Nukes in Syria

Approximately a month ago, a squadron of Israeli fighter bombers left on a covert mission, destination Syria.

The route they took, had them flying directly into Turkish airspace. Clearly, they had received covert permission from the Turks for this maneuver.

In the quiet of the early morning, the Israeli's unleashed their payload, and safely returned home.

Little was known of the mission, and, in an highly unusual move, the Israeli Military censor forbade any release of information.

The United States government also knew of the raid, and said nothing. No information was given about the target, the purpose, etc.

Strangely, the only government to officially protest the Israeli action was not an Arab country, none of which said anything about the Israeli intrusion into Syrian airspace, but rather North Korea.

Fairly qucikly information did in fact leak out. The Israeli's had bombed a nascent Syrian nuclear installation, what was to be an exact replica of the North Korean facility that is now using the spent fuel rods of their nuclear energy plants to produce the enriched uranium for the production of nuclear warheads.

The Syrians, additionally, are generally accepted to have among the most advance missile systems in the region, having purchased the latest in Russian short and medium range missile technology.

The combination of these two factors made the message clear. The Syrians were the latest rogue state looking to produce short and medium range nuclear weapons.

Interestingly, the lack of protest from the rest of the Arab world clearly indicated that they were as afraid of the development as the Israelis and the Americans.

It seems the Bush administration, as a result of the quagmire in Iraq, felt powerless to do anything.

In the last few days, all of this has been confirmed, principally by leaks in the American press.