Iraq boosts security on Syrian border amid bombs row

JORDAN TIMES/IMRA ^ | 6 Sept.'09 | Mohammad Ameen

[SJackson]

+++SOURCE: JORDAN TIMES 6 Sept.'09:"Iraq boosts security on Syrian border amid bombs row".Mohammad Ameen, Agence France Presse

QUOTE: Iraqi P.M.:"90 percent of foreign terrorists who infiltrate Iraq did so via Syria"

EXCERPTS:BAGHDAD (AFP) - Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has sent extra troops to secure the border with Syria and on Saturday(5 Sept) hit out at countries he says are giving terrorists the shelter needed to mount attacks inside Iraq.

Maliki signalled no let-up in a worsening row with its neighbour for allegedly harbouring bombers who wrought devastation on Baghdad last month, and broadened his attack to include other nations.

"We will always look for a process of closing all the doors that the assassins can breathe from again. We blame our brothers and our friends and neighbouring countries," he told an audience in the southern city of Karbala.

"They told us they are with us, they have stood with us in certain situations, but what can we say about their support for the killers again? "The world is either collaborating or forgetting, even Iraqis are forgetting who have committed crimes. The world is embracing them, some of the Iraqis applaud them," Maliki said in a televised speech.

He did not specify the countries to which he was referring. The border between Iraq and Syria stretches for 725 kilometres and the United States has also blamed Syria for having lax controls that allow insurgents, including Al Qaeda-linked rebels, to cross over.

. . . .Maliki said on Monday that 90 per cent of foreign terrorists who infiltrate Iraq did so via Syria.

Syrian President Bashar Assad dismissed his allegations as "immoral" and politically motivated.

[SJackson]

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A sit down with Assad will fix this. Had one? Assad's men killed Iraqis anyway? Well, sit down again, talk. Secure borders are never the answer.

[elpadre]

the proper role for US forces in Iraq at this point in history is to protect this fledgling democracy from outside interference - that would be keeping the Syrians and Iranians out.

[SJackson]

the proper role for US forces in Iraq at this point in history is to protect this fledgling democracy from outside interference - that would be keeping the Syrians and Iranians out.

I don't see that happening. Iraq will have to secure their borders on their own. Which I suspect they'll be able to do.