American school in Syria obeys order to close

[mrmouth]

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - An American school in Damascus closed its doors and told students to go home Monday after the Syrian government ordered it shut down in response to a deadly U.S. cross-border raid near the Iraqi border.

A voice message on the school's answering machine said the Damascus Community School was closed to comply with the government's decision. Students and teachers were seen leaving the school grounds Monday afternoon. The closure order came two days after Syria said U.S. troops in four helicopters attacked a building inside Syria near the Iraqi border. Washington hasn't formally acknowledged the raid, but U.S. officials say the target was a top al-Qaida in Iraq figure.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

continued/link...

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The school and the cultural center, which are linked to the U.S. Embassy, cater to a small American community in the Syrian capital and other foreign residents. The Syrian government had demanded the cultural center close immediately and the school close by Thursday.

The students came to school as usual Monday but said they were told by the school's administration to leave. No reason was immediately given. One student said administrators told him and his classmates to pack up their books leave the building immediately.

An official at the U.S. Embassy in Damascus confirmed that the school, which serves elementary through high school students, was closing to comply with the Syrian government's demand it shut its doors after an Oct. 26 U.S. military raid that Damascus says killed eight people. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak to the media.

Officials at the school declined to speak with The Associated Press. One foreign teacher who works at the school said Syrian authorities told the school's foreign teachers to leave the country within a week. The teacher spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

The school has 42 full-time and five part-time faculty members, and a majority are American and Canadian, according to the school's Web site.
On Sunday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said his country may resort to more "painful" measures if the United States doesn't give an official explanation for the raid. He did not elaborate.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Syria also has threatened to cut off cooperation on Iraqi border security and demanded America apologize and promise not to repeat a deadly cross-border raid into its territory.

Syria has long been viewed by the U.S. as a destabilizing country in the Middle East, but in recent months Damascus had been trying to change its image and end years of global seclusion. But American accusations that Syria isn't doing enough to prevent foreign fighters from crossing its borders into Iraq is a sore point in relations. Syria has said it is doing all it can to safeguard its long, porous border.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php...cle=1&catnum=0

[boofhead]

Fine. Time for the West to close every Islamic school in existence.

[Major.Stupidity]

Fine. Time for the West to close every Islamic school in existence.

What do you mean by 'Islamic schools' O Boofhead? Do you mean the highly feared madrasaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas which have come synonymous in Western parlance with terrorism, never mind their secular nature...

[boofhead]

What do you mean by 'Islamic schools' O Boofhead? Do you mean the highly feared madrasaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas which have come synonymous in Western parlance with terrorism, never mind their secular nature...

I was joking....we don't have to act like Syrian cock-heads. I meant Islamic schools in the West. Call them what you want.

[boofhead]

So closing down schools run in your country by governments that violate your national sovereignty and kill your citizens makes you a 'cock-head'?

Yes, when they're an undeclared enemy, yes it does. Being an undeclared enemy, they don't even have to close down schools - they're still cock-heads

Of course, killing foreign civilians on foreign soil makes you a brave warior against terrorism.

Killing terrorists in a staging area that has been used for years to send suicide bombers into another sovereign territory, you mean.

And you speak of a country run by cock-heads who like assassinating politicians in other foreign countries (think Lebanon). It seems these Syrian cock-heads can give it, but cry like little girls when they receive it. They need to just STFU quite frankly.

[Bovril]

Yes, when they're an undeclared enemy, yes it does. Being an undeclared enemy, they don't even have to close down schools - they're still cock-heads

I'm not quite sure I'm following you here. Are you saying that the US and Syria are 'endeclared enemies'? If so, then why complain about Syria shutting down a school and cultural center run by the US embassy? Makes no sense.

Killing terrorists in a staging area that has been used for years to send suicide bombers into another sovereign territory, you mean.

...if you count unarmed civilians as terrorists...and if you think Souad Khousaim, who is currently in hospital with bullet wounds lamenting the death of her husband counts as a terrorist...

