"We have to wait and see what Syria does and what its reaction is," said one staff sergeant who declined to be named from the 101st Airborne Division at this base camp in northern Iraq.

"This is not the best timing given our position, we're here and they're stirring up a hornet's nest."

Another soldier quipped: "We're only a couple of hundred klicks (kilometres) from the Syrian border, obviously it's going to matter."

Israel launched the overnight attack after Saturday's suicide bombing at a restaurant in the northern coastal city of Haifa which killed 19 people plus the female bomber and left more than 50 others wounded.

One of the groups alleged to have used the suspected Aysian base, Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for the attack on the crowded restaurant on the Sabbath day of rest ahead of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.

US troops at this camp watched intently as satellite television networks beamed the news that Israel had bombed the camp near Dasmascas also allegedly used by other radical Palestinian groups such as Hamas.

Some appeared to back the air strike.

"It's not surprising, these guys (Islamic Jihad and Hamas) have been blowing-up innocent people and Syria supports them," said one GI.

"This is going to have a lot of ramifications," he said. "We're just sitting here on the border and watching, and these guys (Islamic Jihad) will have to be stopped one day."

The strikes were Israel's deepest strike since 1974 into Syria, which has been under intense pressure from Washington to exile known terrorists.

"As someone else said earlier, 'we've got enough eggs in our basket to worry about over here than to worry about over there," said another officer from the 101st Airborne's 1st Battalion.

WAR.WIRE