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**Ray** · 12 Sep 07,, 18:31

U.S. officials confirm IAF strike in Syria

Last update - 19:50 12/09/2007
Report: U.S. officials confirm IAF strike in Syria

By Barak Ravid, Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents and News Agencies

Reuters reported Wednesday that U.S. officials had confirmed that the Israel Air Force launched air strikes against Syria last week, but would not discuss the intended targets.

"The strike I can confirm. The target, I can't," said one U.S. official, adding that there had been more than one strike. Another official called reports on the likely targets "confused."

While Israel remained silent, media reports began surfacing Tuesday of U.S. officials confirming the Israel Air Force had indeed carried out an air strike last Thursday. The New York Times said Wednesday that likely targets were weapons caches Israel believed Iran was sending to Hezbollah via Syria.

The New York Times quoted a Defense Department official as saying the IAF struck at least one target in northeastern Syria, but said it was unclear what the target was and what was the extent of the damage.

Syria has protested to the United Nations about the strike on its territory, but has also said nothing was hit and there was no damage.

Israeli officials have repeatedly declined to comment on the claims, however the CNN television network reported Tuesday that the Israeli government is "very happy with the successful operation."

Senior CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour, citing Middle Eastern and Washington sources, said aircraft and possibly even ground forces, who may have directed the planes to their target, took part in the operation.

The attack left "a big hole in the desert," the report said. CNN quoted U.S. government and military sources as saying they were "happy to have Israel convey to both Syria and Iran the message that they can get in and out and strike when necessary."

Report: U.S. says Israel took images of Syria atomic facility

The New York Times on Wednesday quoted a Bush Administration official as saying Israel recently photographed possible nuclear installations in Syria.

"One Bush administration official said Israel had recently carried out reconnaissance flights over Syria, taking pictures of possible nuclear installations that Israeli officials believed might have been supplied with material from North Korea," the paper wrote. "The administration official said Israeli officials believed that North Korea might be unloading some of its nuclear material on Syria"

"The Israelis think North Korea is selling to Iran and Syria what little they have left," the New York Times quoted the official as saying.

Israel possibly targeted weapons intended for delivery to Hezbollah inside Syria a week ago, CNN quoted the sources as saying.

Also Wednesday, a Lebanese minister said his country experienced communications disruptions following the IAF incursion.

Lebanon's Communications Minister Marwan Hamadeh told Al-Mustaqbal television that, following an extensive inquiry with cellular telephone companies and the Lebanese military, it was determined that the disruptions were caused by satellites and from sources out at sea.

Hamadeh did not go into further details regarding the source of the disruptions, but said that communications all but returned to normal after about five days.

Syria's UN envoy: Our response has not yet come

Meanwhile, Syria's envoy to the United Nations said Wednesday that Damascus was reserving the right to determine the timing and manner of its response to the alleged air strike.

"The Syrian response has not yet come," said Bashar al-Jaafari, in an interview with BBC Arabic.

On Tuesday, Syria complained to the UN about "aggression and violation of sovereignty," al-Jaafari said.

The ambassador said Damascus made its complaint in two letters to the UN secretary general and the president of the Security Council. The letters said the Israel Air Force action violated the 1974 disengagement agreement that was reached after the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Al-Jaafari said Israel had violated Syrian air space and dropped munitions. But he denied that Israel had landed troops on the ground inside Syria.

"This is absolutely not true," he said, adding the reports were an attempt to show that Israel could land troops wherever it wants.

The only countries that have expressed solidarity with Syria are Iran and North Korea. Russia issued a condemnation of sorts.

Report: U.S. officials confirm IAF strike in Syria - Haaretz - Israel News

One more headache for the US and the world!

Syria on the way to have its nuclear bomb, unless of course the facility has been wiped out!

The Middle East is really turning out to be a conundrum!

**Kansas Bear** · 12 Sep 07,, 18:51

Could a mod please move this thread to the Brigadier's "U.S. officials confirm IAF strike in Syria" thread.

Thanks!:)

**Parihaka** · 12 Sep 07,, 22:35

Done

**entropy** · 12 Sep 07,, 22:52

The sound you hear are the leftists howling to the Moon in the night.

**~~Bluesman~~** · 12 Sep 07,, 22:56

Originally posted by entropy View Post

The sound you hear are the leftists howling to the Moon in the night.

Jooooo war-mongers![/sarc]

**Kansas Bear** · 14 Sep 07,, 17:29

Oh damn!

