Free Republic

Tribal clashes have been renewed near the Lebanese-Syrian border and have expanded over the past few days under criticism from Hezbollah and the Syrian regime and accusations of failure to control the issue. The clashes broke out about a month ago between the Al-Ja'far and Al-Jamal tribes. Lebanese media reported that this happened because young men from Al-Jaafar stole a car belonging to a Hezbollah official from Al-Dirani in the border town of "Zita" of "Hermel" area in the Syrian side. The car was immediately spotted in Syria in "Aqrabiya" in the countryside of al-Qusir and held in the detachment...

<p>KARABILAH, Iraq — U.S. Marines and Iraqi forces battled insurgents on two fronts Saturday in a restive western province, killing about 50 militants in a dusty frontier town in the military's latest campaign to stop foreign fighters infiltrating from neighboring Syria (search).</p>

U.S. Calls Iraq Border Operation a Success By MOHAMMED BARAKAT, Associated Press Writer OBEIDI, Iraq - The U.S. military pronounced its weeklong offensive near the Syrian border over Saturday, saying it had successfully "neutralized" an insurgent sanctuary and killed more than 125 militants. During the weeklong operation, many more suspected insurgents were injured and 39 with "intelligence value" were captured, the military said in a statement. It provided no details about the detainees. Nine U.S. Marines were killed and 40 injured during the campaign known as Operation Matador, during which American forces searched the Euphrates River villages of Karabilah, Rommana...

"This is the wild wild west. This is Qaim, at the western edge of Anbar province, bordering on Syria. It is a dusty, arid and lawless region, with large towns by the Euphrates River, which snakes into Iraq from Syria. Americans are attacked on a daily basis by a recalcitrant community..." - Every time the wind blows, an Asia Times Online series by Nir Rosen, October 2003 About 1,000 US Marines supported by armor and attack helicopters began the major offensive in west-central Iraq on May 7. Since then, the sweep, dubbed Operation Matador, has seen some of the heaviest...

The discovery of an Iraqi artillery shell armed with nerve gas has the liberal community and mass media in a panic. The 155mm nerve gas shell was rigged to kill U.S. troops but it failed. U.S. Brig. General Mark Kimmitt confirmed the discovery during a news conference in Baghdad. Yet, the discovery of nerve gas was followed by a second revelation. A second shell, equipped with mustard gas was found two weeks ago. The mustard gas shell identified by the special WMD inspection team in Iraq appears to be one of 550 declared by Saddam to U.N. inspectors during the...

AMMAN, Jordan (Reuters) - Jordanian state television aired Monday what it said were confessions by captured militants tied to al Qaeda who said they had planned deadly chemical attacks that could have killed thousands of people. Authorities had already reported the plot earlier this month, but the confessions shown on a prime-time broadcast provided further details of the planned attacks. The arrested militants, who included Syrians, said they were ordered by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, accused by Washington of being a top al Qaeda supporter, to attack targets that included the heavily fortified U.S. embassy and intelligence headquarters. The head of...

Says that Assad ordered the troops to fight but backed off and ordered a standdown when US airpower entered his country.