Israel Bombed Syria's Reactor In 2007 Despite US Push For Diplomacy

Olmert Bombed Syria Reactor Despite US Push For Diplomacy -- Jerusalem Post

In exclusive interview with 'Post', former US foreign policy advisor Elliott Abrams defends Netanyahu over critical State Comptroller report, says more important than preparation is the right people making the right decisions.

Former prime minister Ehud Olmert decided in September 2007 to bomb the al-Kabir nuclear facility in Syria after then-president George W. Bush told him the US had opted for the diplomatic route and was trying to get the International Atomic Energy Agency to close the site, Elliott Abrams told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

Asked about Wednesday’s Israeli State Comptroller’s Report chastising the government for a haphazard decision-making process, Abrams said Bush was provided with impeccable options, policy papers and intelligence.

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My Comment: After reading this .... one has to wonder if history is going to repeat itself but with Iran being the target and not Syria.

Syria's Refusal To Cooperate With The IAE Results In UN Security Council Involvement

Photos released by US intelligence in April 2008 showing what Washington said was a secret Syrian nuclear reactor being built. It was destroyed in an Israeli air strike. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

U.N. Security Council to Talk Syria Nukes -- Time/AP

(VIENNA) — The U.N. Security Council plans to meet next week to discuss what to do about Syria's refusal to cooperate with an investigation of its alleged secret nuclear activities, diplomats told The Associated Press on Monday.

The move comes just weeks after the International Atomic Energy Agency referred it the council. The closed session could result in anything from debate to sanctions of the kind imposed on Iran for defying international demands to cease activities that could be used to make nuclear arms.

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Update: U.N. Security Council to Discuss Syrian Nuclear Dispute -- Global Security Newswire

My Comment: The Syrian government has enough problems ..... they do not need another one. Unfortunately for them, their refusal to cooperate with the IAE will eventually result in sanctions and further scrutiny into their nuclear program.

Syria Has More Sites Dedicated To Their Nuclear Program

Suspected Syrian nuclear facility reportedly bombed by Israel in 2007. Archive Photo

IAEA: Bombed Syrian Plant Linked To Three More Suspected Nuclear Sites -- Haaretz

London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reveals correspondence between nuclear watchdog head and UN Secretary General, in which they discussed sites connected to Syria's nuclear program.

London-based Al-Hayat newspaper revealed Sunday a correspondence between the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

Amano said the Syrian nuclear plant bombed in 2007 was linked to three more sites. The locations of the sites and their functions were not discussed.

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My Comment: Fortunately for the rest of the world, Syria's government is more focused on countering anti-government protestors than it's nuclear program (for now).

IAEA: Syria Probably Tried To Build Nuclear Plant

The IAEA report adds to evidence suggesting that Syria was building a plutonium reactor at this site in Dair Alzour when Israel bombed it in September 2007. (AFP/Getty Images / May 24, 2011)

Watchdog Says Syria Likely Built Nuclear Site -- Wall Street Journal

The International Atomic Energy Agency formally informed its Board of Governors Tuesday that despite Syrian denials, Syria very likely secretly built a nuclear reactor at Dair Alzour in violation of Syria's international treaty obligations.

Diplomats from two Western countries say the IAEA finding will lead to increased diplomatic pressure on Syria when IAEA Board of Governors at its next meeting in early June debates proposals for a resolution that would refer the agency's findings to the United Nations Security Council.

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More News On Syria Trying To Secretly Build A Nuclear Reactor

Bombed Syrian Facility Likely Contained Reactor: IAEA -- Global Security Newswire
IAEA: Syria site bombed by Israel 'was likely nuclear' -- BBC
Bombed Syrian site ‘very likely’ nuclear -- Financial Times/Reuters
Syria very likely hid nuke program -- Fox News/AP
IAEA: Syria Site 'Very Likely' Nuclear Reactor -- Voice of America
IAEA: Bombed Syrian Site Was 'Very Likely' A Nuclear Reactor -- RTT News
Syria Probably Tried to Build Nuclear Plant, UN Agency Says -- Bloomberg
Syrian site 'very likely' to have been nuclear, IAEA claim -- The Telegraph
Nuclear report on Syria may augur punitive action -- L.A. Times

How Mossad Agents Carried Out A Daring London Raid On A Syrian Official Responsible For It's Nuclear Program

Outside the Syrian Embassy, 8 Belgrave Square, London. Photo from TeeJayUK

Mossad Carries Out Daring London Raid On Syrian Official -- The Telegraph

Undercover agents tracked a Syrian official carrying nuclear secrets to London where they broke into his hotel room and stole the plans as part of a daring operation on foreign soil by Mossad, the Israeli secret service, it has been claimed.

The original plan was apparently to assassinate the official and Israel only averted what would have been a huge diplomatic rift with Britain, when they decided the target was more valuable alive than dead.

The operation involved at least 10 undercover agents on the streets of Britain and led directly to a controversial bombing raid into Syrian territory that destroyed a nuclear reactor that was under construction.