'Turkey gave Israel intel on Syria'

Turkey provided Israel with intelligence on Syria prior to last week's alleged IAF flyover into the country, Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida claimed on Thursday.

According to the report, the country had a central role in delivering precise information regarding targets in Syria that were to be hit by Israeli planes. Further, the report claimed that the Israeli pilots were given authorization by the Turkish army to use its airspace in order to carry out the operation.

Sources told Al-Jarida that Turkish intelligence did not coordinate the move with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "Coordination of the [release of information] occurred far away from the political echelon," it said.

The Israeli and Turkish armies share a strong relationship that has been felt through several joint exercises and weapons sales.

On Saturday, an unnamed Turkish official demanded explanations from Israel after fuel tanks allegedly dropped by Israel F-151 planes who were conducting a foray into Syrian airspace, were found on the Turkish-Syrian border.

Turkish paper Hurriyet reported that Turkey was demanding whether the Israeli planes also passed over its own airspace.

'Turkey gave Israel intel on Syria' | Jerusalem Post

**Ray** · 14 Sep 07,, 18:05

Israel and Syria
Mysterious happenings

Sep 13th 2007 | JERUSALEM
From The Economist print edition
Talk of war, talk of peace

�I CAN'T remember a time when our interests and theirs converged like this,� says a former Israeli defence man. For several days after Syria complained that Israeli aircraft had penetrated its airspace, neither country wanted to talk about what had happened. The unaccustomed silence was broken first by Syria's foreign minister, Walid Moallem, who apparently complained to European diplomats that Israel had bombed targets in Syria; and then by unnamed American sources, who confirmed to CNN and the New York Times that Israel had carried out air strikes.

What Israel bombed and why is still unclear. The American reports suggest that it was weapons destined for Hizbullah, the Iran-backed Islamist Shia movement that dominates southern Lebanon, but these have been passing through Syria for years. One theory is that it was suspected nuclear material from North Korea (apart from Iran, North Korea was the only country to leap indignantly to Syria's defence); another, that Israel was trying out flight paths for a possible war with Syria or attack on Iran, or testing out new Syrian air defences that were reportedly recently supplied by Russia. Syria's own muted response and failure to retaliate suggest that whatever happened, it was most embarrassing.

Certainly, Israeli air force officers are said to be jubilant about the mission's success, though officials have stayed tight-lipped, and those Israeli journalists who hint that they know what happened aren't telling. Whatever the target, it must have been something special for Israel to launch an attack now, at a time when both countries have been building up their forces for a possible war while trying to reassure each other publicly that they do not want one. Indeed, having the leaks come from America rather than Israel may have been an attempt to avoid further escalation.

That attempt may be working: despite unconfirmed reports that Syria was calling up its reserves, no firm promise of military retaliation has come. And the raid will certainly have given Syria pause. Though both countries have been building up their defences since Israel's war with Hizbullah last summer, Syria has for a while been calling for new peace talks over the return of the Golan Heights, which Israel occupied in the 1967 war. A number of prominent Israelis echoed that call this year, after a former Israeli diplomat and an expatriate Syrian-American revealed that they had had a series of meetings to talk peace.

Proponents of talking to Syria argue that doing so would encourage it to reduce its involvement in Lebanon, loosen its ties with Iran and stop letting insurgents cross its border into Iraq. Sceptics, who predominate in the Israeli and American governments, argue that Syria merely wants peace talks with Israel as a way to ease the pressure on it, and should show it is serious about relinquishing its influence in Lebanon first. The latest raid may have weakened Syria's hand. If Israel can slow Hizbullah's arms supply or foil Syrian air defences, then, so the theory goes, it dents Syria's ability to use either its influence in Lebanon or the threat of a war with Israel as bargaining chips.

Israel and Syria | Mysterious happenings | Economist.com

What's happening?

A conflict in the offing?

**Amled** · 14 Sep 07,, 19:24

Originally posted by Ray View Post

What's happening?

A conflict in the offing?

The fact that North Korea has protested is highly suggestive.

**entropy** · 15 Sep 07,, 16:20

Report: IAF attacked N. Korean nuclear shipment to Syria

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reply to: [email protected]
Date: 2007-09-15, 6:04AM EDT

The secret IAF foray into Syrian airspace was in fact an Israeli air strike directed at a North Korean boat delivering suspected nuclear material to Syria, the Washington Post reported on Saturday.

