil servant, said he came to condemn the U.S. "attack against Syria's sovereignty" and tell Bush: "enough criminal acts."

"Leave us alone," said Deeb. "The world will be better next week because whoever is going to be elected as president will be better than Bush."

University student Hussam Baayoun, 20, said the demonstrators "want the Americans to stop their acts of terrorism in Syria, in Iraq and the rest of the world."

Protesters totted pictures of President Bashar Assad and held banners reading "America the sponsor of destruction and wars" and "We will not submit to terrorism." Another banner criticized Iraq for letting Americans use its territory to attack Syria.

The Syrian government has demanded Washington apologize for the strike of the Abu Kamal border community and threatened to cut off cooperation on Iraqi border security if there are more American raids on Syria territory.

Although authorities usually keep Syria under tight control and Americans have generally felt welcome in the country, violence against U.S. and European interests at protests has erupted in the past.

After Sunday's raid, Damascus ordered the closure of an American school in Damascus, expected within a week, and the immediate closing of the U.S. cultural center linked to the embassy.

In Baghdad, the foreign ministry said Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari called his Syrian counterpart late Wednesday to express Iraq's rejection of the attack and stress his government's keenness to avoid any political escalation that would damage relations between the two countries.

Washington has not formally acknowledged the raid but U.S. officials, speaking to the media on condition of anonymity, have said the target of the raid was Badran Turki al-Mazidih, a top al Qaeda in Iraq figure who operated a network of smuggling fighters into the war-torn country. The Iraqi national also goes by the name Abu Ghadiyah.

Syria insists the dead were all Syrian civilians and has challenged Washington to provide evidence its forces targeted a top al Qaeda operative.

Information Minister Mohsen Bilal said the "aggression ... was supposed to yield a catch so that they could show it to the world ... But the catch turned out to be an innocent family."

Syria has long been viewed by the U.S. as a destabilizing country in the Middle East, but in recent months, Damascus has been trying to change its image and end years of global seclusion.

But American accusations that Syria wasn't doing enough to prevent foreign fighters from crossing its borders into Iraq remains a sore point in relations. Syria says it is doing all it can to safeguard its long, porous border.

[yongamerica]

No one will notice the Syrian terrorist cheer leadering squads absence except the terrorists not getting their fanfare sendoff.

[middleman8]

Will the world be a better place next ?

I doubt it very much, as the trigger dumb troops will still be there.

[bill517]

How do you say "Don''t mess with Texas" in Farsi?

[antoniof123]

Earlier Thursday, a ranking government official challenged Washington to prove that U.S. helicopters targeted a top al Qaeda militant in the attack that Syria says killed eight civilians.

This is sad but so many now do want proof because of all the lies that this administration has told. Neo cons you will not see power for a very long time.

[brianp55]

Yeah, and after they leave the protest they''ll head over to the U.S. embassy and stand in line for a visa.

[toolmangler-2009]

Yes, I think it wise that Syria stay away from the border regions and just let us decide who comes across the border alive.

[renonv5]

Have you ever noticed that there are always tens of thousands of people available to protest in the middle eastern countries? Don''t these people work?? If tens of thousands protested anything here they would call out the riot patrol. I also hope they are not holding their breath for an apology, cause I don''t think one is on the way.

[cracluv]

U.S has no business in Syria or middle east.

[zoopster1]

I don''t feel sorry for those people at all. Our warnings have been very clear, and repeated ad nauseum: allow Islamic terrorists to live on and launch attacks from your territory, and you will suffer their fate. The bombs will stop falling when the last Islamic crazies have been run out of town. Don''t give me that nonsense about them being hidden... everyone there knows EXACTLY who and where they are. Villagers, secret police, army, everyone. The only way to save lives is to end this war as quickly as possible. The only way that will happen is to find and exterminate all militant Islamists, wherever they are. Let''s stop beating ourselves up about it, and just get it done.

[hermitdave]

You would think in the high tech world of 2008 we would be able to find the truth and stop this silly he said she said stupid news stories. Of course to do this would require a open free press. That was lost at the beginning of Gulf war one. Anyone remember that cool Hollywood stage and Swartzcoff and his magic pointing stick?

[hermitdave]

Message to Syria, America under Bush can do the same thing to you they did to the innocent Afghan people and those dead and maimed little boys and girls in Iraq. They can claim you are harboring evil terror dudes that were responsible for 9/11. Then it is SHOCK AND AWE and we set up a puppet government and steal your oil and any drugs you might have.

[nylon66]

Syria pulls troops back from border: Acting like the true cowards they are, no wonder Israel kicked their @ss in every war they fought. What a bunch of crybaby, whimpy whiners. No wonder we went in there ourselves to whack those terrorist @ssholes. Syria has no balls!

[toolmangler-2009]

Have you ever noticed that there are always tens of thousands of people available to protest in the middle eastern countries? Don''''t these people work??
Posted by renonv5 at 03:31 PM : Oct 30, 2008



No!!! They don''t have jobs other than as state sponsored protesters. If they were thinking instead of shouting it might occur to them to make the US invade them, then surrender and make the US clean up the mess they made of the country. (thats what we do best)

[elpaulito]

good to see we gave birth to some more terrorists.

