U.S. Terrorism Targets Syria

The US airstrike on the Syrian town of al-Boukamal, close to Iraqi border, sets a dangerous precedent. Among the possible outcomes are the effects on the US presence in Iraq and the credibility of the US ‘War on Terror.”

US spokesmen said that this air attack, which killed eight Syrian civilians, was targeted at Syrian traffickers, insurgents against American forces in Iraq. However, this excuse cannot cover up that the act in its true nature, was a terrorist attack. Indeed, it is state terrorism in its ugliest form and a violation of an independent member of United Nations’ sovereignty by a country that claims to be a victim of terrorism and calls itself the Leader of the Free World.

The Syrian government demonstrated complete cooperation with American and Iraqi demands that they close the border to all those intending to join the ranks of the resistance group, building high barriers and establishing checkpoints; the US administration has recognized that these acts have notably reduced the number of those crossing the border. Certainly, some smuggling of fighters still occurs sporadically with the help of the more experienced smugglers motivated by the lure of money, despite the success of state efforts to frustrate a large proportion of them. But it should be remembered that there is not a border in the world, including that of the United States itself, that is protected with the most armed and equipped forces and is completely free of smuggling–particularly the more skillful ways of smuggling. In fact, the number of illegal immigrants from Mexico and Latin America [into the United States] has reached more than eight million within the past twenty years.

Going beyond than these efforts, the Syrian government has resolved to open its embassy in Baghdad and establish diplomatic relations with the government of the ‘New Iraq,’ a product of the occupation’s mercy. Furthermore, it hosted the Iraqi Prime Minister and a number of other ministers while opening its border to more than 1.5 million Iraqi refugees escaping ethnic cleansing by militias, an ongoing operation since the beginning of the US occupation.

The American administration has used air raids within Pakistani territory previously, under the pretext of striking Taliban and Al-Qaeda positions, and has been surprised by the opposite of its intended effects. For example, the shaking of Pakistani stability, the most cooperative country in the “War on Terror,” and the rise of hatred amongst ordinary Pakistanis towards the US, has shifted their support towards the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. At the same time, this attack reflects a confusion in the US ranks which has emerged from a huge sense of failure and defeat evoked by the spectre of Iraq: defeat in face of the worsening security situation and the living standards of Iraqis and failure in concluding the security agreement with the Iraqi government which would legitimize the US presence in the years to come.

After the loss of more than 4,000 soldiers, $700 billion dollars and financial, political and moral collapses, the US administration finds itself unable to convince its Iraqi allies, which it brought to power after the overthrow of the previous government, to accept its demands for an endorsement of this agreement. Syria has suffered US terrorist hostility, in addition to a series of Israeli attacks which have violated Syrian sovereignty by killing a number of its members of the Lebanese Hizbollah (Emad Mughniya). At the same time, this hostility only strengthens its position in the Arab World and might lead to an increase in popular support for the government in a period in which the US and its allies are attempting to isolate the Syrian government. When the United States and Israel targets her territories, she only benefits by gaining honorable, nationalist distinction in the eyes of millions of Arabs.