Osirak II?

Opinionjournal.com ^ | 9-18-07 | BRET STEPHENS

[Renfield]

.......So it's more than a little telling that the Israeli newspaper Haaretz chose, in the wake of an Israeli Air Force raid on Syria on Sept. 6 dubbed "Operation Orchard," to give front-page billing to an op-ed by John Bolton that appeared in this newspaper Aug. 31. While the article dealt mainly with the six-party talks with North Korea, Mr. Bolton also noted that "both Iran and Syria have long cooperated with North Korea on ballistic missile programs, and the prospect of cooperation on nuclear matters is not far-fetched." He went on to wonder whether Pyongyang was using its Middle Eastern allies as safe havens for its nuclear goods while it went through a U.N. inspections process.

How plausible is this scenario? The usual suspects in the nonproliferation crowd reject it as some kind of trumped-up neocon plot. Yet based on conversations with Israeli and U.S. sources, along with evidence both positive and negative (that is, what people aren't saying), it seems the likeliest suggested so far. That isn't to say, however, that plenty of gaps and question marks about the operation don't remain.....

[Shqipo]

Not to mention some of Saddam’s old stuff.

[Izzy Dunne]

According to CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Israel's target was a cache of Iranian weapons destined for Hezbollah.

Well, that pretty much rules out the Hezbollah theory.

[Izzy Dunne]

There is also a rumor--sourced to an unnamed expert in the Washington Post--that on Sept. 3 a North Korean ship delivered some kind of nuclear cargo to the Syrian port of Tartus, forcing the Israelis to act. That may well be accurate, though it squares awkwardly with the evidence that plans for Orchard were laid months ago.

I don't see the "awkwardness" of that possibility.

If the Syrians were building some sort of facility for nuclear / chemical weapons processing, Israel might have known about it for months.

The mystery ship might have delivered the fissionable material, which meant that Israel had to act, and act now.

I'm not certain that's what happened, but it doesn't seem all that farfetched to me.

[SJackson]

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[Loud Mime]

CNN's Christiane Amanpour lets her personal views color her reporting. Her propaganda on religions should usher her out of the news business.

[bert]

.....According to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Israel’s target was a cache of Iranian weapons destined for Hezbollah.......

That was my favorite part...... they suckered the gullible antiAmerican CNN bitch

[NordP]

Which, because of her obvious agenda wasn’t hard to do. I like it when that happens too.

[Remole]

If the location in Syria did hold some fissionable material, can someone on this forum explain how we have not heard anything about raised radioactive levels? Aren’t there US troops down wind of that hole in the ground?

[Izzy Dunne]

Aren’t there US troops down wind of that hole in the ground?

Good question - the nearest troops would be in Iraq - not sure which way the wind blows.

[Biggirl]

This could be a warning shot to Iran that they are not to mess around with Isreal.

[Kevmo]

I’d be willing to bet that most americans and even freepers have no idea what this headline means. Some wouldn’t even know after it was explained to them.