Next U.S. president should be thankful for Syria strike- paper

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Describing the U.S. raid into Syria as “better late than never,” the Boston Herald today said in its editorial that the operation has succeeded in killing top al-Qaeda operative. “Whoever the next president is, he’ll owe a giant thank-you to the Bush administration for this week’s daring raid into Syria,” the newspaper wrote in its editorial. “The operation across the Iraq border succeeded in killing a top al-Qaeda in Iraq operative and disrupting a planned attack on Iraq. The broader strategy of cutting off the terrorists’ sources of funding, disrupting their leadership, and stopping the flow of men and bombs into Iraq from Syria was devised by Gen. David Petraeus when he was commander in the region.” “U.S. officials had asked Syria months ago to hand over Abu Ghadiyah, who was killed in the raid. But Syrian officials insisted they were ‘monitoring’ his activities. (And doesn’t that make everyone feel better?),” the editorial added. “Prior to the Iraq war, Saddam Hussein used Syria as an escape route from the U.N.-monitored Oil-for-Food program. Oil flowed into Syria and the proceeds flowed into Saddam’s own slush funds. That is until the waning days of Saddam’s regime when that money was used to buy military hardware and anti-tank weapons that were brought across the Syrian border,” it said. “The Syrians insisted eight civilians were killed, including four children. That turns out not to be true. In fact, the U.S. military opted for the far more dangerous ground raid to protect civilians. But yesterday the Syrian government closed The American School and an American cultural center in protest. Somehow we’ll get over it.” “The fact remains the Syrian border with Iraq has been a sieve through which terrorism flows unabated. It’s well past time for that to stop. And the Syrians have from now till mid-January to get over their huff,” the editorial concluded. SS (S)/SR 1