A Commentary On The U.S. Strike Into Syria This Week

A Syrian policeman stand guard outside the US embassy in Damascus, as Iraqi refugees demonstrate against the deadly US raid on a village on the Syria-Iraq border. The US State Department said Wednesday it was weighing a response to Syria after it was told it had to close the US cultural center and the American school in Damascus. (AFP/Louai Beshara)

The Counterterror Raid On Sukkariyeh, Syria
-- Washington Times

No military operation is riskier than a commando raid. Extreme physical danger and the potentially high payoff if the operation succeeds are two reasons a dramatic raid has box-office appeal in Hollywood.

The U.S. raid last weekend certainly involved immense personal risk by the two-dozen special operations soldiers who entered the Syrian village of Sukkariyeh and shot it out with Abu Ghadiya, believed to be an al Qaeda commander, and his personal cohort. The London Times reported Abu Ghadiya was al Qaeda in Iraq's "commander for Syrian logistics."

The raid also entailed political risks. Syria howled, Russia yelped, even Iraq deplored it - but that is surface political rhetoric. For five years, Iraqis have complained of "foreign fighter" and terrorist infiltration from Syria. Baghdad has no sympathy for a beast like Abu Ghadiya, whose "foreign fighters" murdered thousands of Iraqis.

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