"The Americans won't control their side of the border, accept our offers of collaboration, allow us the surveillance equipment we need - then accuse us of aiding a resistance that, they know, is basically Iraqi, even if some foreign fighters do get over our frontiers, which - they also know - cannot be sealed without investing resources way beyond our means."

The words of a Syrian commander at Wadi Sawab, guarding the Syrian-Iraqi border. (From David Hirst, The Guardian).