What with all the brouhaha and hullabaloo about the elections and economy and whatnot, the incursion of U.S. Special Ops into Syria received relatively little attention from the American press. Too bad, since it has the feel of one final raspberry blown by The Decider's Usual Gang Of Idiots.
Like a greatest hits replay of the glory days of 2003, this story had all the familiar elements: a poorly coordinated attack within a non-aggressor nation, some cobbled-together story about an attempt to capture a supposedly big-name terrorist no one's ever heard of, and of course, civilian casualties. (Eight, according to Syrian officials, although a U.S. military spokesman claims no one died that wasn't targeted, a rather chilling explanation.)
The most immediate result of all this? Syrian officials are justifiably pissed, just as other nations in the region have cause to wonder when the Red White And Blue Bully Boys are going to invade them. Given a similar raid into Pakistan a few weeks ago, and given Our Beloved President's claim that "we have an obligation to protect our territory from being used as a sanctuary for terrorism," it's a reasonable fear. And when exactly did the United States claim the entire Middle East as "our territory"?
So just when some kind of exit from Iraq seemed possible--even John McCain started seeing the light--the Bushinistas stir the pot and guarantee the incoming president a whole new set of worries. Ain't Democracy great?
