Syria again becoming active in Iraq

The Bush administration succeeded in 2007-8 in shutting down one of the delivery systems for suicide bombers in Iraq, the Syrian pipeline to the al-Qaeda franchise.  The pressure came along both diplomatic and military fronts, as Damascus reeled from an Israeli attack on their nascent nuclear facility and fended off a full-court press over the assassinations of Lebanese politicians.  The Washington Post reports that the pipeline has come back into operation, leading to the suicide bombings seen in Iraq in recent weeks:

Last October, as the Bush administration was touting a dramatic drop in the number of suicide bombings in Iraq, four young Tunisian men left their homes for Libya and then headed to Syria. There, they were met at the Damascus airport and taken to a safe house.

Six tedious months passed until their handlers felt that it was safe to move the men again. In April, they were smuggled across the Iraqi border; within days, two were dead, among the suicide bombers who have killed at least 370 Iraqis in a wave of attacks over the past several weeks.

The third Tunisian disappeared. The fourth was captured and, according to a senior U.S. military official, provided interrogators with this account of their travels.

His statement, combined with what other sources had previously indicated to U.S. and Iraqi intelligence, confirmed what American officials had suspected: After a long hiatus, the Syrian pipeline operated by the organization al-Qaeda in Iraq is back in business.

The revival of a transit route that officials had declared all but closed comes as the Obama administration is exploring a new diplomatic dialogue with Syria. At the same time, Washington remains concerned by Syrian activities — including ongoing support for the militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas, as well as activities involving Iraq.

The swipe at the Bush administration in the first paragraph is intellectually dishonest.  As the story makes clear, the Bush administration had succeeded in shutting down the Syrian-AQI pipeline.  In fact, the terrorists had to cool their heels in Damascus for six months before the Syrians had taken their measure of Bush’s successor, and only then did they send the terrorists into Iraq.

Why didn’t the Post write that first paragraph like this:

Last October, as it became clear that Barack Obama would win the presidential election and implement his policies on Iraqi security, four young Tunisian men left their homes for Libya and then headed to Syria. There, they were met at the Damascus airport and taken to a safe house.

That would certainly have been at least as relevant to the change in status of the pipeline, if not even more so than the original.

So far, smart power doesn’t seem to be cutting it on the world stage.  Russia has openly defied Washington on Iran.  Europe openly defied Obama on Afghanistan.  North Korea kicked out UN inspectors and launched a long-range missile over Japan.  Syria now has reopened its proxy war on the American-backed Iraqi government.

Joe Biden warned that nations would rush to test the inexperienced Barack Obama.  Given the results from the first tests, we can expect plenty more in the coming months and years, to the detriment of our allies and global stability.