Saturday, September 22, 2007

Israelis ‘bomb a North Korean nuclear cache...



Israelis ‘bomb a North Korean nuclear cache in Syria ’


Secret raid on Korean nuke shipment

It was just after midnight Saturday 15 September when the 69th Squadron of Israeli F15I’s crossed the Syrian coastline.

By de Andréa


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.

This past weekend Israel believes it destroyed a cache of nuclear materials from North Korea.

Andrew Semmes, 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.

According to Israeli sources in Jerusalem, 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. It has been known for a long time that Syria has had deadly chemical warheads on its Scuds, but Israel can’t live with a nuclear warhead.

It looks to me like we ought to turn Israel loose on Iran and give them all the support and material that they need to take out the Iranian nuclear sites. It appears that Israel’s Massad is more capable of planning a nuclear air raid than we would be.

What really concerns me is why we allow Pakistan to remain a nuclear power. I recognize that they are afraid of India’s nuclear capability but I would feel much better if Pakistan was nuclear free and then let India know that if they threaten to nuke Pakistan we would defend them. Any Muslim with a nuke is a dangerous combination. Moreover, one can trace Korea and Iran’s nuclear program to Pakistan.

An expert on the Middle East, who has spoken to Israeli participants in the raid, said 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 labeled 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.

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.

Only three Israeli cabinet ministers are said to have been aware, 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.

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”
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“I’ve been worried for some time about North Korea and Iran outsourcing their nuclear programs,” 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.

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.

North Korea is at a sensitive stage of negotiations to end its nuclear program 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. Thanks to Israel, the new “axis of evil” may have lost one of its spokes in its wheel.

Dinnerjacket you are next…

de Andréa

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