Syria orders American school closed

A homemade video surfaced today which allegedly shows U.S. helicopters taking part in Sunday’s late afternoon raid in a Syrian village near the border with Iraq. The target was apparently an insurgent leader linked to Al Qaeda in Iraq, and that U.S. Special Forces succeeded in killing him. U.S. officials have long accused Syria of failing to do enough to stop the flow of militants and weapons across the border, but this military analyst says the timing of this action is curious, and Syria has done more lately. Still if the Bush administration wanted to send a message to Syria, its window of opportunity is closing within days. This analyst says it would be polite, at the least, for the Bush administration to consult with a president-elect before performing a move like this. McCain campaign spokesman says this attack highlights a difference between the two candidates, and he criticized Obama for being willing to meet with Syrian leaders. This political analyst says it’s no surprise the Obama campaign doesn’t want to focus on this issue, and foreign policy is a losing card for Obama. He says if McCain were elected, he’d take a similarly hawkish approach to Syria while Obama subscribes to diplomatic engagement. He says none of that lends itself to catchy soundbytes. It’s tough to predict what any new president would do if caught in a situation like the one on Sunday.