Shifting Sands: Axis Of Evil Unveiled

Were you, like a bunch of other people, wandering why no country in the Middle East made a big deal about Israel violating Syria's arispace and bombing the "sovereign" country? Well, we now have that answer. The reason why the Israeli Special Operations team was on location was not to laser the target but to collect the nuclear material before the bombs hit.

After showing this evidence to President Bush he gave his seal of approval for the operation. Furthermore, North Korean scientists were among the casualities of the bombing raid. This has to at least partially explain why we have upped sanctions against the Communist country after a diplomatic breakthrough seemed at hand.

Israelis seized nuclear material in Syrian raid

Uzi Mahnaimi and Sarah Baxter

Israeli commandos seized nuclear material of North Korean origin during a daring raid on a secret military site in Syria before Israel bombed it this month, according to informed sources in Washington and Jerusalem.

The attack was launched with American approval on September 6 after Washington was shown evidence the material was nuclear related, the well-placed sources say.

They confirmed that samples taken from Syria for testing had been identified as North Korean. This raised fears that Syria might have joined North Korea and Iran in seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.

Israeli special forces had been gathering intelligence for several months in Syria, according to Israeli sources. They located the nuclear material at a compound near Dayr az-Zwar in the north.

Evidence that North Korean personnel were at the site is said to have been shared with President George W Bush over the summer. A senior American source said the administration sought proof of nuclear-related activities before giving the attack its blessing.

Diplomats in North Korea and China believe a number of North Koreans were killed in the strike, based on reports reaching Asian governments about conversations between Chinese and North Korean officials.

Syrian officials flew to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, last week, reinforcing the view that the two nations were coordinating their response.

Source: timesonline.co.uk via BigT

 

Does any rational person still believe that Iran, who exerts a huge amount of influence on Syria, is trying to persue nuclear technology for peaceful reasons? These countries - Syria, North Korea, and Iran - represent the largest threat to the world right now. Overlooking this clear and present danger to satisify one's spurious political ideals - as in many people's defense of Columbia's having a talk with Ahmadinejad - gives these want-to-be nuclear bad boys all the diplomatic cover they need

NowPublic contributor phrolen is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Joint Taskforce Katrina. His analysis comes from actual experience

 

In a shocking revelation, Jane's Defence, has outlined its recent findings related to the ongoing Syrian/Iranian defense initiative. Janes sources state that both Iran and Syria are running an "Innovative chemical weapons programme." The real crux of the cooperation, Jane's sources detailed, is the contractual commitment, made to Syria a few months ago, to provide Iranian chemical weapons technical assistance to facilitate Syria's chemical weapons program."

 

The shocking intel comes on the heels of recent revelations that Syria may have been working with North Korea to purchase nuclear weapons and materials as recently as early summer. Though Israeli officials will not confirm it, and Syrian officials are saying it was an air space testing raid, sources throughout the middle east have been reporting that Israeli jets struck targets in Syria last week that were purported to have been WMD in nature.

 

Not only does the new Janes report outline Syrian/Iranian connections in the development of weapons of mass destruction, it also outlines an incident that took place on July 23rd of this year where both Iranian and Syrian weapons technicians were killed when an accident occurred during the process of mounting a chemical warhead on the top of a scud missile. According to reports, an explosion occurred during the mounting spreading lethal chemical agents, including sarin nerve gas; dozens of Iranians and 15 Syrian officers were killed.

 

Syria is not a signatory to either the Chemical Weapons Convention or the Conprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT); the international treaties that prevent member states from manufacturing such weapons. The internationally reknowned globalsecurity.org cites Syria as having one of the most advanced chemical weapons programmes in the Middle East.

An Israeli on-line data analyst, Ronen Solomon, found an internet trace for the 1,700-tonne cargo ship, Al Hamed, which showed the vessel started to off-load what Syrian officials categorised as "cement" on Sept 3.

This was three days before Israeli jets attacked a site in the north eastern desert of Syria, not far from its border with Iraq.

Since leaving Tartous, one of Syria's main ports on the Mediterranean, the ship's trace has disappeared and it is not known whether western intelligence agencies are tracking the vessel.

"I became suspicious after the first reports from Syria about the attack so I traced all traffic into Syrian ports in the days prior to the incident," Mr Solomon said.

BEIRUT: A powerful bomb killed a pro-government Parliament member and four others Wednesday in a Christian suburb east of the Lebanese capital, security officials said.

The blast targeted Antoine Ghanem, 64, a member of the rightist Christian Phalange Party, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

The Voice of Lebanon radio station, which is owned by the Phalange party, also confirmed Ghanem's death. The identities of the others killed were not immediately known.

The attack occurred six days before Parliament was scheduled to meet to elect a new president in a deeply divisive vote. Ghanem is the eighth prominent anti-Syrian figure assassinated since 2005, including three lawmakers from the majority, reducing the ruling party's margin in Parliament.

A local television station, LBC, said 20 people were wounded in the blast, which occurred in the Sin el-Fil district. TV footage showed severe damage in nearby buildings and several cars on fire. The explosion sent a cloud of gray smoke over the area, and blood covered several parts of the street.

The assassination of anti-Syrian figures began with former prime minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed in a massive car bombing that year. Syria's opponents in Lebanon have accused Damascus of being behind the killings, a claim Syria denies.

Hariri's death sparked massive protests that helped bring an end to Syria's nearly 30-year domination of Lebanon. Damascus was forced to withdraw its troops from Lebanon in 2005, and a government led by anti-Syrian politicians was elected.

Since then, the government of U.S.-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora has been locked in a power struggle with the opposition, led by Syria's ally Hezbollah. Government supporters have accused Syria of seeking to end Saniora's slim majority in parliament by killing off lawmakers in his coalition.