U.S. GOES AFTER SADDAM AND THE SYRIANS

Get ready for our long-delayed attack on Syrian targets. Also reported as in the works here.

Bryan and I both argued two months ago that the right of hot pursuit should have been used in Syria when our nation instead turned prematurely to "peace." The silence in the blogosphere and media was deafening, though it later turned out that's exactly what the Pentagon was arguing internally. It also turns out they were correct that it was a legitimate right and vital national security interest. It now appears clear that George Bush called off the shooting war far too soon for sensitivity reasons -- just like his father did in '91. The fear of attacking inside Syria was like the fear of supporting the overthrow of Saddam in Iraq after kicking him out of Kuwait.

Short-term thinking kills. Presidents need to learn how to finish wars properly before switching modes to mollify the UN, pacifists, allies, Palestinian terrorists, and the population of the target nation. Had we obtained real cooperation from Syria in exchange for calling off justified hot pursuit attacks it might have been worth it. We didn't though. Syria played us for fools and we're now in "lukewarm pursuit" of the enemy.

I just wish this attack had taken place inside the Syrian border to send a stronger message to Assad:

It was unclear who shot first, but American forces engaged in a firefight with Syrian border guards and several guards were hit, one senior Pentagon official said on condition of anonymity. The guards were given medical treatment by U.S. forces on the Iraqi side of the border, and it was unclear how many were wounded and whether any had died, he said.

Two officials said they had no reason to believe that Saddam or his sons were among the fugitives. Intelligence that prompted the attack indicated a number of higher-level Iraqis were in the convoy -- not necessarily Saddam, an official said.

The special Task Force 20 commando team was aided in the attack last Wednesday by fire laid down by an AC-130 gunship and other air support, one official said.

The convoy was traveling a known smuggling route near the city of Qaim. It was unclear whether smugglers were among casualties and how many Iraqis might have been captured or killed.

But a third Defense Department official said forensics experts went to the site to collect evidence, possibly for DNA testing.

I've posted before that I thought that our preference is to kill Saddam and not capture him, even though we might get info from him in a plea deal. I may be wrong, but I'm thinking that capturing him might almost be as inconvenient as capturing Osama bin Laden.

Thinking about that possibility illustrates that the Israelis are right to kill their terrorist targets. With live prisoners and trials they're likely to see more terror anyhow. And many Palestinian terrorists eventually get released back on the streets after "peace" negotiations give them over to Arafat.