Israelis, North Korean Nuclear Material, Syrian Raid

This is getting very little press and for good reason. It's funny, the Syrians will normally raise a rukus when the smell from Israel's cattle farms drift across the border, but when a full blown raid at a secret facility complete with a bombing raid and they say NOTHINGm hmmm...

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2512380.ece
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.
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2512380.ece
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.
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I was born at night but not last night.

 

Come on Bones, what could Syria and N. Korea say? I guess it could be something like..."Israel just bombed a nuclear site which N. Korea just off-loaded and which we know nothing about." Sure wish people would quit using our desert as a garbage dump!

 

Well Hoss, I'm glad the US Intel is aware of what's going on and had a hand in this little desert commotion.

 

meh

 

All our liberal appeasors can say is Meh? Too funny. Basically what the Clinton administration said while we were being attacked. No wonder we are in the position we are now in.

 

Take Note...

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1191257212152&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
Israel breaks silence about Syrian Raid.
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Censorship lifted on September 6 IAF strike inside Syria

Israel on Tuesday began to lift its strict veil of secrecy on an air strike in Syria last month, allowing the media to report on the raid without attributing such reports to foreign sources.

The censor's statement implied that Israel was, for the first time, confirming that the IAF carried out the raid.

Israel has kept quiet on the subject until now. However, Syrian President Bashar Assad told the BBC on Monday that IAF jets had hit an "unused military building" in his country.

Assad said Israel's air raid on northern Syria showed Israel's "visceral antipathy towards peace," according to excerpts posted on the BBC's Web site.

The comments were the first by the Syrian leader about the incursion, which raised speculation that warplanes had hit weapons headed for Hizbullah or even a nascent nuclear installation - reports Damascus has repeatedly denied.

Journalists in Israel are required to submit articles related to security and military issues to the censor, which can make changes to stories or bar publication altogether. In a rare move, the censor's office issued a special directive about the Syrian air raid, specifically prohibiting publication of any details.

Violation of the censorship orders can result in the loss of press credentials or other sanctions.

Although Israel did not come out with an official statement following the incident, Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu broke the silence two weeks afterwards when he said he had congratulated Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on the strike.

In an interview with Channel 1, Netanyahu said that he was "part of the matter from the beginning" and that he knew to separate matters of national security from politics.

The overflight was first reported on Syrian television just after the attack, and various reports regarding the strike's target have circulated in the press over the past month.

The Washington Post reported that the target had been a facility involved in a joint Syrian-North Korean nuclear project - a claim backed by former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton.

Britain's Sunday Times, meanwhile, reported just over a week ago that soldiers from the IDF's elite General Staff Reconnaissance Unit (Sayeret Matkal) had seized North Korean nuclear material from a secret Syrian military installation before it was bombed by IAF jets.

The paper claimed that the IAF attack on September 6 was sanctioned by the US after the Americans were given proof that the material was indeed nuclear-related. It also stated that Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who used to head the unit, personally oversaw the operation.

However, Syrian officials have repeatedly called news of the strike lies and fabrications, and on Monday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem accused the US of inventing these reports.

"Some sources in the United States have spread rumors and fabricated news in order to justify this act of aggression," Moallem charged. "By distorting the facts they have become Israel's accomplices in this act of aggression."

Speaking to the UN, Moallem said the act was proof that the Jewish state wanted to escalate tensions.

Yaakov Katz and AP contributed to this report.

 

There you go homey! Blame the Libs - it's the easiest route. Mey?

So what about the information that was handed over to the Bush Administration by the Clinton Administration? Information that was basically ignored and Viola! 9/11.

Recently a Senate oversight committe concluded that reasons given by the Bush Administration for attacking Iraq were basically a bunch of pipe dreams.
This committe DID include Republicans that helped come to this conclusion.

I'm not a fan of the Clintons but Bush is worse.

Oh and by the way Bone. Nice tidbit of information. Good reading and informative.

 

Clembo, I will not pound you with facts that are available. Bush is worse?
Complete case of denial if I have ever seen one.

Did we blow it? yes we did.

Bush is worse? Emotional response from a Bush hater, obviously with no concept of the history or facts behind the attacks and the previous administrations contacts and intelligence on OBL.

I'd offer some reading, but you'd pass on it.

EDIT: touchy subject when those with a Liberal/Democrat perspective have the nerve to make judgements on the war, on the attacks, and the handeling of anything related to it. That side of the aisle has done everything in it's power to weaken this nation and dis-allow our miitary and our covert operative groups to protect America.

That side of the aisle is the first to claim the Patriot Act as a violation of our rights.
That side of the aisle has cutoff our ability to wiretap terror suspects.
That side of the aisle is the first to declare the war in Iraq " un-winnable "
That side of the aisle has fought to close our Gitmo facility and the way we can gather intelligence
That side of the aisle has called our soldiers murderers and thugs.
That side of the aisle has called our methods similar to Soviet Gulags
That side of the aisle has compared our troops to NAZI Stormtroopers.
That side of the aisle compares Bush to Hitler ( check this forum for pics)
That side of the aisle has voted to cut-off funding for our military.
That side of the aisle wants to withdraw in surrender in Iraq.
That side of the aisle desecrated the military Reagan built up.
That side of the aisle invites Yassar Arafat to the White House.
That side of the aisle has banned the military from recruting in our schools and colleges.

Yet that side of the aisle blames Bush for 9-11.

Touched a nerve ya think?
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

Jack,

You made me laugh dude. Thought you were laying off for a while.

