http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aZSDxoH3ye7U&refer=homeGates, Pace Say U.S. Troops Won't Enter Iran or Syria (Update1)
Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- American troops seeking to counter Iranian and Syrian aid to violent forces in Iraq won't cross the border into those countries, top Defense Department officials told lawmakers.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Peter Pace said U.S. forces will stay inside Iraq as they seek to root out Iranian arms supplies to Iraqi insurgents and militias.
``From a military standpoint, no need to cross the Iranian border,'' Pace said during testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington. He said U.S. forces in Iraq are capable of tracking down ``the networks in Iraq, regardless of where they're coming from, that have been providing tools to kill our troops.''
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Gates said today that he believed Bush's comment in his speech referred ``strictly to operations inside the territory of Iraq, not crossing the borders.''