US warns Syria over Iraq.

[John Bryce]

Is Syria next on the Bush administration's Middle East hit list?

US warns Syria over Iraq (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2934287.stm)

United States Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has once again attacked Syria, this time accusing it of helping Saddam Hussein's key supporters escape Iraq.

He said the US has "scraps of intelligence" Damascus is helping some Iraqis move to Syria, from where a number are moving on to other places.

On Wednesday, Mr Rumsfeld also repeated earlier charges that Syria had facilitated the movement of military equipment and people into Iraq to help fight US and British forces.

[Gem]

At least not very soon.
I don't know what the US can do to Syria right now, but invading that country is totally out of the question.
Already many Arabs think that the War in Iraq is a start to conquer the whole middle east (that may be wrong, but that's what they beleive). If the US invades, the whole Arab world and their government will not stand idly, because the US has just proven to them that they're going to take them out "one by one."
North Korea may be next, but after the display of force in Iraq they might back down.
No invasion this presidential term either, re-election might be almost certain for him, he just needs to pray the economy gets better. If he's re-elected I can bet you mt computer that he's going after somebody else, who I can't be sure, so many to choose from.

Gem

[reprise]

If Saddam going into exile was an acceptable solution to the US a few weeks ago, why is it not acceptable for his supporters to do so now?

[corplinx]

Hopefully, Syria has closely watched what went on Iraq. I hope they learned that Russian and Chinese military surplus is junk for one thing.

"Hey comrade, you buy gps blocker, half price today"

No country buying equipment from china/russia will feel even a modicum of safety from that arsenal after this iraqi invasion.

In short, I hope that stern warnings are all Syria will need. I doubt Syria is next or will be added to the axis of evil. I just think we're trying to leverage our Iraqi success to put some pressure on the other regional powers.

I also think this was most likely the plan for Iran.

[GreyWanderer]

If the US invades Syria, I don't think that will happen for a very long time. Just look at how little support there was against the Irak invasion, and there were a lot more reasons for that invasion.

Invading just because they helped Saddam's supporters escape? What kind of reason is that? Not even the American people will fall for that. And what can the Saddam-supporters do now anyway?

[John Bryce]

Originally posted by corplinx
Hopefully, Syria has closely watched what went on Iraq. I hope they learned that Russian and Chinese military surplus is junk for one thing.

"Hey comrade, you buy gps blocker, half price today"

No country buying equipment from china/russia will feel even a modicum of safety from that arsenal after this iraqi invasion.

In short, I hope that stern warnings are all Syria will need. I doubt Syria is next or will be added to the axis of evil. I just think we're trying to leverage our Iraqi success to put some pressure on the other regional powers.

I also think this was most likely the plan for Iran.

I don't think the military equipment supplied to Iraq was "junk", but the average Iraqi soilder had no training on how to properly use it against U.S and British forces. There is that old American military saying that goes something like, "You train like you fight, and you fight like you train". Good soldiers can over-come the limitations of bad equipment, (example: Canada) but poorly trained soldiers can't use good equipment to their advantage.

I think most of the Middle East is on the hit list, but I am unsure who is next. I think it might be Syria, or Iran. The U.S. pulled off the invasion of Iraq in a few weeks (I know it isn't over until its over) without having to deploy the entire U.S. military. I think the Bush Administration will conclude that because Iraq was invaded with not a huge (by U.S. standards) military force, this kind of thing can be done more often, and it would not surprise me in the least if the U.S. invaded Syria, or Iran, in the next year or two. We will just have to wait and see.

[Baggle]

If Saddam going into exile was an acceptable solution to the US a few weeks ago, why is it not acceptable for his supporters to do so now?

That was before a war started and Iraqi leaders blatantly violated the Geneva Convention over and over. I am sure many Iraqi leaders are wanted for war crimes or, at the very least, questioning.

-Baggle