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My Comment: What I would like to know is ..... why was this Libyan official in London with such documents? Who was he going to meet?

Syria Continues To Resist The IAEA On It's Alleged Nuclear Program

Syria Stonewalling Threatens Nuclear Probe - IAEA -- Reuters

VIENNA, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Syria's refusal to allow U.N. inspectors access to a desert site where secret nuclear activity may have taken place is endangering potential evidence in the investigation, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

It has been over two years since the IAEA was allowed to inspect the site, bombed to rubble by Israel in 2007. Syria, an ally of Iran, denies ever having an atom bomb programme.

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More News On Syria's Alleged Nuclear Program

Syria still stonewalling in nuclear probe: IAEA -- AFP
Syrian Stonewalling in Atomic Probe Hurts Evidence, UN Says -- Bloomberg
IAEA: Syria Does Not Cooperate -- Arutz Sheva
Syria agrees to limited work plan for IAEA nuclear probe -- Earth Times

My Comment: The Syrians are following the same handbook that the Iranians have been following for the past few years. Deny, obfuscate, delay, condemn, threaten, and then finally ignore.

Traces Of Uranium Found On Syrian Nuclear Site Raises Concerns

An IAEA flag in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency
headquarters in Vienna. Photo AFP

Syria to Nuke Watchdog: Nothing to See Here, Move Along -- The Danger Room

Two years ago, Israel bombed a suspected nuclear site in Syria. Now the UN’s atomic watchdog agency is pressing Damascus for a return visit to the bombed facility — along with access to other military sites, where the Syrians have been up to some suspicious landscaping.

According to the latest report by the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, inspectors turned up traces of uranium during a 2008 visit to the bombing site at Dair Alzour. Uranium? Gosh, must have been left over from the munitions the Israelis used to bomb our totally non-nuclear related buildings, the Syrians replied. After the IAEA smacked down that claim and demanded further access, the Syrian government was all, hey, you can’t go there, those are closed military sites!

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More News On Syria's Nuclear Program

IAEA deepens Syria nuclear probe over uranium traces -- Haaretz
Report: IAEA inspectors demand visit to Syrian nuclear site -- Jerusalem Post
Syria not complying on Dair Alzour -- IAEA -- UPI
IAEA inspects nuclear research reactor in Syria -- AFP
US wants 'credible explanation' for Syrian uranium -- AFP

How Israel Destroyed Syria's Al Kibar Nuclear Reactor

(Click Image to Enlarge)

The Story Of 'Operation Orchard' -- Der Spiegel

In September 2007, Israeli fighter jets destroyed a mysterious complex in the Syrian desert. The incident could have led to war, but it was hushed up by all sides. Was it a nuclear plant and who gave the orders for the strike?

The mighty Euphrates river is the subject of the prophecies in the Bible's Book of Revelation, where it is written that the river will be the scene of the battle of Armageddon: "The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East."

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My Comment: This is a fascinating read. Kudos to Der Spiegel for publishing it.

Syria May Have More Nuke Sites

Target, left, has been razed, according to satellite image of lot where some U.S. officials believe Syria was building nuclear reactor. DigitalGlobe ISIS (Photo from The Washington Post)

From The Jerusalem Post:

Syria may be operating more nuclear sites, apart from the reactor at Deir Azour which was bombed by Israel on September 6 2007 in what came to be known as Operation Orchard, former US envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Gregory Schulte told Channel 10 Thursday evening.

"I think there were other activities that gave us concern, that gave the IAEA concern… IAEA inspectors actually asked to go to a number of other sites, and the Syrians wouldn't let them go there; they claimed they were military sites. They claimed the uranium particles that the inspectors found at the destroyed reactor came from Israeli bombs," Schulte said.

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My Comment: There is no proof of additional Syrian nuclear sites to back up what former US envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Gregory Schulte is saying. But considering Syria's background and history .... we have every reason to be vigilant.

Damascus Deception

Intelligence officials did not provide dates for any of the photos, but observers have commented that many of the images date back to 2002. Photo from Time Magazine

From Foreign Policy:

Two years after their reactor was destoyed, the Syrians still haven't come clean about their covert nuclear program and the world's nuclear watchdog is powerless to make them.

Last Friday, Mohammed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), issued a fourth report on the agency’s investigation into Syria’s attempts to construct a covert nuclear program with the help of North Korea. The report shows that two years after their suspected reactor was destroyed, Damascus continues to stonewall the IAEA. It also illustrates the agency’s limitations in detecting and investigating clandestine activities. The reactor may no longer exist, but Syria’s past pursuits and North Korea’s dangerous role are still causes for concern -- as is the IAEA’s inability to do anything about them.

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My Comment: Nothing is going to happen .... President Obama is on his great outreach program with the Syrians right now. Nuclear reactors built in secret .... not important in the eyes of this White House, and the Syrians know this.