Syria gives passports to suicide bombers (ACT OF WAR)

The Times ^ | April 2, 2003 | Michael Binyon

[MadIvan]

THE SAS has arrested four busloads of suspected suicide bombers and would-be fighters in Iraq’s western desert.

The men, who are being held as prisoners of war, came from various Arab countries but all carried Syrian passports. They are thought to be among thousands of Arab zealots making their way to the battle front.

Syria has issued about 2,000 passports to people volunteering to fight for President Saddam Hussein in recent weeks, raising serious concerns in Britain and America, which suspects Damascus of smuggling war supplies to Iraq. The coalition is to protest to the Syrians.

Syrian officials have made no secret of their sympathy for the resistance of “the Iraqi people” to coalition attacks, although they have not voiced public support for Saddam.

Damascus has rejected accusations by Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, that Syria has provided Iraq with night-vision goggles.

The big worry is that many of the volunteers receiving passports may be suicide bombers, including Palestinians hoping to avenge themselves for US support of Israel. A captured Iraqi general said last week that up to 4,000 suicide bombers were ready.

British sources believe that up to 600 volunteers have crossed from Syria into Iraq or are about to do so. Sending fighters to join a combatant army is a clear breach of neutrality. “The Syrians are playing with fire,” one source said yesterday.

In Jerusalem, Shaul Mofaz, the Israeli Defence Minister, said that Israel viewed as “very grave” Syria’s role in helping the volunteers. He also issued a veiled warning to President Assad over comments in a Lebanese newspaper that Syria could be the next target in America’s War on Terror “as long as Israel exists”.

Mr Mofaz said that Mr Assad had effectively ruled out a peace agreement with Israel.

[Charles Martel]

Kill their wills with good chow, lots of sunshine, etc...

...Category-5 hurricanes...

[joesnuffy]

Time to kick some B'aath

splish splash i wuz bombing some baaths
long about a sat night
Glub glub I fired cruise missles from my sub
and into old down town Baghdad
they wuz twisting and a screeching
moaning an a groaning

Cause Ima free Iraqi
and I wont be Saddams lackey

[El Gato]

I hope someone is watching for them ... (+) ... to apply rule 308.

More likely rule 50 but also possibly rule 300.

[Paleo Conservative]

Damascus, welcome to the party. My name is MOAB.

A party bus needs some A-10 "party mix". Here's a USAF recipe.

The rounds are a "party mix" which consists of depleted uranium rounds followed by incendiary phosphorus.

[TheDon]

Hmmmm....I wonder how the Worm will vote on Syria?

[Kerberos]

"get as many to make the trip as possible, and whisked them off to Gitmo. "

Why bother with spending time and money to do anything with them, when we could just let them, by their own volition, walk into the meat grinder.

Personally I think we should be promoting this in the Arab world and clean up as much of the mess as we can in one fell swoop.

[merak]

Unless these guys are wearing the uniforms of the nations they come from, they are spies and should be hanged. That is within accepted military tradition

[PokeyJoe]

President Bush should go to the UN and seek a resolution seeking sanctions against Syria.

(/sarcasm off)

[Sub-Driver]

ok..........you asked for it

[Mister Baredog]

Sounds as if the Syrians don't really understand how GPS works.

[laz17]

Yup. God is reshaping the Middle East, and the coalition is His instrument for doing so. All those opposed identify themselves as the enemies of God that they are.

[laz17]

Once things are finished in Iraq, we might just want to exit through Syria.

About a week or so before the war started, I saw an item on the Fox ticker about London asking that all U.K. subjects leave Syria. I never saw that item again.

[Darksheare]

That's it, we should blast every bus coming out of Syria without delay.
Flatten it in sight of Syria's border.

[FreedomCalls]

We should declare a quarantine on Iraq. Anyone ENTERING Iraq on a Syrian passport issued since March 19th should be shot on sight.

This would be legal under Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War, Article 4, Part 61.

[RightWhale]

Syria ought to fire up all their armored and motorized divisions and head toward Bagdad before it's too late. Use it or lose it. How far will they get? 10 miles?

[snooker]

Welcome to my road. Will that be fried or over easy.

[Clean_Sweep]

LOL Practice run.

"Well, we could give them the dynamite to strap on, put them out in a fenced off area and tell them they can go to it."

[HP8753]

I like your idea,But would rather they met AC-130 Spectre one night in the middle of the Iraqi desert.

There would be a lot less questions about "missing' extremists in a War Zone

[x1stcav]

All right. You guys have convinced me. Let's let their own god find them.

[Newbomb Turk]

I hope someone is watching for them ... (+) ... to apply rule 308

I hope we are smoking all these guys right at the border. This actually may be a useful tool in riding ourselves of potential future bombers.

Now would be a bad time to try and enter Iraq as we control all borders.