According to the report, the North Korean boat was disguised as a cement shipment. The Post report also claimed that the IAF attacked an "agricultural research center" which Israel believed was in fact a facility used by the Syrians to extract uranium from phosphates.

The report quoted an anonymous source who said that he received his information from Israelis who participated in the attack. According to that source, Israel took significant measures to protect the secrecy of the mission, briefing only those pilots who actually carried out the strike, and not the pilots of the planes providing cover. Further, the pilots who were involved in the attack were only told details after they had already taken off.

Speculation over the IAF foray into Syrian territory has been the subject of considerable debate since news of the mission broke last week.

On a Friday, a senior US nuclear official said that the North Koreans were in Syria and Damascus may have had contacts with "secret suppliers" to obtain nuclear equipment.

Andrew Semmel, acting deputy assistant secretary of state for nuclear nonproliferation policy, did not name the suppliers, but said there were North Koreans in Syria and that he could not exclude that the network run by disgraced Pakistan nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan may have been involved.

The Washington Post reported Thursday that Israel had gathered satellite imagery showing possible North Korean cooperation with Syria on a nuclear facility.

Semmel, who is in Italy for a meeting Saturday on the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, said that Syria was certainly on the US nuclear "watch list."

"There are indicators that they do have something going on there," he said. "We do know that there are a number of foreign technicians that have been in Syria. We do know that there may have been contact between Syria and some secret suppliers for nuclear equipment. Whether anything transpired remains to be seen."

"So good foreign policy, good national security policy, would suggest that we pay very close attention to that," he said. "We're watching very closely. Obviously, the Israelis were watching very closely."

Asked if the suppliers could have been North Koreans, he said: "There are North Korean people there. There's no question about that. Just as there are a lot of North Koreans in Iraq and Iran."

Asked if the so-called Khan network, which supplied nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea, could have been involved, he said he "wouldn't exclude" it.

Linky

No idea how credible the source is.

**ASG** · 15 Sep 07,, 20:01

The fact that North Korean officials are speaking up speaks for itself. Geographically speaking, Egypt should have been more involved than North Korea. What does NK has to do with this, unless ofcourse it was nuclear material supplied by NK itself in those installations.

Who are North Koreans to suggest about regional peace in the middle-east when they can't ensure the same in their region?

I don't see a war coming. Syria isn't strong enough militarily to go on a war against Israel alone.

**Kansas Bear** · 17 Sep 07,, 02:36

Israelis �blew apart Syrian nuclear cache�

IT was just after midnight when the 69th Squadron of Israeli F15Is crossed the Syrian coast-line. On the ground, Syria�s formidable air defences went dead. An audacious raid on a Syrian target 50 miles from the Iraqi border was under way.

At a rendezvous point on the ground, a Shaldag air force commando team was waiting to direct their laser beams at the target for the approaching jets. The team had arrived a day earlier, taking up position near a large underground depot. Soon the bunkers were in flames.

Ten days after the jets reached home, their mission was the focus of intense speculation this weekend amid claims that Israel believed it had destroyed a cache of nuclear materials from North Korea.

The Israeli government was not saying. �The security sources and IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] soldiers are demonstrating unusual courage,� said Ehud Olmert, the prime minister. �We naturally cannot always show the public our cards.�

Related Links
A tale of two dictatorships: The links between North Korea and Syria
The Syrians were also keeping mum. �I cannot reveal the details,� said Farouk al-Sharaa, the vice-president. �All I can say is the military and political echelon is looking into a series of responses as we speak. Results are forthcoming.� The official story that the target comprised weapons destined for Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shi�ite group, appeared to be crumbling in the face of widespread scepticism.

Andrew Semmel, a senior US State Department official, said Syria might have obtained nuclear equipment from �secret suppliers�, and added that there were a �number of foreign technicians� in the country.

Asked if they could be North Korean, he replied: �There are North Korean people there. There�s no question about that.� He said a network run by AQ Khan, the disgraced creator of Pakistan�s nuclear weapons, could be involved.

But why would nuclear material be in Syria? Known to have chemical weapons, was it seeking to bolster its arsenal with something even more deadly?

Alternatively, could it be hiding equipment for North Korea, enabling Kim Jong-il to pretend to be giving up his nuclear programme in exchange for economic aid? Or was the material bound for Iran, as some authorities in America suggest?

According to Israeli sources, preparations for the attack had been going on since late spring, when Meir Dagan, the head of Mossad, presented Olmert with evidence that Syria was seeking to buy a nuclear device from North Korea.

