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English > Current Affairs > Archive by region > Middle East
RNW news
27-10-2008
Four helicopters descended on a farm in Syria, near the Iraqi border, on Sunday. Armed men, described as wearing American army uniforms, jumped out and opened fire on the al-Sukkariyeh farm. In an attack that lasted no more than four minutes, eight civilians were killed. Reports from the Syrian state press agency SANA say that Damascus "condemns this aggressive act and holds American forces responsible for this aggression and all of its repercussions".
The US military, meanwhile, were slow in confirming that the attack was carried out by them. A spokesman for the American forces in western Iraq claimed that his troops were not involved, while the Pentagon initially limited its comments to the announcement that the incident is being investigated. Anonymous US functionaries later said that US special forces had carried out an attack on 'al-Qaeda in Syria'. This would make it the first ever American military operation on Syrian territory, other than accidental border crossings by foot patrols and airspace violations by fighter jets.
The attack took place late on Sunday afternoon. The target in the village of Mashahdeh was a farm building under construction. The eight civilians killed, says SANA, were building workers. After the shooting the helicopters took off and crossed back into Iraqi territory, some ten kilometres off.
Why now?
While the picture of what happened is gradually becoming clearer, the question remains 'why now'? Ostensibly the reason for the attack is that the area is a hotbed of arms smugglers, but that could have been dealt with at any time.
The raid shows that the Bush government has little regard for international law. Washington is branding Syria as "a sponsor of terrorism", but the US are not at war with Syria, nor is there an international mandate for American troops to operate within Syria's borders.
Middle East analyst Bertus Hendriks says it is hard to interpret this remarkable incident.
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The fallout of this incident is likely to land on the plate of the next American government. Coming just nine days before the US presidential elections, the incident can be seen as president George W Bush's parting shot. Rather than face the consequences, the neo-conservative government will sneak out of the White House and let Mr McCain or Mr Obama deal with the enraged Syrians.
Syria's response
But so far, the government in Damascus is showing restraint. The usual diplomatic moves have been made: the US representative in Damascus has been summoned by the Syrian foreign ministry to hear the government's protest.
Syria is proving remarkably even-handed in its search for an explanation, for the Iraqi chargé d'affaires has also been summoned to the foreign ministry. Damascus does not want Iraq to be used as a basis for attacks against its citizens, SANA quotes a government spokesman.
International reaction to the incident has been limited. Iran said that the violation of any state's territorial integrity is unacceptable.