And you speak of a country run by cock-heads who like assassinating politicians in other foreign countries (think Lebanon). It seems these Syrian cock-heads can give it, but cry like little girls when they receive it. They need to just STFU quite frankly.

Whilst we can all agree that the Syrian government whine too hard and act like s too often, trying to pretend that the US plays to higher standards or has the moral highground on this one is, let's face it, an insult to the credulity of an allready sceptical world.

[Tajir]

Fine. Time for the West to close every Islamic school in existence.

Syria is a secular country. More secular than the US and Aussie combined.

Boof, I'm ashamed at your ill-informed comment. I'd expect your comment from a yank, but you...?

[Richard]

Fine. Time for the West to close every Islamic school in existence.

Nothing to do with religion though by the looks of it. It's a political issue. The US did something naughty to the Syrians involving things going boom. Still, I don't know whether that's grounds to close a civilian school =/

[Justice and Mercy]

Man, let me tell you, if they hadn't closed that school like that we totally wouldn't have caved like we did.

Wait. We don't actually give a .

Idiots.

[christof139]

Good, if it was a USA Government/tax payer money funded school we will now save a few $$.

Chris

[Erik]

Good, if it was a USA Government/tax payer money funded school we will now save a few $$.

Chris

You realize the school was for American kids (mostly the children of diplomats working at the US embassy), right?

Anyways, it's just Syria's way to piss on Americans, and they have every right because of how America behaves in the region.
The American diplomats will just have to send their kids to regular Syrian schools. - they might actually learn something there.

[sabaku_no_gaara]

Well if they crossed the border and had a raid in Syrian territory then they did a big no no

[Justice and Mercy]

Well if they crossed the border and had a raid in Syrian territory then they did a big no no

Why?

[mrmouth]

Well if they crossed the border and had a raid in Syrian territory then they did a big no no

That's exactly what we did. However their is a good deal of evidence that the Syrians were well aware of the raid, and even signed off on it.

Even if they didn't, how is closing a school for small children a reasonable response? Keep in mind that many of these kids have at least one Syrian parent too.

Could you imagine the uproar had a Western country done the same?

[Bovril]

Could you imagine the uproar had a Western country done the same?

Can you imagine the uproar if US civilians had been killed by Syrian troops in a raid on US soil? If you're going to play the double standards game be sure it's not going to bite you in the ass.

[humvee2800]

Can you imagine the uproar if US civilians had been killed by Syrian troops in a raid on US soil? If you're going to play the double standards game be sure it's not going to bite you in the ass.

If America signed off on it like the syrians did and syria was occupying mexico then I would expect very little uproar, atleast amongst the government.

[Bovril]

If America signed off on it like the syrians did and syria was occupying mexico then I would expect very little uproar, atleast amongst the government.

A) Prove the government 'signed off on it'. Given their immediate reaction, this seems like more of a post factum justification that anything based on real evidence.
B) Nonsense. If Syrian troops killed US civilians on US soil do you seriously think Damascus would not be crawling with marines by the end of the week?

I was joking....we don't have to act like Syrian cock-heads. I meant Islamic schools in the West. Call them what you want.

So closing down schools run in your country by governments that violate your national sovereignty and kill your citizens makes you a 'cock-head'? I'll bear that in mind.

Of course, killing foreign civilians on foreign soil makes you a brave warior against terrorism.

[wilpuri]

Could you imagine the uproar had a Western country done the same?

LOL can you imagine the uproar had Syrian troops killed American civilians on American soil?

[Iscariott]

LOL can you imagine the uproar had Syrian troops killed American civilians on American soil?

"Syria was a neat place sorta. It's too bad we destroyed every structure not best described a tent"

[boofhead]

They killed some terrorists across the border in a staging ground and yet the Syrian govt thinks closing a school is like saying "See, it was little babies in diapers who were killed, so we are all indignant and will respond in this crushing manner."