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Tingkai
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To find the Northwest Passage
Aug 2001
time: 13:29
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CNN has a story about how US forces attacked six vehicles on an Iraqi highway heading to Syria.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast...nvoy/index.html
quote:
After the initial attack, a person was spotted on foot near the border with Syria. U.S. special operations forces pursued the individual, and some Syrian border guards showed up, the sources said.
Pentagon officials said at that point the U.S. troops may have crossed the Syrian border. In any event, there was an engagement and three Syrians were wounded. They received medical treatment from the U.S. military. It's not clear if they were shot from the ground or from the air.
Some local villagers have claimed the people killed in the attack were sheep smugglers. Pentagon officials said they might have been smugglers, but said U.S. intelligence strongly suggests high-level Iraqis, not sheep, were their cargo.
Most of the 20 people captured in the attack have been released, Pentagon officials said. |
So if US forces actually crossed into Syria, was it legal? Was it justified?
CNN doesn't say how many people were killed.
NY Times reports: "At least one of the Iraqi vehicles destroyed in the attack was hit by American attack helicopters on the Syrian side of the border, the officials said. They said three of the five Syrian border guards, who exchanged gunfire with American ground forces, remained in American custody for medical treatment."
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Cruddy
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Depends on what the border treaties are and what you define as legal... but lots of precedent for "hot pursuit" across a border.
Most law enforcers don't follow US state trooper policy of stopping at the border...
Anyway, it's conjecture anyway. The Iraq Syria border has very few official check points or markers - most of the locals don't know (or indeed, care) which side of the border they're on.
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Meldor
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Houston, Texas
Dec 2001
time: 23:29
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In the middle of the area they were in, it would be really hard to tell exactly were that border was and when you crossed. It isn't like they have a fence all the way across.
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Andrew1999
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quote:
Originally posted by Meldor
In the middle of the area they were in, it would be really hard to tell exactly were that border was and when you crossed. It isn't like they have a fence all the way across. |
They've got GPS though. I'd imagine they knew pretty well where the border was. Besides, if they shot up a bunch of Syrian border guards there must have been an outpost of some kind.
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Cruddy
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quote:
Originally posted by Andrew1999
They've got GPS though. I'd imagine they knew pretty well where the border was... |
GPS only tells you where you are on a map. It doesn't tell you how accurate the map is - and borders are generally dependant on who drew the map.
quote:
Originally posted by Andrew1999
Besides, if they shot up a bunch of Syrian border guards there must have been an outpost of some kind. |
Who might have been lost as well.
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MichaeltheGreat
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Apolyton Grand Executioner
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mooning the house that Ruth built.
Oct 1999
time: 21:29
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Technically, it's an incursion, not an invasion.
IIRC, it's legal if you're in the process of pursuing combatants with whom you are actively engaged, assuming you do the least necessary, consistent with the safety of your own troops.
Going into a neutral country after something like an enemy base camp is illegal, because there's neither the urgency of immediate combat and pursuit, nor is there the safety issue.
Basically, enemy bullets don't stop at the border and turn back, so you don't have to either. If the enemy disengages, then there's a question of if/how far you can pursue, but not if the enemy is itself first entering the neutral country in a moving fight.
A few border guards doesn't mean an outpost right there, it might mean an outpost or camp a few kilometers away, and these guys wondered what the hell the deal was with all the firing, so they went to check it out, and got more than they bargained for.
BTW, Andrew, if you're being shot at, or pursuing guys who can stop anytime and shoot at you, looking at GPS and a map is probably not at the top of your priority list. 
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All times are GMT. The time now is 05:29.
Apolyton Time is 00:29. |
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24-06-2003 22:09
overload
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