Israelis Bomb Nuke Site???

[bomelia]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296939,00.html

How come this is not all over the front pages?? Syrian air defenses went dead?? What???

Mike

[392cobra]

Here is an article on it that I received yesterday.

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 attaché 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.

© Copyright 2007 Times Newspapers Ltd.

[trularin]

Keep up the good work Fred.

I do not know why it is not "worldly news" but the fact that it is two weeks old...could play a part.

[bomelia]

Yup, its two weeks old...and no one picked up on it.

Mike

[Ron61]

Could be part of the thing where a month or so ago Israel was told they could bomb any Iranian nuclear facilities and Britain and the United States would support them. The fact they can do it is almost complete secrecy shows why we can't get anything accomplished. Our news media would have had TV cameras set up a week ahead of time to film any attack and would have told them it was coming.

Ron

[4RE KLR]

Maybe because the white house has not approved the reports.

I saw a documentary this weekend hat the white house has to approve he news stories coming out of Iraq.

I have NO IDEA if it is true. I just saw it on the news.

I did see that the troops in Iraq had to be briefed on what GW was going to ask them and how and what the response should be.

[rdorman]

Originally Posted by bomelia

How come this is not all over the front pages??

What we see hear in the states on the general media is just a fraction of what is going on in the world. Recently being overseas and watching international news agencies was a real eye opener.

[trularin]

Short Wave radios have their purpose.

Getting it in English is a pain sometimes.

[J. T. Toad]

could it be that any criticism of said action could be construed as anti sem i tic?

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

and secondly, who does control the media? could it be the same for our legal system? Hollywood?.....

[J. T. Toad]

could it be that any criticism of said action could be construed as anti sem i tic?

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

and secondly, who does control the media? could it be the same for our legal system? Hollywood?.....

I love the term "audacious" in the article....
"contemptuous of law, religion, or decorum"

The US is such a patsy.

[Roscoe]

Patsy or pansy?

Anyway, one cannot rely on the mainstream media (MSM) to provide a balanced and thorough reporting of the news. With the internet, there are good sites to get real news about what is going on.

I mean, did anyone read this?

http://www.theaviationnation.com/200...a-flight-1824/

FBI and TSA Involved in Delta Flight 1824
By Annie Jacobsen in category U.S. Homeland Security


Over the weekend, Douglas Hagmann, Director of the Northeast Intelligence Network, reported on an incident, Delta Airlines Flight 1824, involving a large group of Middle Eastern passengers, male and female, who were flying from Orlando, Florida to Atlanta, Georgia. Sources told Hagmann the passengers' bags tested positive for SEMTEX explosives at a TSA security checkpoint and were taken away by the FBI. Over the weekend, I spoke to Hagmann, as well as with one of his sources.

Just now, I had a lengthy conversation with TSA Spokesman Christopher White who confirmed the incident. Here's what White told me about Delta Airlines Flight 1824:

"We ID'd twelve passengers at the checkpoint with suspicious items. Yes, there was a positive hit, I can't get into the level of detail of what or what wasn't a match. We immediately closed two checkpoint lanes and called in a TSA Bomb Appraisal Officer who determined, 'yes, these are suspicious.' We called in three TSA canine teams to come to the check point and the FBI was called as well… The FBI took over from there. I can't comment on the FBI."

Is it just OJ, Hillary all the time?

Roscoe

[REAL 1]

If we were more like Israel and stopped taking !$#@% we'd be better off.

Lets stop talking to pathalogical liars like Iran, Syria and North Korea and kick their asses.

[bomelia]

ME men with semtex on theirselves and baggage sounds like racial profiling to me..

[Mark IV]

Roscoe,

Just who is this "Hagmann" guy? He is all over the local talk radio with one of the hosts and makes out like he has an inside track to itel. If he is with a private company, what would they know and just how do they generate income? I don't see how they fit into the intel network. I understand some private firms supply intel to multinational corporations for employee safety, investment, etc. but those companies lay low and don't make the talk radio rounds.

"Splain this to me, Luceeee"

Thanks,

Rick

[Roscoe]

The Northeast Intelligence Network: Who we are

Until that horrific day in September 2001, individuals and businesses relied on our government to handle the threat of terrorist attacks. Few businesses and individuals believed that they could fall victim to attacks by terrorists on their own soil, believing that such attacks only happened in other, far-away countries. It is a fair assessment that the majority of those within our government, law enforcement agencies, businesses and citizens were caught by surprise by the attacks of 9/11. Since then, the general public has been receiving numerous and varied warnings issued by our government, and everyone seems to be waiting for the next "event" to occur. Based on the complex social and political events that have taken place over the last few years, many people have become less certain about the accuracy of the information that is being provided to them, whether through the corporate media or directly through government sources.

The Northeast Intelligence Network is comprised of a network of veteran, licensed professional investigators, analysts, military affairs specialists and researchers who have combined their resources in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States by Islamic terrorists. Team members volunteers their time and combine their expertise to fill a specific niche in the private sector to research, investigate and analyze potential terrorist threats that continue to face the United States. Each professional member of the Northeast Intelligence Network excels in their various fields of expertise and has a proven track record of successes.

Our Mission:

The mission of the Northeast Intelligence Network consists of the following:


To use our heavily screened and well-qualified informational and operational assets to investigate potential terrorist threats which threaten the safety and security of our nation, our neighborhoods, and our families.


To provide accurate and well-sourced information via our web site to educate our site visitors to the true nature of the terrorist threats we face.


To provide accurate information about incidents, events and potential terrorist threats by conducting on-site investigation by our qualified personnel.


When appropriate, offer relevant political commentary and occasional satire where it serves to illustrate a defect in our security and defense against future attacks.


Through a fee-based subscription to the HQ INTEL-ALERT Private Intelligence Report, we offer specific information about a variety of issues, events and security matters that we feel are too sensitive to place in the public domain. Although some of the information contained in our newsletter is obtained directly from confidential sources within various government agencies, we never violate any laws prohibiting the unlawful dissemination of classified government information. The cost of this newsletter helps us to underwrite the expenses involved in conducting on-site investigations.

http://www.homelandsecurityus.com/

[VRM]

Originally Posted by REAL 1

If we were more like Israel and stopped taking !$#@% we'd be better off.

Lets stop talking to pathalogical liars like Iran, Syria and North Korea and kick their asses.

Lets see - if we were more like Israel we would disobey more UN resolutions than any other country, have nukes, and forbid inspections, despite the non-proliferation treaty (that we would refuse to sign), and we would hire Pollard to steal secrets from one of our 'best friends' and give those secrets to the Soviet Union. Then, when Pollard gets caught by our 'best friend', we would demand his release and vote to make him a citizen, despite originally claiming no knowledge of him.
Israel does things in Israels best interests (including lying). They are entitled to do exactly that. So are Iran, Syria, and North Korea. We should add Israel to that list of asses to kick as they cause us lots of problems as well.

Steve

[4RE KLR]

Real 1

HELL YEA!

[Roscoe]

Hmmm....let's review

Syria, Iran, etc do things in their own interest like send weapons and terrorists into Iraq to kill Americans. They have rockets aimed at Israel.

Israel does things in their own interest like take out the Syrian nuke stuff that North Korea sent it.

Roscoe

[BeanCounter]

Kind of amazing logic ain't it Roscoe???

[VRM]

Sure, and we supply weapons to Israel.

Who wins??

Weapons makers, and China!