Posted on 09/23/2007 11:42:45 AM PDT by Clintonfatigued
ISRAELI commandos from the elite Sayeret Matkal unit almost certainly dressed in Syrian uniforms made their way stealthily towards a secret military compound near Dayr az-Zawr in northern Syria. They were looking for proof that Syria and North Korea were collaborating on a nuclear programme.
Israel had been surveying the site for months, according to Washington and Israeli sources. President George W Bush was told during the summer that Israeli intelligence suggested North Korean personnel and nuclear-related material were at the Syrian site.
Israel was determined not to take any chances with its neighbour. Following the example set by its raid on an Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak 1981, it drew up plans to bomb the Syrian compound.
But Washington was not satisfied. It demanded clear evidence of nuclear-related activities before giving the operation its blessing. The task of the commandos was to provide it.
Today the site near Dayr az-Zawr lies in ruins after it was pounded by Israeli F15Is on September 6. Before the Israelis issued the order to strike, the commandos had secretly seized samples of nuclear material and taken them back into Israel for examination by scientists, the sources say. A laboratory confirmed that the unspecified material was North Korean in origin. America approved an attack.
News of the secret ground raid is the latest piece of the jigsaw to emerge about the mysterious Israeli airstrike. Israel has imposed a news blackout, but has not disguised its satisfaction with the mission. The incident also reveals the extent of the cooperation between America and Israel over nuclear-related security issues in the Middle East. The attack on what Israeli defence sources now call the North Korean project appears to be part of a wider, secret war against the nonconventional weapons ambitions of Syria and North Korea
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Go, Israel.
A ground targeting situation makes sense.
Otherwise a LANTIRN pod is more than able to provide the needed spot. Even a JDAM or WCMD would do the trick.
Most F15s work as a hunter-killer teams with one A/C illuminating the target with the other delivering ordinance.
I have seen the IAF in action (Red/Green Flag)- they really don’t need ‘help’.
So much for the peace treaty fantasy. You can achieve virtually nothing when all U.S. can do is to offer lots of carrots but no prospect of using sticks.
Imbeciles.
I wonder if this was planned before Barak took over as Israel’s Defense Minister. If not, I’ll bet he was involved in the planning, it he didn’t think it up himself. He was a disaster as a Prime Minister, but he’s a good solider. Let him do military stuff and keep him out of politics. Bravo to the IDF for this operation!
You have to admit, even though we DO know about it, the news has been... at best, sketchy and few details. Then there are those who simply aren’t talking about it.
So if Bush is “evil”, what does this make the Syrians, Iranians and North Koreans? P!ss on the left.
bump
The key factor promoting "sketchiness" for sure.
Freedom, nature, and Earth loving Utopians who can do no wrong. /s
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