From the "oh now what!?" files, via the BBC...
US helicopter-borne troops have carried out a raid inside Syria along the Iraqi border, killing eight people including a woman, Syrian authorities say.
The official Syrian news agency Sana said the raid took place in the Abu Kamal border area, in eastern Syria.
It said that American soldiers on four helicopters had stormed a building under construction on Sunday night.
If true, I can see this being explained as a needed cross-borer raid to go after high value targets, or something of that sort. Believable? You decide.
With the collapse of our financial system taking up most of the headlines it's easy to get that the situation in Iraq has basically been fought to a stalemate on all sides: there's little political progress between Sunni, Shia, and Kurd. Beyond political stalemates there is also a stalemate in the Middle East powder keg, which occasionally has a match tossed its way but has thankfully yet to light. Whether it be the Turks raiding northern Iraq (Kurdistan) or the Kurds hitting back, whether it be this seemingly new U.S./Iraq v. Syria "interaction", whether it be Iranian allegations of allied backing of terrorists in their west or our allegations of backing of terrorists in Iraq's east - or hell, the Saudis getting twitchy seeing Iran as the new, and rising, kid on the block... there's a lot of explosive energy here just waiting for the next bad policy decision.
While the media may spin this as an opportunity for McCain - if it ever even gets discussed - let us not forget to mention to those on the fence that Mr. Obama's foreign policy ideas will take us further away from the threat of regional war or stirring up hornet nests that are best left alone.
...and let us hope that we can get through the next nine days without one last epic international sendoff from the Bush/McCain/New American Century administration.
Update from MSNBC:
A U.S. military official said the raid by special forces targeted the foreign fighter network that travels through Syria into Iraq in an area where the Americans have been unable to shut it down because it was out of the military's reach.
"We are taking matters into our own hands," the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivity of cross-border raids.
The attack came just days after the commander of U.S. forces in western Iraq said American troops were redoubling efforts to secure the Syrian border, which he called an "uncontrolled" gateway for fighters entering Iraq.
Oh. Just. Peachy.