The Israeli spy chief apparently feared such a device could eventually be installed on North-Korean-made Scud-C missiles.

�This was supposed to be a devastating Syrian surprise for Israel,� said an Israeli source. �We�ve known for a long time that Syria has deadly chemical warheads on its Scuds, but Israel can�t live with a nuclear warhead.�

An expert on the Middle East, who has spoken to Israeli participants in the raid, told yesterday�s Washington Post that the timing of the raid on September 6 appeared to be linked to the arrival three days earlier of a ship carrying North Korean material labelled as cement but suspected of concealing nuclear equipment.

The target was identified as a northern Syrian facility that purported to be an agricultural research centre on the Euphrates river. Israel had been monitoring it for some time, concerned that it was being used to extract uranium from phosphates.

According to an Israeli air force source, the Israeli satellite Ofek 7, launched in June, was diverted from Iran to Syria. It sent out high-quality images of a northeastern area every 90 minutes, making it easy for air force specialists to spot the facility.

Early in the summer Ehud Barak, the defence minister, had given the order to double Israeli forces on its Golan Heights border with Syria in anticipation of possible retaliation by Damascus in the event of air strikes.

Sergei Kirpichenko, the Russian ambassador to Syria, warned President Bashar al-Assad last month that Israel was planning an attack, but suggested the target was the Golan Heights.

Israeli military intelligence sources claim Syrian special forces moved towards the Israeli outpost of Mount Hermon on the Golan Heights. Tension rose, but nobody knew why.

At this point, Barak feared events could spiral out of control. The decision was taken to reduce the number of Israeli troops on the Golan Heights and tell Damascus the tension was over. Syria relaxed its guard shortly before the Israeli Defence Forces struck.

Only three Israeli cabinet ministers are said to have been in the know � Olmert, Barak and Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister. America was also consulted. According to Israeli sources, American air force codes were given to the Israeli air force attach� in Washington to ensure Israel�s F15Is would not mistakenly attack their US counterparts.

Once the mission was under way, Israel imposed draconian military censorship and no news of the operation emerged until Syria complained that Israeli aircraft had violated its airspace. Syria claimed its air defences had engaged the planes, forcing them to drop fuel tanks to lighten their loads as they fled.

But intelligence sources suggested it was a highly successful Israeli raid on nuclear material supplied by North Korea.

Washington was rife with speculation last week about the precise nature of the operation. One source said the air strikes were a diversion for a daring Israeli commando raid, in which nuclear materials were intercepted en route to Iran and hauled to Israel. Others claimed they were destroyed in the attack.

There is no doubt, however, that North Korea is accused of nuclear cooperation with Syria, helped by AQ Khan�s network. John Bolton, who was undersecretary for arms control at the State Department, told the United Nations in 2004 the Pakistani nuclear scientist had �several other� customers besides Iran, Libya and North Korea.

Some of his evidence came from the CIA, which had reported to Congress that it viewed �Syrian nuclear intentions with growing concern�.

�I�ve been worried for some time about North Korea and Iran outsourcing their nuclear programmes,� Bolton said last week. Syria, he added, was a member of a �junior axis of evil�, with a well-established ambition to develop weapons of mass destruction.

The links between Syria and North Korea date back to the rule of Kim Il-sung and President Hafez al-Assad in the last century. In recent months, their sons have quietly ordered an increase in military and technical cooperation.

Foreign diplomats who follow North Korean affairs are taking note. There were reports of Syrian passengers on flights from Beijing to Pyongyang and sightings of Middle Eastern businessmen from sources who watch the trains from North Korea to China.

On August 14, Rim Kyong Man, the North Korean foreign trade minister, was in Syria to sign a protocol on �cooperation in trade and science and technology�. No details were released, but it caught Israel�s attention.

Syria possesses between 60 and 120 Scud-C missiles, which it has bought from North Korea over the past 15 years. Diplomats believe North Korean engineers have been working on extending their 300-mile range. It means they can be used in the deserts of northeastern Syria � the area of the Israeli strike.

The triangular relationship between North Korea, Syria and Iran continues to perplex intelligence analysts. Syria served as a conduit for the transport to Iran of an estimated �50m of missile components and technology sent by sea from North Korea. The same route may be in use for nuclear equipment.

