History Repeating?

October 29, 2008 by Jonathan Movroydis | Filed Under International Affairs, Terrorism 

U.S. special forces hit a terror camp in Syria Sunday that was supporting an al-Qaeda insurgent effort in Iraq. This particular campaign had an eerie similarity to Colombia’s efforts to de-construct FARC in Ecuador, and may just have equal results:

This operation is similar to the raid Colombia conducted in March against guerilla headquarters in Ecuador. The raid was very successful; FARC number-two man Raul Reyes was killed, and evidence was seized demonstrating the FARC’s ties to Venezuela and revealing numerous details about the personnel and inner workings of the guerilla group. Several operations quickly followed the incursion, since intelligence of this nature must be exploited while it is still hot.

In the case of the raid in Syria, secondary targets may already be in the process of being struck, in Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere. It is possible that Monday’s missile attack in western Pakistan was the result of actionable intelligence collected in eastern Syria. Surely any bad guy who suspects there was anything at Sukkariyeh Farm that pertains to him has already at least attempted to go to ground.

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