Why should we be concerned with this small Middle Eastern nation? A prophecy in the small biblical book of Amos answers that question!
by Cecil E. Maranville
The United States attacked a strategic target in the Sukkiraya Farms near the Syrian town of Abu Kamal late on Oct. 26. A U.S. counterterrorism official said the target was the head of a network that funneled fighters, weapons and cash into Iraq. Syria claimed that the Americans attacked the occupants of a civilian building, killing a man, his four children and another husband and wife. (An eyewitness to the funeral the next day said that there were seven adult males and no young children.)
With the world's financial markets in meltdown, should we be concerned with what happens in faraway Syria? This event must seem unworthy of a second thought for most people. Perhaps you haven't even read or heard of this attack.
Abu Kamal is only about 5 miles from the border of Iraq. U.S. intelligence believes that 90 percent of the foreign fighters entering Iraq do so through Syria; many of them through this difficult-to- defend region. Frustrated with a lack of cooperation from Syria in shutting down this terrorist pipeline, the Americans took matters into their own hands.
Obama administration will continue policy
There are reports of a new executive order from the U.S. president, authorizing American troops to cross international borders for the sake of self-defense and protecting American lives. Already, the incoming Obama administration has indicated that it will not reverse this or related executive orders.
The U.S. mission in Abu Kamal ignited a diplomatic furor on several fronts. Syria's relationship with Washington had actually been improving of late, but this caused a furious anti-American backlash. Thousands of Syrian citizens demonstrated angrily throughout the country. The BBC reported that, while the protests were government organized, an "angry mood...seems to have seized the whole nation."
