"Syria has delivered a lot of those who tried to enter Iraq back to their mother countries," Mihoub says. "But a border such as the Syria-Iraqi border, with the existence of clans and those very huge ranges, it is unsustainable by Syria. Some people may leak from Syria to Iraq or from Iraq to Syria, that happens for all the neighboring countries."

So how many muhajideen move through Syria on their way to war?

"It is probably an important leak," says Fulbright Scholar Landis. For those who want to join the Sunni opposition—Iraq is 30 percent Sunni—Abu Kamal is the best route, he says.

"The Sunnis are in the Northwest of Iraq. Syria is the fastest and safest way to get there," Landis says. "If you don't want to travel through the entire Shiite territory, which you would have to do if you were going through Saudi Arabia, it is easier to just fly to Syria or take a bus and come across the 600 kilometers someplace."

The two other main crossings lack Abu Kamal's connection to Al Qaim. At Tanf is much closer to Damascus, but Highway 3 hits desert in Iraq. Al Yaribuyeh is too far north into Kurdish country for a Sunni.

So from Damascus, the would-be jihadi heads east on Highway 7, past the tour buses at the spectacular Roman ruins in Palmyra. Most passengers draw the curtains to shield the sun and the tedium of endless brown sand stretching to Deir Ez-Zur.

About 15 kilometers before the Euphrates greens the landscape in Dier, as the locals call it, the coach pulls over for a potty stop, because the coach lacks an inboard latrine.

Syrians will insist on buying you a cup of tea or a chicken kebab at the roadside stand. After 15 minutes, buses continue the journey, and in Dier, turn southeast onto Highway 4 for the final 200 kilometers of Russian-built infrastructure to Abu Kamal.

Before boarding, passengers must present identity documents to a sales agent, who logs names in a ledger. For a bribe less than the bus ticket, the agent might miss a name.

The system seems designed more for population control and post-facto investigations than for pre-emptive arrests.

And that's a central Bush claim—that Syria accommodates terrorists, lets Arabs angry with America abuse an open-ended visa policy. The visa policy reflects traditional Syrian hospitality, says Mihoub.

"We are bestowing visas freely for all the Arabs even before the American invasion," he says. Any Arab can enter, says Sami Moubayed, a 28-year-old Syrian with a PhD in Modern Middle East Affairs from Exeter in England.

"We have to track this all in a more professional manner," Moubayed says. "For the first couple of weeks after the start of the war, Syrians turned a blind eye to fighters crossing the borders."

It has always been in Syria's interest to keep Islamic fundamentalism at bay, Moubayed says, and to Bashar's credit, his government changed after the aggressive new American neighbors made accusations and demands.

More cooperation on the border, Moubayed says, like the US better patrolling its end, would help. It is Syria's responsibility, the State Department's Higgins says.

"It is not just the foreign fighters," he says. "It is that Damascus has become a base of support for various parties that are funding the insurgency and providing support to it."

Higgins had no names or further information on who those parties are. Moubayed says he wonders if America isn't making Syria scapegoat for failures in Iraq.

"America needs to explain why it is not winning," Moubayed says. "You can always lay the blame on other people, it is much easier than taking the blame yourself. The Iraqis and Americans are failing to keep order. They say the Syrians aren't doing their share. Apparently, people are getting across. Are Syrians facilitating it? No."

That depends on the definition of "Syrian." Aiding and abetting fighters is not unheard of in Abu Kamal, where tribalism supersedes patriotism, says Landis.

"You ask if people from their tribe are going to Iraq to fight or help or smuggle, and they say absolutely," Landis recounts. "They say we are one people, and we have people on both sides. We don't recognize this border. If our people are being hurt on the other side of this border, we have to help them."

In drawing a line on a placemat (or so the story goes) in 1920, Winston Churchill and his mates ignored 5,000 years of tribal history. US support for the creation of Israel in 1948 completed the transformation of the borderless Ottoman Empire into the modern mezze of Middle Eastern nation-states.

Noam Chomsky labels it historical engineering, and that's what the US is doing to the Middle East post-September 11, Dr. Ibrahim says,

"We have a new map," Ibrahim says. "I think the regime of Saddam has been removed because it is the most easy to be removed. After he has been removed, there are two countries the US wants to remove the regimes: Syria, Iran."

Syrians like Youseff Salaam in Al Hiri have contemplated the threat of a US invasion.

"The US will not come," Salaam says, "But we feel terror."

Salaam's right wrist bears a black and blue geometric Islamic tattoo, hidden beneath a Chinese digital watch with a metal band. A farmer in a grey robe and Ben and Jerry's hat approaches.

"If the US does come, we will stand tall," Salaam promises. "We are not killing the Americans, we are defending our land."

Abu Yakkub the travel agent says he doubts America will enter Syria, but he vows, if America attacks, "I would defend Abu Kamal like the Syrian I am."

If cooler heads fail to prevail, the buses will stop running. An invasion would bring the hell of Baghdad to Damascus, Ibrahim says.

"We want you to bring your literature, your culture, your education, your movies," Ibrahim says. "Everyone one of us loves Superman, Christopher Reeve. We were very sad when the man died. Believe me, one cinema movie is better than all this force.

"We have old Arabian wisdom," he says. "There was a man walking in the desert. The Sun and the Wind were talking. The Wind said to the Sun, ‘I can take the clothes off this man.' The Sun said to the Wind, ‘You can begin.' The Wind began blowing here and here. The man was clutching his clothes so and so and so. He will never leave his clothes. After a while, the Wind became tired. The Sun said, ‘It's my turn.' The Sun began shining and shining gently, gently. He felt very hot. He took off his clothes, carried them away and began singing."

The sun is education, the wind is might, Ibrahim says. Arabs would love America if it used smooth power instead of explosive power.

Part 1, 2, 3, 4.

11/22/06

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A young boy shows off a small fish from the Euphrates

A young fish merchant hawks his catch from the nearby Euphrates River on the streets of Abu Kamal.

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The Line Between: Reporting from the Syria-Iraq Border, part 4