Rumors Swirl over Israeli Air Strike
By Tzippe Barrow
CBN News - Jerusalem Bureau
September 22, 2007
CBNNews.com - Though the Israeli government has maintained virtual silence, rumors continue to swirl in the media over the alleged air strike by Israeli Air Force (IAF) jets in the early morning hours of Thursday, Sept. 6.
An article in the Washington Post Saturday said the IAF strike was linked to a recent shipment from North Korea, which arrived at Syria's Tartus port on Sept. 3 - three days before the alleged incursion.
Click play to watch CBN News Chris Mitchel's report. Also, be sure listen to Pat Robertson interview with former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton.
According to the D.C.-based newspaper, Israeli intelligence believed the shipment, which was supposed to be cement, actually contained nuclear equipment.
Quoting a U.S. official, who reportedly got his information from Israeli sources, the air strike was "under such strict operational security" that the pilots weren't briefed until they were flying the mission.
"The pilots who conducted the attack were briefed only after they were in the air," the Washington Post quoted the official as saying.
Reports in British Media
According to an article in Sunday's London Times, six months ago Meir Dagan, the head of Israel's Mossad (secret service) provided Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert with evidence that Syria was seeking nuclear capability.
"We have known for a long time that Syria has deadly chemical warheads on its Scuds [Scud missiles], but Israel can't live with a nuclear warhead," the article stated, quoting an unnamed Israeli source.
The source further stated that an elite IAF commando unit, positioned in a secret underground location near the Syrian target, directed laser beams to guide the Israeli fleet.
Another British weekend paper, The Observer, speculated that a fleet of Israeli F-15 and F-16 fighter jets -- up to eight, according to the article -- took part in the clandestine operation.
The Observer reported that the jets were armed with Maverick anti-tank missiles and 500-pound bombs.
According to the article, an electronic intelligence-gathering aircraft (ELINT) flew above the bevy of jet fighters.
The Israeli foray must have been a dry run for a future attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, the British weekly concluded.
"[The air strike] can be seen as a dry run, a raid using the same heavily modified long-range aircraft, procured from the U.S., with Iran's nuclear sites in mind," read the report.
Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.
Over the weekend, Jerusalem Post Editor-in-Chief David Horovitz asked former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton why Syria would risk coordinating its nuclear aspirations with North Korea.
"Syria is very aggressive in pursuing WMD capability," Bolton said. So while working with North Korea might be risky, Syria may believe it's worthwhile "when you're as aligned as seriously as Syria is with Iran," he said.
"It's a diversion game, to carry on even when you are supposed to have halted, as in the case of North Korea," Bolton said, adding that he'd be surprised "if Syria would do anything with North Korea without Iranian acquiescence."
Bolton also commented on Syria's hesitancy in its complaint to the U.N. Security Council.
"They have not pushed as hard as I know they know how to do in New York for condemnation," Bolton told the Post's editor in chief.
"They have still not explained the nature of the attack. If it had been an attack on a Syrian military facility or civilians, they would have no problem explaining," he said.
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
Meanwhile, acting U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Andrew Semmel, in Italy for a meeting Saturday on the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, told The Associated Press that the U.S. was keeping a close eye on Syria.
"There are indicators that they do have something going on there," Semmel said. "We do know there are a number of foreign technicians who have been in Syria. We do know there may have been contact between Syria and some secret suppliers for nuclear equipment, but whether anything transpired remains to be seen."
"So good foreign policy and good national security policy would suggest that we pay very close attention to that," he said. "We're watching very closely, and obviously the Israelis are watching very closely."
"There are North Korean people there. There's no question about that, just as there are a lot of North Koreans in Iraq and Iran," he said.
Sources: YNet news service, The Jerusalem Post
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