And, as an american, how would you idiots feel if canada was doing cross border incursions? yeah, thats what I thought.

[toolmangler-2009]

And, as an american, how would you idiots feel if canada was doing cross border incursions? yeah, thats what I thought.
Posted by elpaulito at 05:33 PM : Oct 30, 2008


Who knows, they might. They are already ticked at all the mexicans invading their country for "FREE MEDICAL CARE". If they wanted a pre-emptive strike against an illegal encampment in Idaho, I couldn''t blame them...

[libsarefags]

Oh please Canada.. make our day.. at least if we attack canada it will only take 3 or 4 days.. and the troops will be back home.

[caliengineer]

Ha! The Canadians teach their people that a small skirmish for ONE fort, which was warned in advance... constituted a WAR and that Canada (which simply kept it''s territory, and didn''t WIN anything) defeated America.
That''s called a succesful defense, nothing more. It was part of another war, which America won.
Wake up, Canadia! Watch out for Russia, not US.

[melpol1]

Exposure to modern values has a great penetrating force---it opens the eyes of people that have been blinded by centuries of ignorance and has made the Middle East more dangerous than a hornets nest. Outsiders are wise to keep their distance because the Middle East hates foreigners interfering in their regional,religious, and political affairs. But there is nothing to worry about because even if religious radicals gain control there would never be an Islamic superpower. Only if they had a nuclear bomb would they be dangerous. That is why the United States must make sure that Islamic nations are nuclear free. Even Pakistan should not be allowed to posses nuclear arms. Fortunately they will remain weak and divided. Oil is all they have and it must be exported to buy food. Despite their dreams of financial independence they will always need industrialized nations as customers to survive.

[one4gipper]

melpol1, how naive. You believe that Islam is a weak fractured force that presents no real threat to us? Can you not see what is happening in the world. Look at France! The threat of Islam does not come from without, it now comes from within. There are areas in Paris where the police dare not go. Muslim rioters regularly go on rampages and burn cars throughout the city. Mulsims in London are asking to be subject to Sharia law. The UK has had to effect Draconian security messures that would make the ACLU in America histerical. Journalists are under threat of death in Denmark for publishing disparaging cartoons of Mohammed with a bomb in his turban. A father in Texas killed his two teenage daughters for dating non-Muslims and in a move of political correctness the FBI has withdrawn its characterization of the crime as an "honor" killing.

America is still laboring under the politically correct lie foist on us by the government and the press that Islam is a peaceful religion.

We have been fighting Islam for centuries. We crushed it on September 12, 1683 and again in 1918. Regardless of the outcome of those battles, the war is not over. Too bad America is still asleep, for a wake up call is surely coming.

"A heretic is a man who sees with his own eyes." Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

[zoopster1]

Not to pick nits, but Sept 12 1683 was almost exactly 100 years before the United States won the Revolutionary War and became its own country. So it''s hard for me to believe that "we" fought anyone back then. It would technically have been the British. =P

[downsteamjim]

The sign says ''No for American Enemy''. I guess it means don''t help Syria.

[samsel3]

Bush & Cheney are not happy with a new Russian Syrian Natural Gas Deal. They still want regime change in Syria........

Damascus: Syria and Russia have signed a $71 million gas deal to transport natural gas from Syria s northern city of Aleppo to the Turkish border.

The agreement between Syrian Gas Company and Russia s StroyTrans Gaz provides construction of a 62-kilometre pipeline from Aleppo to the border, Sana news agency reported on Tuesday.

Construction of the pipeline is expected to take 18 months. Source Gulf News Oct. 15, 2008

The PNAC global agenda continues. Iraq is concerned Syria may be next on the hit list........

Journalist Amy Goodman s interview with General Wesley Clark stated:

" Clark stated he viewed a defense department memo that described how the U.S. was going to take out seven countries in five years....

"starting with Iraq,then Syria and Lebanon, then Libya,then Somalia and Sudan, and back to Iran."

[au_fait]

You would think in the high tech world of 2008 we would be able to find the truth and stop this silly he said she said stupid news stories. Of course to do this would require a open free press. That was lost at the beginning of Gulf war one. Anyone remember that cool Hollywood stage and Swartzcoff and his magic pointing stick?

Posted by hermitdave at 04:15 PM : Oct 30, 2008

Wow, not even sure where to begin with this one. During the time of war, when has journalism ever been free and open. in the past, it was always about propaganda and drummng support for your troops. For the last decade times are different. the press is more open and that is where problems begin. Our press loves to state our intentions and allow our "enemies" to know what we are going to do. If you want to know what is happening, then research the internet. The only problem is that jounalists are biased and they will write their beliefs into the articles. Oh and then you have the issues with other countries, limit their own journalist rights and choose what will go to print.

If the US does not have freedom of the press, where the F do think does?

[rswgoforit]

I''m shedding crocodile tears for these "poor" Syrians.

They''ve been asking for it whether they start sh*t with us or with Israel.

It''s not an easy war to fight because we''re fighting an enemy that has a strong resolve and will pay any price to win.

Do we as Americans want to kowtow, drink their Kool Aid, and act like dhimmis to a bunch of sorry folks who want to force 7th century sharia law down our throats? Look at the Euroweenies. It appears that the events of 9/11/2001 failed to wake up this generation from their stupor.