WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The United States has quietly acknowledged that Iraq
and Syria have rapidly developed military cooperation.U.S. officials and defense sources said Iraq and Syria have been
coordinating in military exercises as well as communications, command and
control. They said the cooperation has increased significantly in recent
months.Last week, Iraq and Syria signed a mutual defense pact meant to respond
to any Israeli attack, the sources said. The sources said the cooperation is
also linked to Iran, Syria's leading ally."The Syrian-Iraqi relationship is intriguing," Assistant Defense
Secretary for International Security Affairs Peter Rodman said during a
briefing on Tuesday. "There's a rivalry that goes back many decades, yet in
the present environment they seem to have common ground in trying to
complicate life for the United States and for Israel. I think there is a
danger of conflict in the Middle East that is disturbing, but I don't want
to speculate."A U.S. defense source said Iraqi troops have been deployed from an area
of Irbil in the north to the Syrian border. The source said Iraqi and Syrian
troops have integrated their anti-aircraft and command and control systems
along their mutual border."In the past, Iraqi troops would rush toward the Syrian border in mock
attacks that had little military value," the source said. "Today, we are
seeing real cooperation."Earlier this month, a U.S. F-16 warplane flew from southern Turkey and
remained 23 minutes in Syrian airspace. The Pentagon termed the overflight
an accident, but U.S. defense sources asserted that the flight was meant to
test Iraqi and Syrian anti-aircraft capabilities."The F-16 was immediately tracked," another defense source said. "The
Syrians could have fired at us, but chose not to."Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has asserted that his country has
improved its air defenses against U.S. or British attack. Saddam warned of
an imminent conflict with Washington.
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