Israelis seized nuclear material in Syrian raid

[03cavPA]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle2512380.ece

Here's the fox link to it in case the UK Times link times out, it seems to be a bit bogged down:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297732,00.html

From The Sunday Times
September 23, 2007
Israelis seized nuclear material in Syrian raid

Uzi Mahnaimi and Sarah Baxter
Also from Sarah Baxter: Snatched: Israeli commandos ‘nuclear’ raid | Israelis 'blew apart Syrian nuclear cache' | Secret US air force team to perfect plan for Iran strike | Alan Greenspan: "Blair was clearly an aide to Brown"

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.
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I must have missed this along the way. I don't recall an uproar over this.


opcorn:

[RSX-S777]

Good job Israel! A modern day Dieppe raid.

[03cavPA]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle2461421.ece

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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.

opcorn:

[BNaylor]

As a bonus, the Israelis proved they could penetrate the Syrian air defence system, which is stronger than the one protecting Iranian nuclear sites.

Actually not only can Israel penetrate Iran's air defenses to include Syria but so can the U.S. We proved this during the first Gulf War and subsequently the invasion of Iraq. Both Iraq and Iran deployed similar air defense systems from the old Soviet Union and now Russsia. They still have some old U.S. Hawk surface to air missile systems (SAM) we sold them when the Shaw was in power. We can detect and jam those very easily. Plus it did not take too long for our Air Force to achieve air superiority with superior air power.

It sounds like the Israelis are sending a message. Iran was sabre rattling again this past week. IMO Israel won't hesitate to take out the Iranian nuclear sites or other military targets, if necessary. And not much Iran can do against a salvo of cruise missiles guided by GPS either. For now it is just a bunch of rhetoric.

[Shpyder]

Originally Posted by BNaylor

[/b]
IMO Israel won't hesitate to take out the Iranian nuclear sites or other military targets

You're correct, they won't. Historically, Israel has never waited for a nod from anyone before taking action. Any time they've felt significantly threatened, they've gone ahead and done what they've felt necessary.