Entered into the database on Monday, October 03rd, 2005 @ 16:30:13 MST
President Bush's national security team held a meeting Saturday to review the
U.S. policy toward Syria, U.S. officials involved in Middle East policy said on
condition of anonymity, adding that options discussed during the meeting ranged
from imposing tough economic sanctions to military action against the Arab state,
Knight Rider News reported Sunday. However, one of the officials who attended the meeting ruled out the military
option for the time being. One option under consideration was launching a major offensive on several villages
30 to 40 miles inside Syria that the U.S. government claims have been harboring
Iraqi rebels. But one official said it is not clear whether the presence of
rebels in the area is part of the Syrian government policy, or simply because
fighters have intimidated villagers. Asked about yesterday’s meeting, the White House declined to comment. In his weekly radio address yesterday, the American President George W. Bush
discussed the war in Iraq and made reference to Syria. "Coalition and Iraqi troops are pursuing the terrorists in western Iraq,
working to deny Al Qaeda a safe haven there, and to stop terrorists from crossing
into the country through Syria," he said. Hundreds of U.S. troops, backed by helicopters, swept into an Iraqi village near
the Syrian border Sunday, breaking into houses and engaging in fierce gun battles
with rebels on the second day of the U.S. Operation Iron Fist, according to AP
new agency. Witnesses said that dozens of Sadah residents fled into Syria before the offensive
began, and that about 1,000 U.S. troops appear to be widening the sweep into
two other towns on the Syrian. Also Sunday, troops used loudspeakers to warn Karabila residents to stay at
their homes for their own safety. And in Rumana, a town on the other side of
the Euphrates River, U.S. warplanes bombed several houses, sending clouds of
black smoke up into the sky, witnesses said on condition of anonymity.
