Posted on 09/22/2007 7:30:07 PM PDT by Libloather
Israelis seized nuclear material in Syrian raid
Uzi Mahnaimi and Sarah Baxter
September 23, 2007
Israeli commandos seized nuclear material of North Korean origin during a daring raid on a secret military site in Syria before Israel bombed it this month, according to informed sources in Washington and Jerusalem.
The attack was launched with American approval on September 6 after Washington was shown evidence the material was nuclear related, the well-placed sources say.
They confirmed that samples taken from Syria for testing had been identified as North Korean. This raised fears that Syria might have joined North Korea and Iran in seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.
Israeli special forces had been gathering intelligence for several months in Syria, according to Israeli sources. They located the nuclear material at a compound near Dayr az-Zwar in the north.
Evidence that North Korean personnel were at the site is said to have been shared with President George W Bush over the summer. A senior American source said the administration sought proof of nuclear-related activities before giving the attack its blessing.
Diplomats in North Korea and China believe a number of North Koreans were killed in the strike, based on reports reaching Asian governments about conversations between Chinese and North Korean officials.
Syrian officials flew to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, last week, reinforcing the view that the two nations were coordinating their response.
Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.
No, it was strictly a trade mission: hummus and baba ghanoush for kimchi and Korean barbecue.
I think you are correct...we have a six to eight month window tops....before the Presidential season really gets rolling.
That is why I get this sense something is going on under the radar.
DUH!
Like Bush is going to tell YOU what he really knows.ha. ha.ha.
I can’t stand the “its Bush’s fault.!” and “Bush is dumb”.
Is Barak bin Ubama still planning to talk to Assad or the little dog eater?
What he says publicly and what he knows and is doing privately aren’t likely the same thing. This is the sort of issue that can’t be managed in broad daylight.
And as the Church Lady would say...”And now isn’t that just SPECIAL!”
GEE, MAYBE IT WAS GOOD WE GOT RID OF sADDAM....You think?
Yep they can, by the isotopic mixture. Each reactor has its own signature.
It is going to happen Dog, it is going to happen.
and Bob Dylan’s great song, “neighborhood Bully’ about Israel comes to mind.
Israel...cleaning up the world’s messess that other countries won’t!
Chinese: What did you do now you little nitwit?
North Korea: Wasn't us boss....
Perhaps Mossad helped that little disaster happen. :)
Indeed. And that’s why we keep sending money to Israel. If we pay them, they’ll do what we don’t have the balls to do.
That reminds me of this joke:
A cruise ship sinks and three men make it to an uninhabited island. The first man, a Christian, tears two branches from a palm tree, creates a cross, and prays to the Lord to be saved from the island.
The second man, a Muslim, pulls several fronds from the palm tree, creates a mat, kneels facing Mecca, and prays to Allah to save him.
The third man, a Jew, falls asleep under the palm tree. The other two can't understand how this man could remain so calm and serene - and ask him how he could be so at ease.
He answers: "Two years ago I gave $1,000,000 to the Jewish Federation. Last year I gave $2,000,000. This year I pledged $3,000,000. Don't worry, they'll find me.
Gotta love the Jews. They don’t wait to get UN resolutions. They just take care of business. My dad made such a comment when they bombed Saddam’s nuclear plant in the 80s. Kick butt. Take names. Deal with the “world opinion” after the fact.
We could learn something from this.
That article uses “nuclear material” and “nuclear related material” interchangeably, which makes it difficult to guess what was discovered.
Which was suspected/found makes a big difference: “nuclear material” is pretty much a smoking gun, “nuclear related material” is ... well... remember those aluminum tubes in Iraq?
The “well placed sources”, which were presumably being precise, used the latter description, which leaves things pretty murky.
That said, in a country as poor as NK which operates a number of programs (counterfeiting and drug smuggling, are two examples)which amount to organized crime, you have to wonder how much control the central government can exercise over the international sale of “nuclear related material”.
IMO the possibility freelancing groups withing the NK armed forces would black-market such material is even scarier - if that’s possible - then the central government doing the same as deliberate policy.
Yes, but things are always interesting in the middle east. Too many sexually-frustrated nut cases.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.