Anyway, post some links I might read those. Bathroom is for coin stuff or the O'Reilly book if I run out of TP. For the record it's still here, still haven't opened it but may. On the other hand I've been thinking of digging into Mein Kampf - SERIOUSLY. Want to see what Hitler was thinking about before he spawned Bush. Think Cheney may have been his brother - about the same age.

Sorry folks but I DO have to raise a ruckus now and then plus I'm in a LMAO mode right now.

I'd continue but this is way off topic.

Everyone's favorite Liberal.

clembo

 

Nice edit while I was typing Jack.

Think we need another thread.

clembo the Liberal (that everyone loves)

 

I was laying off but that thread really hit me. Blaming Bush.
Your dead set on mass media fed brain mush, so I wont even try to explain or discuss facts.

Your " A closed mind is no mind " sig line should be changed, it does not apply to you.

 

Dont you think that 9-11 was the terrorist fault? Even just a little bit?

 

http://portcityunderground.com/

 

Level Headed,

I give you a lot of credit for being well read. Only problem is that it seems that since I don't read the same stuff and agree with you I'm automatically wrong. Your mind is no more open than mine.
Pot calling the kettle black.
Nevertheless I'll work on my sig line just for you. Friends do those things.

Actually I'm pretty sure they had something to do with it and actually I don't blame the whole thing on Bush.
I'm not too thrilled with how it's been handled since then and that includes our government in general be they Republican or Democrat.

Yes, the terrorists did it. Yes it was a horrible day in history.

I was very disappointed in our "intelligence". Reports of people taking flying lessons with no desire to learn how to take off or land is kind of fishy.

I'll leave it at that as I'm sure I'm wrong.

 

Interesting site to say the least and could certainly change my thinking if my mind wasn't so closed.

Hell I could learn to fear and/or hate just about anything.

 

Port City is a site that is so wacked out, I thought I'd use it to demonstrate wrong thinking. The take on McCain is dead on tho.

Obama is going to outlaw the bible and institute the Koran, and was a member of the Black Panthers as well. Michelle Obama actually had a sex change to avoid prosecution for Weather Underground bobmings in the 60's.

Lets be wacko too.

Like the Republicans are greedy and for the rich. Like 9-11 is Bushes fault. Like tax cuts for the top 1%. Like the wealthy who went to college and climbed the corporate ladder need to be punished for the wealth and share ther money with those who flip burgers and went to work right after high school instead of school. Like national healthcare will be an improvement because the government has proven itself capable with anything, especially Social Security, why not healthcare !!! Like an entry level minimum wage job is designed to support a household and be considered a livable wage, not an after school thing for kids or part timer retirees who are bored.

Yeah Yeah, Thats the ticket !!

 

Here is an interesting update. The Syrians are a little upset about it too...
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080622/wl_afp/syrianuclearpoliticsiaea

DAMASCUS (AFP) - Senior UN atomic experts are set to begin a three-day visit to Syria on Sunday to inspect a mysterious site bombed by Israel last year amid US allegations that it was a nuclear facility.

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The team led by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) deputy chief Olli Heinonen left Vienna in the morning but there was no immediate indication in Damascus about their arrival as Syria kept the visit under tight wraps.

"We are now travelling to Damascus, we will meet tonight our counterparts and then we start to gather facts," Heinonen told journalists at Vienna airport before boarding a place to Syria.

"What will be waiting there, we will see when we get there," he added.

The team is due to visit Al-Kibar site in a remote desert area of northeastern Syria on the Euphrates River during its three-day trip.

The United States claims, which it says are based on intelligence and photographic evidence, that the Al-Kibar site attacked by Israel in September was a nuclear facility built with North Korean help and close to becoming operational.

But Syria has denied the allegations and said Al-Kibar was a disused military building, although Damascus has fed suspicion by wiping clean the site in a move certain to make the IAEA inspection more difficult.

"We will start to establish the facts this evening," Heinonen said.

"We have the first meeting this afternoon, then it goes from there on," he added.

Heinonen said he would return to IAEA headquarters in the Austrian capital on Wednesday evening.

The team will submit its findings to the watchdog's next regular board meeting in September.

Damascus has welcomed the inspection but insists that it will be limited to Al-Kibar site. US news reports and diplomats close to the IAEA have said that the nuclear watchdog was also interested in two or three other facilities.

"Syria invited the IAEA and will cooperate with it," President Bashar al-Assad has said, but he insisted that "talking about other sites is not within the purview of the agreement" with the nuclear watchdog.

Assad also charged that the US evidence was "fabricated 100 percent" as part of a campaign to ratchet pressure on Damascus, which Washington accuses of supporting terrorism along with its key regional ally Tehran.

Al-Kibar "is a military facility... it is not nuclear," Assad said.

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei stressed in an interview with an Arab news channel ahead of the visit that there was no evidence of Syrian nuclear foul-play.

"We have no evidence that Syria has the human resources that would allow it to carry out a large nuclear programme. We do not see Syria having nuclear fuel," he told Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television.

Washington levelled its accusations against Syria in April, seven months after the Israeli attack.

The timing and the cloak of secrecy Israel kept for days after the attack have added to the lingering mystery about Al-Kibar, while Syria has refused to define the facility's military use.

The United States maintains its allegations and along with some European allies has urged Syria to give the inspectors unfettered cooperation.

"We expect the Syrians to provide the IAEA with all the access it requests," an EU diplomat told AFP in Vienna earlier this month.

Syria, a party to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which Israel refuses to sign, has "limited nuclear resources and capabilities" focusing primarily on civilian research, according to the authoritative Nuclear Threat Initiative website.

Analysts attribute concern about Syria's nuclear intentions to its close ties with Iran and North Korea -- both of which are under IAEA scrutiny over their nuclear programmes.