Striking Syria

David points out that someone in the military has confirmed that the U.S. struck a site in Syria that appears to have been a safe haven/entry point for terrorists into Iraq. Allow me to say first: Good. If the Syrians aren’t able to/won’t stop terrorists in their territory from crossing into neighboring countries and wreaking havoc, then the United States military is well within its rights to strike at that territory. We’ve been doing the same thing in the mountains of Pakistan for a while.

But also: can we please refrain from talking about stuff like this to the press? A couple months back at an AF panel, I criticized Barack Obama for saying that we should feel free to conduct military operations within Afghanistan and Pakistan, using the two countries almost interchangeably. It’s a decidedly dangerous thing to say: we’re not at war with Pakistan. We’re in a secret war with a very small part of Pakistan outside the control of the recognized government. That’s an important difference, especially to the political leadership in Pakistan. Pointing out that an ally has lost control of their sovereign territory–to the point where we’re conducting military raids within that territory–is embarrassing. And we really don’t need to go around embarrassing allies/potential allies. Do what needs to be done, but do it on the hush-hush.