Posted on 10/22/2007 7:11:25 AM PDT by Schnucki
Syria has begun dismantling the remains of a site Israel bombed Sept. 6 in what may be an attempt to prevent the location from coming under international scrutiny, said U.S. and foreign officials familiar with the aftermath of the attack.
Based on overhead photography, the officials say the site in Syria's eastern desert near the Euphrates River had a "signature" or characteristics of a small but substantial nuclear reactor, one similar in structure to North Korea's facilities.
The dismantling of the damaged site, which appears to be still underway, could make it difficult for weapons inspectors to determine the precise nature of the facility and how Syria planned to use it. Syria, which possesses a small reactor used for scientific research, has denied seeking to expand its nuclear program. But U.S. officials knowledgeable about the Israeli raid have described the target as a nuclear facility being constructed with North Korean assistance.
The bombed facility is different from the one Syria displayed to journalists last week to back its allegations that Israel had bombed an essentially an empty building, said the officials, who insisted on anonymity because details of the Israeli attack are classified.
While U.S. officials express increasing confidence that the Syrian facility was nuclear-related, divisions persist within the government and among weapons experts over the significance of the threat. If the facility was a nuclear reactor, U.S. weapons experts said it would almost certainly have taken Syria several years to complete the structure, and much longer to produce significant quantities of plutonium for potential use in nuclear weapons. Nuclear reactors also are used to generate electricity.
"This isn't like a Road Runner cartoon where you call up Acme Reactors and they deliver a functioning reactor to your back yard. It takes years to build," said Joseph Cirincione,
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Bullet point #1 in that message was: "How well did the Russian made air defense systems you purchased for the Syrians (and the same ones that you also deploy) do in protecting the site?
But Acme products always fail.
What’s the Russian interpretation for Acme... ?
LOL nice
I hear they have ordered several “Baby Milk Factory” signs from Saddam’s former sign painter in Iraq.
Baby Formula Factory.
Potemki
It was all a translator’s mistake! And that is why we are burying it in an undisclosed location.
In fairness, they might be dismantling it because it got blowed up.
I have been trying to relate this story to the incident in Aleppo, Syria, in July where a number of Syrians and Iranians were killed when a VX warhead exploded as it was being mounted on a SCUD missile. The July incident seems to have dropped out of view.
I don’t buy the nukes, too many problems with the story. More likely missile tech and exotic fuels that N Korea is known to possess. Syria has all the chem/bio agents and scuds from Iraq, they need tech support to create a missile arsenal. Exactly what the N Koreans are good at. Possible dirty bomb payload, about all the N Korean “weapons grade” fuel is good for, very crude stuff.
“Based on overhead photography, the officials say the site in Syria’s eastern desert near the Euphrates River had a ‘signature’ or characteristics of a small but substantial nuclear reactor, one similar in structure to North Korea’s facilities.”
and an earlier topic:
Report: Syria dismantling facility targeted by IAF
Haaretz Service | October 19, 2007 | Haaretz Service
Posted on 10/19/2007 10:08:43 AM EDT by waimea.man
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1913485/posts
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.