Saturday, September 22, 2007
Osirak II: Did the Israelis have proof, and was John Bolton right?
The Times of London continues to break big news around the mysterious Israeli raid against Syria on September 6 (prior posts here and here). Now we learn that the Israelis sustained the Bush administration's burden of proof prior to green-lighting the attack:
Isreali 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.
Read the whole thing, which is full of tantalizing mysteries, and note bene this:
Diplomats in North Korea and China said they believed a number of North Koreans were killed in the raid, noting that ballistic missile technicians and military scientists had been working for some time with the Syrians.
A senior Syrian official, Sayeed Elias Daoud, director of the Syrian Arab Ba’ath party, flew to North Korea via Beijing last Thursday, reinforcing the belief among foreign diplomats that the two nations are coordinating their response to the Israeli strike.
Finally, Agence France-Presse reminds us that North Korea has been helping Syria develop missiles -- obviously not the same thing as WMD -- since the middle of the Clinton administration. That program has recently accelerated. Perhaps because the warhead has suddenly gotten interesting.
Commentary
Suppose for a moment that the facts pled or proposed in the Times article are true. North Korea illegally transferred nuclear material to Syria, Israel got wind of it, and in consultation with the United States first developed "evidence" and then launched a raid that destroyed the offending facility.
Among the many things that might be said about this, two pop into my beer-soaked, football addled brain.
First, that anybody who questions whether it remains, since the end of the Cold War, in the interests of the United States to ally itself with Israel needs to explain how we would otherwise so economically contain threats such as these. We do not support Israel because of the deep pockets and nefarious political influence of the Jews, but because we are in the middle of a proxy war in the region and there is no better proxy than Israel.
Second, that John Bolton has been right about the trustworthiness of the North Koreans all along. They have none. Of course, that does not mean that it is wrong to pursue a negotiated settlement of the Korean War and related security matters, but it does mean that we should strike no deal with the Norks without extremely intrusive verification protocols.
I am sure that our fearless readers will have somewhat more thoughtful comments while I watch Iowa and Wisconsin duel with punters.
6 Comments:
By 
Counter Trey, at
Sat Sep 22, 10:54:00 PM:
If we needed proof, we should have sent Joe Wilson. Why all this unnecessary conflict?
By 
, at
Sun Sep 23, 12:06:00 AM:
Trey,
I guess Amb. Wilson's bottle-blonde wife had yet to recommend him for this sensitive posting.
By davod, at
Sun Sep 23, 07:19:00 AM:
counter trey, locker room:
Will we have a media watch on the Wilsons home in case she gets recalled so she can recommend hubby for the job.
Mind you, there is a whole raft of politicians, Republican and Democrat, who have been to Syria recently. Any one, or all of them, could just ask the boss over there to confirm that Syria has not, and have no intention of aqcuiring, a nuclear capability.
By , at
Sun Sep 23, 09:04:00 AM:
Meanwhile, back in New York, Columbia University continues in its planning for the Ahmadinutjob love-fest. Maybe Nancy Pelosi wii show up in her hijab?
By , at
Sun Sep 23, 01:02:00 PM:
Some women probably look better in a hijab or burqa.
By Purple Avenger, at
Sun Sep 23, 08:57:00 PM:
That they Syrians aren't screaming and touting pics of the wreckage all over speaks volumes about the nature of what was hit.
