How tight are Syria and Saddam??

[Tmy]

What kind of relations does Syria have with its Iraqi neighbors? Are they that close? Im asking cause the lastest buzz is that Syria is hiding Saddam, his cronies, and his WMD.

Whould Syria put themsleves out that much to help Saddam? Whats in it for them.

[Gem]

Well, we can't see the satelite or intelegence documents that Bush of the Defense Departement can, but it's highly possible that they ARE letting in a few of them. But to let Saddam in is to ask for an invasion.

I think they don't beleive that the US will invade them over such accusations. It will confirm just about every domination of the middle east theories that the fundies and good ol' Bin were talking about.
There's also the military aspect. After such a quick and decisive victory in Iraq, the US is using the "example" on its enemies. (Similar to Gengis Khan, when he just massacred a town, and the other towns would be quick to surrender. But by no means I'm comparing the US to the Mongols)
And also, I doubt that Syria was taken into account as a military threat. A few busload of fighters here and there is not much of a big deal to US troops.

And is the US military actually ready to attack Syria? They're still busy with the Operation Iraqi "Spring Cleaning."

Gem

[Agammamon]

About as tight as Saddam and Al-Queda. As in Iraq had one Al-Queda guy in the country and he was staying in the Kurdish controlled part.

[Earthborn]

Let's just say that Saddam is a little bit closer to Syria than he is to Kuwait or Israel. Not much though. In the first Gulf War, Syria was on the side of the US by the way.

[Mel]

Originally posted by Gem
A few busload of fighters here and there is not much of a big deal to US troops.

Gem

No, it's not going to be a problem that can't be dealt with but every life lost BECAUSE of imported terrorists is an outrage!

I have little doubt that EVERY government in the region is fully aware that the US does not want to remain in Iraq and yet they are too blinded by their own corrupt agendas to appeal to their own pawns (aka citizens) in a civilized way and tell them to remain calm and uninvolved?!



How close is Syria & Saddam? I'd say that there is no real closeness between ANY of these corrupt Muslim/Arab countries. How can one oppressive regime ever trust or deal with another repressive regime?

Personally, I think it's much more likely that Saddam was buried under the rubble at that last meeting. I don't remember reports about out of control burning & wonder if they have finished excavating the site? They have available a sample of DNA to match to Saddam.

Reporting him MIA would give Bush a lot more leeway for his war on terror........

[Brooklyn Dodger]

Originally posted by Earthborn
Let's just say that Saddam is a little bit closer to Syria than he is to Kuwait or Israel. Not much though. In the first Gulf War, Syria was on the side of the US by the way.

That was in the FIRST Gulf war, not this one. Syria is a Baathist country, as is, sorry, was Iraq. Syria supports terrorist groups such as Hezbolah, and a number of others, and allows them to locate, train, and launch attacks from their territory. The groups have free rein in the Bekaa Valley. Iraq financed the same organizations, and homicide bombers' families, who were recruited by the same groups, were paid by Iraq.

President Bush now doesn't have to actually invade Syria to get the point across. The last week he has had the administration pointedly making statements about Syria's cooperation about terrorism, WMDs, Iraqi leaders, etc. Today an illegal oil pipeline from Iraq to Syria was shut down. I do not believe Syria has it's own supply of oil.

Compared to Iraq, Syria has a very small and incapable military. While it took us less than a month to dismantle Iraq's army, Syria understands that we can do that in far less time to Syria. This is especially true since we are already on Syria's eastern border, and have very short logistics lines now. And we can enter from the west as well. We have none of the distance and political difficulties we had with Iraq.

President Bush will likely just establish air and land bases in Iraq, so as not to be beholden to sensitive "friendly" Arab states. Syria will have an opportunity to assess its support of terrorism, as will Iran. I believe Syria will join the civilized world without further prodding. If not, it will be relatively easy for us to take care of Syria in the future. The buildup to take care of them won't take as long or be as expensive as the Iraq experience. Iran is similar, since we will maintain forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, two sides of Iran, something that country cannot fail to notice.

[corplinx]

Correct. Syria and Iraq were both Baath ruled.

My guess is much of the tough talk is being done so that if we drop a daisy cutter in a Hezbollah camp, the international community will let it slide since we didnt actually invade.

[Brooklyn Dodger]

Originally posted by corplinx
Correct. Syria and Iraq were both Baath ruled.

My guess is much of the tough talk is being done so that if we drop a daisy cutter in a Hezbollah camp, the international community will let it slide since we didnt actually invade.

What is the Arabic word for MOAB?

[Mel]

Originally posted by Brooklyn Dodger


What is the Arabic word for MOAB?

And the answer is........ ???

Don't leave us hanging, B.D.

[Brooklyn Dodger]

Originally posted by Mel


And the answer is........ ???

Don't leave us hanging, B.D.

If you are a Syrian, I'm sure you are all a-twitter! The Mother of All Bombs is now looking for a home near Damascus!