Syria - Iraq Al Qaeda Route Still Open

Syrian villagers gather near the house of their relatives who died a day before when U.S. military helicopters launched an attack on Syrian territory. Hussein Malla / AP

Al-Qaida's Route Though Syria Persists -- MSNBC

Investigation finds border smugglers still paving way for attacks inside Iraq

BAGHDAD - For years, he operated along Syria's remote border where donkeys are the only means of travel. He provided young Arabs from as far away as Morocco and the Persian Gulf with passports, guides and weapons as they slipped into Iraq to wage war.

But recently, the Iraqi man known as Abu Ghadiyah began doing even more — launching his own armed forays into his homeland, U.S. and Iraqi officials say.

Finally the United States lashed out, frustrated it says, after years of vainly pressuring Syria to shut down his network supplying the Sunni insurgency.

The Americans carried out a bold daylight raid Sunday in a dusty farming community of mud and concrete houses known as Abu Kamal, just across the border in Syria. The U.S. says Abu Ghadiyah and several bodyguards were killed. Syria says eight civilians died. At least one villager says U.S. forces seized two men and hauled them away.

Whatever Abu Ghadiyah's fate, the attack targeting him has become a seminal moment — casting rare light on the hidden, complex networks that recruit foreign fighters and then deliver them across Syria to the battlefields of Iraq.

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My Comment: I do not think that anyone believes that this would put a stop to the Al Qaeda pipeline from Syria to Iraq .... but it definitely tells everyone that Syria is no longer a safe haven.