U.S. set up new military base at Iraq-Syria border

The U.S. army set up its first long-term military base along a strategic route near Iraq's border with Syria.

The base will house about 1,800 U.S. soldiers. It is located north of the Euphrates River, three miles from the town of Rawah, along a major route that connects the Syrian border to roads leading north toward Mosul and east to Baghdad.

The U.S. claims that Syria is aiding the Iraqi resistance by allowing foreign fighters to cross its borders into Iraq.

Syria denies the U.S. claims, insisting that it is doing all it can to prevent the infiltration of fighters.

U.S. military officials in Iraq say that the "Rawah operation" is currently their top-priority mission. Over the past two weeks, the military has been building structures at the new base, and U.S. forces have arrived to man the facility.

The U.S. army believes that the area is a major staging area for the rebels, and that the problem has intensified in recent months as foreign fighters have used it to smuggle weapons.

"It's a huge desolate place and if somebody wanted to hide out it would be a good place to hide out," said Marine Maj. Gen. Stephen Johnson, commander of coalition forces in western Iraq.

However, some U.S. military officials believe that even with the base, they would never be able to seal off the border completely.

Lt. Gen. John Vines, the senior ground commander for the coalition in Iraq, said that foreign fighters are a "threat to the Iraqi government".

"So in addition to assisting the Iraqis in re-establishing control of the borders," Vines said, "we need to deny areas that are being used to train, indoctrinate and coordinate the movement" of foreign fighters.

The new move comes as Vines and top U.S. military commander in Iraq Gen. George Casey expressed hope to reduce the numbers of U.S. forces in Iraq by next year.

"Safe haven"

A military mission statement published by the Los Angeles Times said that the goal of the base is to establish Iraqi government control of the border, driving a wedge between fighters and the Iraqi population and eliminating a "safe haven" for rebels.

Military officials say the base has been established far enough from the town so that fighters seeking to launch mortar and rocket attacks would have to do so from the open desert, where the U.S. soldiers can see them.

The operation calls for U.S. forces to launch a series of raids, secure the area and bring in Iraqi security forces. It is led by the 2nd Army Division's Stryker Brigade, which will be the first force to take up permanent military presence in the area.

Iraqi Defense Minister Saddoun al Dulaimi talked briefly about the operation after meeting with President Jalal Talabani on Thursday.

"Our forces will start from the Syrian border ... till we reach Ramadi then to Fallujah," he said. "We have taken precise measures on the ground and acquired the president's approval to start the operation."

As what happened in Fallujah, the western Iraqi city where the U.S. military launched a deadly offensive against Iraqi fighters last November, U.S. military officials have asked the Iraqi government to issue emergency laws that could include a curfew and a travel ban.