U.S. Official: Syria May Be Trying To Obtain Nuclear Equipment

[FVZA_Colonel]

Source: Associated Press

ROME - A senior U.S. nuclear official said Friday that North Koreans were in Syria and that the government in 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 the disgraced Pakistan nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan may have been involved.

Semmel was responding to questions about an Israeli airstrike in northern Syria last week. Neither side has explained what exactly happened, but a U.S. government official confirmed that Israeli warplanes were targeting weapons from Iran and destined for Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

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

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070914/ap_on_re_mi_ea/syria_us

[hobbit709]

1. Here we go again.

Fill in the blank(name of country) that you're accusing of the same old this time.

[soothsayer]

2. Translation: Syria is thinking to go to the Euro for oil purchases

[roamer65]

21. Yup, just recently Syria shifted its foreign exchange reserves to the euro.

I think you very close to the truth with your supposition.

[TomInTib]

3. I find it interesting that the Israeli airstrike has been kept under the covers.

It happened on Monday.

[azurnoir]

12. Actually it happened Sept 5 or 6 n/t

[Metta]

4. Sounds like more unsupstantiated bullshit.

We must remember that their lips are moving.

[alcibiades_mystery]

5. Translation: Syria easier to invade than Iran

I mean, look how much smaller it is on the map! Hoo-rah!

[peacetalksforall]

7. And, of course, they'll come up with an excuse to include Lebanon?

Was it last week that we were told that Syria asked neighboring countries for help with the surge of Iraqi exiles going to Syria and they told Syria NO?

[peacetalksforall]

6. Secret suppliers? - has anyone checked out Rev Moon .... seems

he has a Korea (N & S) connection and some past history in nukes, not nikes.

[Baby Snooks]

9. Isn't he an FOB?

Isn't Reverend Moon an FOB - Friend of the Bushes? Everywhere you look, it seems, there is a Friend of the Bushes. Usually hiding behind the Bushes. Most of whom are tied into the terrorism we supposedly declared war on. War is good. If you're an FOB.

[peacetalksforall]

11. And he has declared himself King of Christianity!

If you're new to the list and haven't heard about his new home, Paraguay - give it a whirl on a search engine and while you're at it - look for the references to the possible purchase by George of property next to the Reverend AND the build up of U.S. military and take a look at the reasons given to surrounding countries of Paraguay for the build-up = terrorists - and watch for the info about the connection to the largest or second largest natural aquafir in the world - then remember the warnings of many that water will become an even more fought over earth resource than oil.

Then back to Syria.

[Virginia Dare]

13. Why yes, he's a BFFLOB..

[Xenotime]

8. That's their fucking excuse for everything.

[azurnoir]

10. North Korea is the supplier according to this

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3448829,00.html seems just a bit tidy doesn't it?

The Ax (ss)is of evil at work.:sarcasm:

got an unexpected smiley or frownie

[lligrd]

14. Wolf Wolf Wolf

Someday what they say may be true but nobody will be listening to the idiots.

[ohio2007]

15. Syria hasn't been extremely vocal about this raid, this dropping of

'bombs' on their soil. Seems to me if some drop tanks didn't happen to fall in Turkey....I wonder if Syria would have been going to the UN to protest this alleged' bombing.

Syria should at least allow UN inspectors in to asses the bomb damage ;)

btw,

Notice that this hostile action by Israel is being very much downplayed in the MSM?

interesting
http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/story/510F7F76E7133A68C2257358003AF42A?OpenDocument

[Lone_Star_Dem]

16. Report: Israel destroyed Syrian nuke cache

Source: UPI

LONDON, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Israeli jets entered Syria earlier this month to destroy a shipment of nuclear material supplied by North Korea, Western intelligence sources said.

The Sept. 6 air raid about 50 miles from the Iraqi border reportedly destroyed a cache of nuclear material that had arrived days earlier by ship from North Korea marked as a cargo of cement, The Times of London reported Sunday.

Preparations for the raid began in late spring when Israeli intelligence received information Syria was trying to buy a nuclear device from North Korea, The Times reported.

No news of the raid emerged until Syria complained Israeli jets had violated its airspace, dropping fuel tanks to lighten their load as Syrian air defense chased them back across the

Read more: http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/09/16/report_israel_destroyed_syrian_nuke_cache/8767/

[JudyM]

17. Gotta hand it to Israeli intelligence... good thing they're so vigilant. n/t

[leftchick]

18. ah fuck! here we go again...

read this....

Was Israeli raid a dry run for attack on Iran?

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2170188,00.html



<snip>

Amid the confusion there were troubling details that chimed uncomfortably with the known facts. Two detachable tanks from an Israeli fighter were found just over the Turkish border. According to Turkish military sources, they belonged to a Raam F15I - the newest generation of Israeli long-range bomber, which has a combat range of over 2,000km when equipped with the drop tanks. This would enable them to reach targets in Iran, leading to speculation that it was an 'operation rehearsal' for a raid on Tehran's nuclear facilities.

Finally, however, at the week's end, the first few tangible details were beginning to emerge about Operation Orchard from a source involved in the Israeli operation.

They were sketchy, but one thing was absolutely clear. Far from being a minor incursion, the Israeli overflight of Syrian airspace through its ally, Turkey, was a far more major affair involving as many as eight aircraft, including Israel's most ultra-modern F-15s and F-16s equipped with Maverick missiles and 500lb bombs. Flying among the Israeli fighters at great height, The Observer can reveal, was an ELINT - an electronic intelligence gathering aircraft.

What was becoming clear by this weekend amid much scepticism, largely from sources connected with the administration of President George Bush, was the nature of the allegation, if not the facts.

In a series of piecemeal leaks from US officials that gave the impression of being co-ordinated, a narrative was laid out that combined nuclear skulduggery and the surviving members of the 'axis of evil': Iran, North Korea and Syria.

[HuffleClaw]

19. suuuuuuure

pull the other one, its got bells on it

[ShortnFiery]

20. Oh Brother! Not again!

:crazy: