Iraq Stops Syrian Flights, Closes Iranian Border Crossing

The bulk of this article is about an upcoming security conference in Baghdad, said to include Syria, Iran and a number of other Middle-Eastern states. You have to read it most of the way through to get to this graph.

The announcement came a day after officials said Iraq has indefinitely halted all flights to and from Syria and closed a border crossing with Iran as the government prepares for a new US-Iraqi security crackdown aimed at crushing violence in the capital and surrounding regions.

Obviously Iraq is engaged in a balancing act. It needs to exist in a region without knowing how said region might eventually be aligned in from one to five years. But at least it appears to making some effort in helping the US counter any importation of violence from Syria and Iran.

Comments

[Darth Malice]

We should be bombing Syria and Iran.

[scarshapedstar]

Sweet, nothing shouts "freedom!" like closed borders. North Korea 2: Iraqi Boogaloo!

[yyy]

We should be bombing Syria and Iran.
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Really? Why? Did they declare war on the U.S. last night while I was sleeping? Are they iminent threats to the security of the U.S.? Do they too have imaginary WMD and imaginary nukes? Was it Iran and Syria who were behind 9/11?

Or do you just want to kill some Arabs in order to feel powerful and in control?

[Darth Malice]

YYY,Islam has to be fought now!We need to build our military like nothing the world has seen if we want to save the West and Israel.We should hit Iran and Syria early with heavy cruise missile and airstrikes.YYY your children will be fighting in Euroarabia and parts of Mich and Ohio.The world-wide jihad is gaining strength.We need to engage the enemy right now with full force.

[yyy]

YOu are a nut. Radical islam does attack us because they "hate us for our freedom" and they do not want to invade American and run the country based on Sharia. That is mindless propaganda.

Radical islam attacks us because they hate our foreign policy in the Middle East. It should go without saying that we can't let a handful of terrorists dictate US foreign policy in the ME and so they must be stopped.

There is nothing wrong with "Islam" that isn't also wrong with Christianity and Judaism in the wrong hands.

There is no worldwide jihad, that is more mindless propaganda of just the type that enables things like Abu Ghrahib and the rape and murder of Iraqi citizens to occur. When you start believing they are all animals you've already lost your moral compass.

Islamic terrorists like Osama bin Ladin are not frothing at the mouth lunatics, they are very well able to use terror strategically and to try to achieve the ends they desire. If you don't understand your enemy you will never defeat him.

Believing that hundreds of thousands of Arabs in Iran and Syria deserve to die just because they are muslim is purely disgusting racism under the guise of patriotism, no different that Nazi Germany's extermination of the 'jewish vermin'.

Of course you can't tell the difference because the TRUE BELIEVER never can, that is what makes you so dangerous.

[Darth Malice]

YYY,you don't see Jews or Mormons doing suicide bombings against Mecca do you?In England polls show with clarity that Muslims want to impose Sharia law.I have to Saudi in the military and these guys and their Islam mean to impose it.Islam has been at war since 79. By the way did you like how Carter handeled Iran???I care about our ability to survive and you liberal appeasers in the West make that job harder.

[yyy]

I am not a liberal appeaser, that is just another way you cons try to shut down debate. A handful of islamic terrorists is nothing like an industrialized country with a military and a manufacturing base declaring war on other countries. Trying to equate Al Quada with Nazi Germany and anyone who does't think we are 'At War With Islam" with Neville Chamberlain is more mindless propaganda.

If the muslims in England want to live under Sharia law then they go back to the Middle East. Period.

People "want" many things but that does not make them evil or terrorists. I "want" justice for the Palestinian people and I "want" Israel to see that its current policies are not only misguided by are antithetical to everything the jewish religion has historically stood for. That does not make me an (a) appeaser (b) anti semite (c) terrorist supporter or (d) lunatic. I also "want" to win the lottery, but so what?

[Darth Malice]

Israel has done everything it can ,but the Palestinians still sream for Jewish blood.In England the Muslims are there to colonize and bring hapy Sharia to fruition.The West needs to channel Patton,Charles"the Hammer Martel"and Vlad "the Impaler" to start pushing back the tide.YYY liberalism won't save us,only force can.

[yyy]

There is no doubt that Europe failed to pay attention to immigraion from North Africa and the ME and the likely impact it would, is and will have on their societies. They are paying the price now. Just like WE are paying and will continue to pay the price for allowing untold millions of illegal Mexican immigrants to recolonize the SouthWest.

I simply do not believe that "Islam" and "Terrorist" are one in the same. I don't disagree we need to use force, but I would argue we need a smart and limited use of force that gets results and does not at all costs actually hurt us by giving our enemies the propaganda tools they need for fresh recruits.

I am all for black ops, supporting and fostering internal groups to overturn dictatorial regimes in the ME, supporting democracy and all for supporting our self interest in an intelligent way.

To my mind, none of that includes waging a full scale invasion against a country that never was a threat and continuing to waste American money and lives because the White House refuses to admit it made a serious of strategic miscalculations.

[Darth Malice]

I do not favor liberation.I only favor crippling the muslims ability to make war.Islam and Terror go hand in hand.Sounds harsh but we must face reality.I hear what you are saying ,but poll after poll shows Bin Laden would win EVERY election in the middle east.