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November 10th,
2008 - Anti-U.S. Sentiment Grows in Syria After Raid |
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Anti-U.S.
Sentiment Grows in Syria After Raid By Brooke Anderson San Francisco Chronicle November 10, 2008 Abu Kamal, Syria - The U.S.
incursion into Syria late last month put this eastern border town near Iraq
on the world stage and many of its residents on edge. "At the beginning of
the war, we were scared. Then we got used to it. Now we're scared again - and
angry," said Yusef Tara, who spoke to a reporter near the site of the
Oct. 26 U.S. commando raid against an alleged al Qaeda in Iraq hideout that
Damascus says killed eight civilians. In this tightly controlled
police state that had been trying to change its image and end years of global
seclusion, protest groups are now allowed to stage anti-American rallies. And
even though YouTube is banned, video footage of four U.S. helicopters
carrying out the raid is making the rounds on cell phones. The anti-American sentiment
is in sharp contrast to months of toned-down rhetoric against the Bush
administration as the two countries edged toward serious talks. The United
States had been pleased that Syria accepted Iraqi refugees, made peace
overtures to Israel, established full relations with Lebanon and shared
intelligence about al Qaeda radicals. Two months ago, Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice met in New York with her Syrian counterpart, Walid Moallem,
in the highest-level talks between the two nations since 2005. At the same time, the United
States accused Syria of not doing enough to curb the flow of militant fighters
from Syria into Iraq. Now, the local media refers
to the United States in language reserved for Israel after a military
operation in the West Bank or Gaza Strip - war crimes, martyrs, terrorists
and deaths of innocent civilians. "This is the first time
in Syrian-U.S. bilateral relations since 1945 (the year diplomatic relations
were established) that the Americans attacked Syria," said Sami
Moubayed, a political analyst in Damascus, Syria's capitol. "The raid
makes it difficult for bilateral relations." After the incursion,
Al-Arabiya television reported that Iraqi troops had increased the number of
personnel near Abu Kamal, a town of about 30,000 residents that borders
Iraq's Anbar province and has no paved roads, daily power outages and cement
homes with dirt floors. Syria also sent additional troops to the frontier,
but has since withdrawn them to reduce security cooperation with the United
States, officials say. At the site of the raid, a
large cement building under construction along the Euphrates River, there is
an eerie calm as military police stand guard in an isolated area accessible
by a bumpy, dirt road. U.S. officials say the raid
killed Abu Ghadiyah, an Iraqi who they believe was a top al Qaeda in Iraq
militant operating a network that smuggled fighters into Iraq to carry out
suicide bombings and other operations. They say several of his bodyguards
were also killed. As Saoud Rak Khalif entered
the building, he viewed dried blood, shattered glass and walls pockmarked
with bullet holes. His brother Ahmed, a 21-year-old construction worker, died
during the raid by U.S. Special Forces. "They did to us what
they're doing to the Iraqis," Khalif said. "I have nothing against
the American people. But they attacked civilians. This is terrorism." Another fatality was Ali
Abbas Ramadan, whom family members described as a 35-year-old construction
site guard. "I was in a tent when
the helicopters came. The (American) soldiers came to inspect it. I don't
know why," said 7-year-old Mariam Ramadan, Ramadan's daughter.
"They were speaking a foreign language, and I didn't understand
anything." Syria has demanded that
Washington apologize for the strike and has threatened to cut off cooperation
on Iraqi border security. The government has also ordered all foreign staff
of the American Language Center and American Cultural Center in Damascus to
leave the country, and postponed a Nov. 12 meeting of a joint Syrian-Iraqi
committee in Baghdad to improve troubled relations. Baha Rakad, a member of the
Human Rights Association in Syria, has pledged to file a lawsuit in Syrian
courts against President Bush and the Pentagon on behalf of the victims of
the raid. Meanwhile, political analyst
Moubayed points out that Syria's response to the raid has so far been
restrained and that President Bashar Assad has expressed hope that Sen.
Barack Obama's victory in the U.S. presidential election will bring
"constructive dialogue." "We did not expel the
U.S. charge d'affaires, nor recall our ambassador," Moubayed said.
"We are keeping room for future dialogue with President Obama." External link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/10/MNDS13TRPL.DTL&type=politics |