Is this the first hostility between US and Syrian troops, the sign of something to come, the precedent that has been broken? More on that later...

Many Salafis have declared that they are on their way from Iraq to Syria to carry out terrorist attacks, according to the government.

Syria says it faces problems on its border from "infiltrators, smugglers" and "the Iraqi and American forces". It is the first time Syria has claimed what many living near the border have known - that Syrian troops are routinely killed, either by mistake or deliberately by the Occupying forces. Moving along the unmarked border and with the same colour faces as terrorists, its easy mistake for an 18-year-old from Virginia to make.

The report says there were 100 clashes, where US troops fired from behind the huge sand ramp. Syria dug a sand ramp to hinder the path of terrorists across the border. The Pentagon said it would check with their troops in Iraq.

Syria says it wants a stable Iraq to emerge quickly because it will mean the end of the US Occupation. They said that there were almost no illegal crossings in the daytime. Syria has again complained that the US and UK has not provided the night-vision goggles it needs to prevent illegal crossings at night.

"The problem of infiltrations still persists to a certain extent during the night because of the lack of necessary technical equipment to monitor the border," it said.