At least we are not cutting the CIA and such. We have alot of work to do , but at least they advertise . Shouldn't be hard to track that.
The article switches from dollars to pounds in mid-sentence without saying what kind of pounds. The Syrian monetary unit is the pound but it's worth about two cents, so I would guess that the British pound is meant.
Why are the border tribes hostile to the U.S.? Were they favored by the Baathist regime, or just hostile to any "infidels"?