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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| SpaceWar: Israel seized North Korean nuclear material from Syria |
| 2007-09-22 |
| Further speculation or hard facts to support this story? Elite Israeli forces seized North Korean nuclear material during a raid on a secret military site in Syria before Israeli warplanes bombed it September 6, a newspaper reported Sunday. The Sunday Times quoted well-placed sources as saying the commandos seized the material from a compound near Dayr az-Zwar in northern Syria and that tests of it in Israel showed it was of North Korean origin. Israel had been surveying the site for months, according to Washington and Israeli sources quoted by the newspaper which gave no date for the commando raid or details about the material seized. An unidentified senior American source quoted by The Sunday Times added that the US government sought proof of nuclear-related activities before allowing the air strike by F-151 warplanes to go ahead. The raid by the elite Sayeret Matkal was personally directed by Ehud Barak, Israel's defence minister who once commanded the unit, the newspaper said. It said he had been preoccupied with the site since assuming his post on June 18. The White House insisted Friday that it was "clear-eyed" about North Korea as it stonewalled questions about an Israeli strike allegedly sparked by nuclear cooperation between Pyongyang and Syria. If true, transfers of atomic technology from the Stalinist state would cast a dark cloud over US policy towards North Korea, which US President George W. Bush, weighed down by the unpopular war in Iraq, has hailed as a success story. North Korea has angrily denied sharing atomic know-how with Damascus, and some news reports have suggested that Israel's target was actually tied to missile exports from the cash-strapped regime to Syria. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino flatly refused to confirm or deny media reports that Israel struck a nuclear site but sharply rejected suggestions that the incident showed Washington had been naive about Pyongyang's intentions. |
| Posted by:3dc |
| #12 I still say there is more disinformation around this story than information. Some questions I have about nuclear material 'fingerprints': 1) Can we ID all the source reactors that contributed bomb material if the bomb is built with a 'blended' fuel? 2) Did the NorK 'fizzle' kick out enough material for us to have their fingerprint now (or did we already have it through the inspection program)? 3) The Iranians are making bomb ingredients - how will we ID something from their reactor(s) - process of elimination? |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-09-22 23:33 |
| #11 uh huh.... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-09-22 23:19 |
| #10 Trailing Wife, when I revealed my thoughts on the operation "Total Level" last week, Frank G chided me as being preposterous with that idea. Now the UK TimesOnline (and through Drudge) is releasing the operation 'Project Checkmate' to the readers, and although I got the exact phrase wrong, my source was correct that the initiative is well on track and on the table as a viable level 1 option to the USs withdrawal plans! I'm now vindicated! |
| Posted by: smn 2007-09-22 23:13 |
| #9 Either way, Israeli planes blowing the shit out of Syrians makes me happy. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-09-22 23:01 |
| #8 Thank you, smn. I'll trust your judgement on what I'm about to read, and I must admit to enjoying your conclusions. :-) lotp, there are laws of kashrut for everything Man has ever thought of and done, and likely quite a few things that don't fit into those sets. The rabbis have been at it for over 2,000 years after all. There are other Rantburgers more knowledgeable about such things, but no doubt they're recovering from their Yom Kippur fasts. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-09-22 22:44 |
| #7 Nice work IDF! |
| Posted by: Mike 2007-09-22 22:42 |
| #6 Actually an AFP story - Specawaer is merely the messenger. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2007-09-22 22:36 |
| #5 Trailing Wife (#1), obviously the US knew and was in the loop prior to September 6th, and before August 30th, that the Israelis were 'Hot To Go' with the total neutralization of the Syrian nuclear initialization program. see http://www.energy-net.org/IS/EN/NUKE/POL/INT/NEWS/0790955.TXT which may explain why the Iranians backed off jumping into the fray for their good friends, the Syrians, after the leak on the B52 which WAS meant for Iranian retaliatory initiatives that didn't pan out. By the way, The Iranians still don't know where those 6 warheads are. |
| Posted by: smn 2007-09-22 22:35 |
| #4 Total revelation about the interdiction is still not 'public' yet. I believe the Israelis plowed two conventional 'bunker busters' into the site to achieve the depth required for the fallout containment of that 'Dial-A-Yield' tactical nuke they GPS'd into the bore. That info, is the 800 lb gorilla' they don't want revealed to the world yet! |
| Posted by: smn 2007-09-22 22:18 |
| #3 Time to dig out the DVD and watch Independence Day again. Best 'Israeli commando' image lightly camoflaged in a feel good movie. The scene where Jeff Goldblum smokes a cigar with Will Smith before they go off to attack the mother ship is a classic. Judd Hirsch did a pretty good dad gig on that one too, albeit played pretty broadly. But then it was that sort of film. Hmmm .... are cigars covered by the kashrut laws? |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-09-22 21:02 |
| #2 Stick a fork in Kim, he's done. Same with Assad. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-09-22 20:58 |
| #1 Everyone knows those Israeli commandos are the far side of Superman. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-09-22 20:56 |