Why the U.S. Attack Inside Syria Is Significant
A commentary by Cecil E. Maranville
World News and Prophecy Senior Editor
On October 26 the United States attacked a strategic target in
the Sukkiraya
Farms area of Syria near the town of Abu Kamal, which is only
about five miles from the border of Iraq.
The attack ignited a diplomatic
furor on several fronts. Iran, an ally of Syria, vigorously protested
the American raid.
U.S. intelligence indicates that 90 percent of
the foreign fighters enter Iraq through Syria; many of them through
this difficult to defend region. Frustrated with a lack of cooperation
from Syria to shut down this terrorist pipeline, U.S. forces took
matters into their own hands.
A U.S. counterterrorism official said
the target person headed a network funneling fighters, weapons and
cash into Iraq. Syria protested that the Americans attacked the
civilian occupants of a building, killing a man, his four children
and another husband and wife. An eye witness to the funeral the
next day said that there were seven adult males and no children.
Syria's relationship
with Washington had
been improving, but this incident is certain to strain that progress.
Also, the young Iraqi government seeks good relationships with its
neighbors Syria and Iran—even as it is in the midst of a sensitive
political debate over how long U.S. forces will remain in Iraq.
With the world's financial markets in meltdown, you might
wonder, why should we care about what happens in Syria? It's
a poor country with a small military and is not a crucial factor
in the world market or a significant oil producer.
But one significant
nation—Russia—voiced angry protests over the
U.S. attack. And it has probably not escaped your notice that Russia
has all but publically declared a return to the Cold War.
Stratfor,
an online publisher of geopolitical intelligence, warns that there
are signs that Russia is again beginning to launch proxy wars—striking
at American interests through any willing antagonist. Russia is
also warming to an alliance with anti-American Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.
And Russian money is supporting pro-Marxist terrorist groups in
Mexico.
Now, as it did decades ago, Russia is renewing its military
ties with Syria. Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, traveled
to Moscow in August to discuss how to expand weapon purchases
and the sharing of military technology.
For its part, Moscow hopes
to establish a naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus on the
Mediterranean Sea that would make it possible for a Russian warship
fleet to be stationed in the Mediterranean region! The Russians
are likely to seize upon the recent American raid as an excuse
to further the course they've
already embarked upon with Damascus.
Centuries ago Syria's
location was also strategic. It was on the main land route between
Asia, Europe and Egypt. Since then, improved sea and air travel
diminished its strategic significance. But its location cannot be
ignored today because it borders Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Jordan and
Israel. Syria also gives safe harbor to numerous terrorist groups,
including Hamas and Hezbollah. And Iran's supply route to
Hezbollah in Lebanon is through Syria.
A few years ago a massive
al Qaeda terrorist attack on Jordan was planned and launched from
Syria. Fortunately it was discovered and thwarted. But it could
well have killed 60,000 people with chemical weapons, possibly from
some of Saddam Hussein's weapon stockpiles covertly diverted
to Syria.
Turkey, just north of Syria, is presently seeking membership
in the EU. Turkey also would like to extend its influence in the
Middle East after the United States withdraws from Iraq. A stable
Syria would be greatly in Turkey's
interest.
Syria's significance in the end time is mentioned
in the biblical prophecies of Amos. His warning to Damascus (Amos
1:3-5) is one of his eight prophecies to tribes or countries in
the region of Syria and Palestine.
Of their meaning, The Anchor Bible Commentary perceptively
concludes, "There
was a single decree…declaring judgment on the entire region
as a unit….
This unity suggests one cosmic holocaust…" (note
on Amos 1). A modern fulfillment of Amos' prophecy would be
significant.
Syria's Sukkiraya Farms region is rich with history,
as it is close to the Kahbour River, also known as the Kebar or
Chebar—next to the area
where captives from Israel were resettled in the 8th century B.C.
by Assyria. The most famous captive among them was the prophet Ezekiel
who, from the Chebar's
banks, wrote prophecies relating to the future of America, Europe
and the Middle East today.
  To
learn more about how these and other biblical prophecies are to
be fulfilled, simply request or download our free, enlightening
booklet, The Middle East in Bible Prophecy. Also request
your free subscription to our news magazine, World
News and Prophecy.
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