But North Korea is at a sensitive stage of negotiations to end its nuclear programme in exchange for security guarantees and aid, leading some diplomats to cast doubt on the likelihood that Kim would cross America�s �red line� forbidding the proliferation of nuclear materials.

Christopher Hill, the State Department official representing America in the talks, said on Friday he could not confirm �intelligence-type things�, but the reports underscored the need �to make sure the North Koreans get out of the nuclear business�.

By its actions, Israel showed it is not interested in waiting for diplomacy to work where nuclear weapons are at stake.

As a bonus, the Israelis proved they could penetrate the Syrian air defence system, which is stronger than the one protecting Iranian nuclear sites.

This weekend President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran sent Ali Akbar Mehrabian, his nephew, to Syria to assess the damage. The new �axis of evil� may have lost one of its spokes.

Israelis ‘blew apart Syrian nuclear cache’ - Times Online

**Ucar** · 17 Sep 07,, 12:45

Turkish prominent newspaper Milliyet has reported today that the IAF planes have attacked and destroyed a Syrian Nuclear installation.

Also, one drop tank was found inside the Turkish border with Syria raising much public outcry about airspace violation.

**Ray** · 18 Sep 07,, 04:18

From The Sunday Times
September 16, 2007

Israelis �blew apart Syrian nuclear cache�

Secret raid on Korean shipment

Uzi Mahnaimi in Tel Aviv, Sarah Baxter in Washington and Michael Sheridan

IT was just after midnight when the 69th Squadron of Israeli F15Is crossed the Syrian coast-line. On the ground, Syria�s formidable air defences went dead. An audacious raid on a Syrian target 50 miles from the Iraqi border was under way.

At a rendezvous point on the ground, a Shaldag air force commando team was waiting to direct their laser beams at the target for the approaching jets. The team had arrived a day earlier, taking up position near a large underground depot. Soon the bunkers were in flames.

Ten days after the jets reached home, their mission was the focus of intense speculation this weekend amid claims that Israel believed it had destroyed a cache of nuclear materials from North Korea.

The Israeli government was not saying. �The security sources and IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] soldiers are demonstrating unusual courage,� said Ehud Olmert, the prime minister. �We naturally cannot always show the public our cards.�

The Syrians were also keeping mum. �I cannot reveal the details,� said Farouk al-Sharaa, the vice-president. �All I can say is the military and political echelon is looking into a series of responses as we speak. Results are forthcoming.� The official story that the target comprised weapons destined for Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shi�ite group, appeared to be crumbling in the face of widespread scepticism.

Andrew Semmel, a senior US State Department official, said Syria might have obtained nuclear equipment from �secret suppliers�, and added that there were a �number of foreign technicians� in the country.

Asked if they could be North Korean, he replied: �There are North Korean people there. There�s no question about that.� He said a network run by AQ Khan, the disgraced creator of Pakistan�s nuclear weapons, could be involved.

But why would nuclear material be in Syria? Known to have chemical weapons, was it seeking to bolster its arsenal with something even more deadly?

Alternatively, could it be hiding equipment for North Korea, enabling Kim Jong-il to pretend to be giving up his nuclear programme in exchange for economic aid? Or was the material bound for Iran, as some authorities in America suggest?

According to Israeli sources, preparations for the attack had been going on since late spring, when Meir Dagan, the head of Mossad, presented Olmert with evidence that Syria was seeking to buy a nuclear device from North Korea.

The Israeli spy chief apparently feared such a device could eventually be installed on North-Korean-made Scud-C missiles.

�This was supposed to be a devastating Syrian surprise for Israel,� said an Israeli source. �We�ve known for a long time that Syria has deadly chemical warheads on its Scuds, but Israel can�t live with a nuclear warhead.�

An expert on the Middle East, who has spoken to Israeli participants in the raid, told yesterday�s Washington Post that the timing of the raid on September 6 appeared to be linked to the arrival three days earlier of a ship carrying North Korean material labelled as cement but suspected of concealing nuclear equipment.

The target was identified as a northern Syrian facility that purported to be an agricultural research centre on the Euphrates river. Israel had been monitoring it for some time, concerned that it was being used to extract uranium from phosphates.

According to an Israeli air force source, the Israeli satellite Ofek 7, launched in June, was diverted from Iran to Syria. It sent out high-quality images of a northeastern area every 90 minutes, making it easy for air force specialists to spot the facility.

Early in the summer Ehud Barak, the defence minister, had given the order to double Israeli forces on its Golan Heights border with Syria in anticipation of possible retaliation by Damascus in the event of air strikes.

