September 12, 2006
(Damascus) Several sources are reporting loud explosions and heavy gunfire in the vicinity of the U.S. Embassy in Damascus. One witness stated that it appeared the U.S. Embassy was being attacked. A security source said that Syrian police may have foiled a bomb attack against the Americans.
Emergency vehicles rushed to the area and security forces have sealed off the neighborhood where several embassies, security installations and diplomats' residences are located.
No official confirmation of the events has been issued.
From Bloomberg, nervous investors pushed U.S. stock-index futures downward after news of the attack.
[Update 0525 EDT]
It's now reported that three attackers were killed when a car bomb was detonated. Apparently, the three tried to drive into the embassy compound and were met with gunfire from the guards. They then blew themselves up. No damage assessment yet. No American casualties reported.
According to Interior Minister General Bassam Abdel Majid speaking on state television, "A terrorist operation targeted the US Embassy. Security forces have brought the situation under control. Three terrorists were killed and one was wounded."
Companion post at Interested-Participant.
Update by Rusty: This is classic al Qaeda 3.0. Mark my words.
Keep throwing martyrs our way, AQ wannabes. We know what to do with them.
Above: Marine looks down from U.S. Embassy in Syria after the failed attack (via: Sticky Notes)
UPDATE by Rusty: Did you mark those words? Breitbart:
The al-Qaida offshoot group, called Jund al-Sham, has been blamed for several attacks in Syria in recent years, the Syrian ambassador, Imad Moustapha, said in comments to CNN.
Posted by: Mike Pechar at
08:42 AM
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As if that were not bad enough, al-Sadr's number 2 guy has become so emboldened he boasts about the civil war the Mahdi plan to begin and win as soon as the US leaves.
First, "there will be a civil war," said the aide, Mustafa Yaqoubi, as his three young children wandered in and out of the room. The rising violence and rivalries under the American occupation make a shaking-out all but inevitable once foreign forces go, Yaqoubi said. "I expect it."
When the tumult ends, the Sadr aide said, Iraq's Shiite majority will finally be able to claim its due, long resisted by the Americans -- freedom to usher in a Shiite religious government that Yaqoubi said would be moderate and perhaps comparable in some ways to Iran's. The bespectacled, bearded cleric's mild tone buffered his talk of the blood that would have to be spilled to achieve this goal. No matter when the Americans withdraw, "the first year of transition, it will be worse," Yaqoubi warned. "After that, it will gradually improve."
If you visit my site you will already know where I stand on Iraq. The fact I could see this coming from my desk is no credit to my skills as an intelligence analyst. It means the facts are looking us plainly in the face yet we are doing squat to interdict the antagonists.
Posted by: SeeMonk at September 12, 2006 07:01 AM (n4VvM)
Posted by: Steve L. at September 12, 2006 07:53 AM (hpZf2)
Posted by: mrclark at September 12, 2006 10:31 AM (1x6wS)
Posted by: SeeMonk at September 12, 2006 11:36 AM (n4VvM)
Posted by: Improbulus Maximus at September 12, 2006 01:48 PM (v3I+x)
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