I know, that’s not what the Times of London breathlessly reported on Sunday, when they told a tale of secret Israeli commando raids to confirm Syria had nuclear material from North Korea (based on the ever popular anonymous “informed sources” in Washington). Reports in other media outlets were slightly more dubious of these alleged claims (though they still repeated them), but the truth is that Syria can’t afford a nuclear program, doesn’t have the technical means to sustain one, and the facilities Israel attacked earlier this month had nothing to do with nuclear weapons (via The Raw Story:
Israel did not strike a nuclear weapons facility in Syria on Sept. 6, instead striking a cache of North Korean missiles, current and former intelligence officials say.
American intelligence sources familiar with key events leading up to the Israeli air raid tell RAW STORY that what the Syrians actually had were North Korean No-Dong missiles, possibly located at a site in either the city of Musalmiya in the northern part of Syria or further south around the city of Hama.
While reports have alleged the US provided intelligence to Israel or that Israel shared their intelligence with the US, sources interviewed for this article believe that neither is accurate.
By most accounts of intelligence officials, both former and current, Israel and the US both were well aware of the activities of North Korea and Syria and their attempts to chemically weaponize the No-Dong missile (above right). It therefore remains unclear why an intricate story involving evidence of a Syrian nuclear weapons program and/or enriched uranium was put out to press organizations.
Actually, why these “sexed up” reports of a Syrian nuclear weapons cache were disseminated to the press by “informed sources” and “senior American officials” is not unclear in the least. It’s obviously part of an disinformation effort by the Bush administration, or elements within it controlled by Vice President Cheney, to justify an expansion of the war in Iraq to Iran and Syria. Both Iran and Syria have become allies of necessity, and a good way to rachet up the fear necessary to convince Americans that Iran and/or Syria need to be dealt with militarily is to make wild allegations that Syria, an ally of Iran is attempting to obtain nuclear material to put atop its missiles. After all, there is no evidence that Iran is capable of producing bomb grade nuclear material for weapons, but if North Korea is suddenly invoked as providing the necessary nuclear material and helping Syria and/or Iran fit nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles, well, that moves the threat from one that might potentially arise in 5 to 10 years time, to one which is a far more imminent threat of a nuclear apocalypse in the Middle East.
Now, I don’t mean to dismiss the danger posed by Syrian missiles fitted with chemical warheads, but as we all know, as a weapon of mass destruction, chemical warheads are far less dangerous, and far less likely to cause mass casualties than nuclear weapons. I’m very glad the Israelis took out the Syrian missiles that North Korea may or may not have been helping them fit with chemical warheads, but that’s a far cry from the claim that Syria, Iran and North Korea are in cahoots to provide either Syria or Iran with a nuclear arsenal.
In short, doubt anything you hear from the mainstream media about the danger posed by Iran or Syria, especially if it is based on unnamed sources. More likely than not it will be a complete fabrication as part of an effort to scare Joe and Joanna Public into supporting a war that no sane person supports, one that would have untold consequences for not only the Middle East, but our military, the world economy and you and I.