Sergei Kirpichenko, the Russian ambassador to Syria, warned President Bashar al-Assad last month that Israel was planning an attack, but suggested the target was the Golan Heights.

Israeli military intelligence sources claim Syrian special forces moved towards the Israeli outpost of Mount Hermon on the Golan Heights. Tension rose, but nobody knew why.

At this point, Barak feared events could spiral out of control. The decision was taken to reduce the number of Israeli troops on the Golan Heights and tell Damascus the tension was over. Syria relaxed its guard shortly before the Israeli Defence Forces struck.

Only three Israeli cabinet ministers are said to have been in the know � Olmert, Barak and Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister. America was also consulted. According to Israeli sources, American air force codes were given to the Israeli air force attach� in Washington to ensure Israel�s F15Is would not mistakenly attack their US counterparts.

Once the mission was under way, Israel imposed draconian military censorship and no news of the operation emerged until Syria complained that Israeli aircraft had violated its airspace. Syria claimed its air defences had engaged the planes, forcing them to drop fuel tanks to lighten their loads as they fled.

But intelligence sources suggested it was a highly successful Israeli raid on nuclear material supplied by North Korea.

Washington was rife with speculation last week about the precise nature of the operation. One source said the air strikes were a diversion for a daring Israeli commando raid, in which nuclear materials were intercepted en route to Iran and hauled to Israel. Others claimed they were destroyed in the attack.

There is no doubt, however, that North Korea is accused of nuclear cooperation with Syria, helped by AQ Khan�s network. John Bolton, who was undersecretary for arms control at the State Department, told the United Nations in 2004 the Pakistani nuclear scientist had �several other� customers besides Iran, Libya and North Korea.

Some of his evidence came from the CIA, which had reported to Congress that it viewed �Syrian nuclear intentions with growing concern�.

�I�ve been worried for some time about North Korea and Iran outsourcing their nuclear programmes,� Bolton said last week. Syria, he added, was a member of a �junior axis of evil�, with a well-established ambition to develop weapons of mass destruction.

The links between Syria and North Korea date back to the rule of Kim Il-sung and President Hafez al-Assad in the last century. In recent months, their sons have quietly ordered an increase in military and technical cooperation.

Foreign diplomats who follow North Korean affairs are taking note. There were reports of Syrian passengers on flights from Beijing to Pyongyang and sightings of Middle Eastern businessmen from sources who watch the trains from North Korea to China.

On August 14, Rim Kyong Man, the North Korean foreign trade minister, was in Syria to sign a protocol on �cooperation in trade and science and technology�. No details were released, but it caught Israel�s attention.

Syria possesses between 60 and 120 Scud-C missiles, which it has bought from North Korea over the past 15 years. Diplomats believe North Korean engineers have been working on extending their 300-mile range. It means they can be used in the deserts of northeastern Syria � the area of the Israeli strike.

The triangular relationship between North Korea, Syria and Iran continues to perplex intelligence analysts. Syria served as a conduit for the transport to Iran of an estimated �50m of missile components and technology sent by sea from North Korea. The same route may be in use for nuclear equipment.

But North Korea is at a sensitive stage of negotiations to end its nuclear programme in exchange for security guarantees and aid, leading some diplomats to cast doubt on the likelihood that Kim would cross America�s �red line� forbidding the proliferation of nuclear materials.

Christopher Hill, the State Department official representing America in the talks, said on Friday he could not confirm �intelligence-type things�, but the reports underscored the need �to make sure the North Koreans get out of the nuclear business�.

By its actions, Israel showed it is not interested in waiting for diplomacy to work where nuclear weapons are at stake.

As a bonus, the Israelis proved they could penetrate the Syrian air defence system, which is stronger than the one protecting Iranian nuclear sites.

This weekend President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran sent Ali Akbar Mehrabian, his nephew, to Syria to assess the damage. The new �axis of evil� may have lost one of its spokes.

Israelis ‘blew apart Syrian nuclear cache’ - Times Online

**Kansas Bear** · 18 Sep 07,, 04:59

Originally posted by Ucar View Post

Turkish prominent newspaper Milliyet has reported today that the IAF planes have attacked and destroyed a Syrian Nuclear installation.

Also, one drop tank was found inside the Turkish border with Syria raising much public outcry about airspace violation.

Wouldn't that be rather out of the way?? I guess it depends on where in Syria....

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