Despite past US accusations against Syria, this is the first US military action since 2003 and it comes at a time when Assad is trying to send the right signals to Israel and the West.

Beirut (AsiaNews) – More or less openly pundits ask: “Why right now?” Why did US Special Forces carry out a raid inside Syria, apparently killing eight people? For the Americans they were al-Qaeda terrorists; for the Syrians they were construction workers building a house.

The military operation saw US military helicopters attack Albou Kamal, an area along Syria's border with Iraq Sunday.

As expected Syria's Foreign Ministry summoned the US and Iraqi charges d'affaires to condemn “this aggression and all its repercussions.”

Syrian and Arab media slammed Washington and the Bush administration.

Many observers note the strike comes just two days after US Major-General John Kelly, commander of US forces in western Iraq, spoke about Iraq’s border security.

Iraq's western borders with Saudi Arabia and Jordan are fairly tight as a result of good policing, General Kelly said, but on the Syrian side it was a "different story. Here he explained the situation was “uncontrolled” with “a certain level of foreign fighter movement.”

Questions are being raised because from the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003 until now the United States did not attack Syria despite accusations against the Assad regime that it was tolerating if not outright involved in helping foreign “fighters” cross the border to join the terrorist ranks.

What is more, for some time President Bashar al-Assad has sought a rapprochement with the West—see the establishment of diplomatic relations with Lebanon—explicitly trying to get the United States involved in the negotiations with Israel.

According to diplomatic sources, Damascus is actually willing to accept Israeli and US demands to cool its alliance with Tehran.

Washington also let the Syrians know through Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that it was willing to put pressure on the Israelis in exchange for breaking with Iran.

Damascus is ostensibly ready to suspend its support for Hizbollah.

A press release issued today by the State Department said it would look into the incident. Notwithstanding being a usual delaying tactic, the language suggests the possibility that the US military might have acted on its own, however unlikely that might sound.

Or perhaps, it is might be as a signal to Assad that the United States is willing to use both stick and carrot. (PD)

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