‘So close to war’
We came so close to World War Three that day
On 6 September, when Israel struck a nuclear facility in Syria
According to American sources, Israeli intelligence tracked a North Korean vessel carrying a cargo of nuclear material labelled ‘cement’ as it travelled halfway across the world. On 3 September the ship docked at the Syrian port of Tartous and the Israelis continued following the cargo as it was transported to the small town of Dayr as Zawr, near the Turkish border in north-eastern Syria.
The destination was not a complete surprise. It had already been the subject of intense surveillance by an Israeli Ofek spy satellite, and within hours a band of elite Israeli commandos had secretly crossed into Syria and headed for the town. Soil samples and other material they collected there were returned to Israel. Sure enough, they indicated that the cargo was nuclear.
Three days after the North Korean consignment arrived, the final phase of Operation Orchard was launched. With prior approval from Washington, Israeli F151 jets were scrambled and, minutes later, the installation and its newly arrived contents were destroyed.
So secret were the operational details of the mission that even the pilots who were assigned to provide air cover for the strike jets had not been briefed on it until they were airborne. In the event, they were not needed: built-in stealth technology and electronic warfare systems were sophisticated enough to ‘blind’ Syria’s Russian-made anti-aircraft systems.
What was in the consignment that led the Israelis to mount an attack which could easily have spiralled into an all-out regional war? It could not have been a transfer of chemical or biological weapons; Syria is already known to possess the most abundant stockpiles in the region. Nor could it have been missile delivery systems; Syria had previously acquired substantial quantities from North Korea. The only possible explanation is that the consignment was nuclear.
The scale of the potential threat — and the intelligence methods that were used to follow the transfer — explain the dense mist of official secrecy that shrouds the event. There have been no official briefings, no winks or nudges, from any of the scores of people who must have been involved in the preparation, analysis, decision-making and execution of the operation. Even when Israelis now offer a firm ‘no comment’, it is strictly off the record. The secrecy is itself significant.
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Neil Taylor
October 4th, 2007 4:17pmSir If an operation on the scale of that suggested by Douglas Davis and James Forsyth's article had taken place, would there not be distinctive and measurable radioactivity in the area?
Bill Hensler
October 4th, 2007 6:28pmYou Brits are lucky. Here in the USA they are having major investigations into the way a major radio personality said a set of words. I've got to read your news to find out how close we came to World War 3 (or 4 or 5, depends who's counting) Anyway, keep up the good reporting.
Agincourt
October 4th, 2007 8:21pmA very serious business. But well done Israel. And Iran - do us all a favour & lay off the nukes! Otherwise....!
Lee Jakeman
October 4th, 2007 10:00pmThe nuclear "parking" explanation seems to me the most logical and likely.
SimoHurtta
October 4th, 2007 10:58pmCome-on shipping nuclear material from North Korea with a 42 years old 1700 ton a ship, with a rather strange Korean name Al Hamad, passing two naval blockades and stopping in numerous ports. Even in Tripoli, Lebanon and uses one month to come from Port Said. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/903991.html So far the nuclear "theory" doesn't make any sense. If it would be true why on earth do not Israeli and US reveal all possible evidence of that nuclear "transport"? Naturally if there was nothing this rumour tactics is better.
JohnM
October 5th, 2007 9:52am"The only problem is that no one outside a tight-lipped knot of top Israeli and American officials knows precisely what that threat involved." I suggest that maybe the Syrians might have a little idea too!
Ed C
October 5th, 2007 3:28pmIs'nt it interesting that a B-52 was discovered to have 6 cruise missle nukes on board at Barksdale on 9/6. Preparation or a threat-keep it quite or else. Close call, I would say.
Tom
October 5th, 2007 3:57pmThe syrians silence is, in my opinion, the largest admission of serious guilt possible.
Byron Ware
October 5th, 2007 9:29pmIsrael, yes, once up on a time the US could get away with doing just that! we have to many bleeding hearts for our enemys... Byron W.
the nationalist
October 7th, 2007 2:09amBloody business, for sure. How many countries will eventually get the bomb before the whole world goes up in a fireball?
Vince P
October 7th, 2007 10:58pmWe're already in World War Three. Our wonderful (sarcasm) leaders don't seem to know it yet.
burnet1187
October 8th, 2007 3:38amCuriouser and curiouser... Least improbable would be a functional nuclear device.
Angel Elf
October 8th, 2007 3:18pmI think that after all the money spent by Kim on his atom bomb project the bomb was a dud. Notice how quick he was to give up the project? So now he has all of this nuclear material to sell to someone that can use it. Also the lack of protest from Syria is deafening. Could it be that the Israelis have threatened Assad himself? Remember that overflight by Israeli planes last summer? It seems that Israeli planes can penetrate Syrian air defense with ease.
Eric
October 8th, 2007 6:49pmEd C Said: October 5th, 2007 3:28pm Is'nt it interesting that a B-52 was discovered to have 6 cruise missle nukes on board at Barksdale on 9/6. Preparation or a threat-keep it quite or else. Close call, I would say. Eric says: Wow. Wow. Wow. You're probably right. It was no accident.
Rob Kay
October 9th, 2007 1:55amThe use of a sensationalistic headline just to get people to read your story is the apex of incompetent journalism. We came close to WWIII? Please. There is not a single thing that Israel could bomb in Syria that would lead the world to WWIII.
val savarese
October 9th, 2007 9:31amI checked the validity of yr article on an Israeli website which deals with terrorism espionage and political analysis. The attack did take place but neither side admits to why, it is presumed the Israeli jets went in to test the recently purchased missile defence system from Russia installed in Iran and Syria. If u want the name on the site u are welcome to email me.
BDUSA
October 9th, 2007 11:59pmMr. Kay: You may have missed the point, which I believe is "allowing the target to remain unstruck" was the WW III threat.
Michael Cecire
October 10th, 2007 5:19pmI've heard the greatest amount of credence lent to the 'nuclear parking' and 'dirty bomb' theories for the strike. Syria's silence on the matter, however, stems not only from admission by omission, but also a shocking realization that recently purchased Russian AA systems - supposedly some of the most sophisticated in the world - proved ineffectual against the F-15I (I for Israel. It's not F151.). The F-15I, it should be noted, is not built for stealth. As a matter of fact, its radar cross section is rather obvious; what I've read, however, is that the Israelis employed some kind of communications-network attack to falsify radar data so that their strike flight remained undetected. This is conjecture and hypothesis, but either way it has given the Syrians a nasty scare - their air defense networks are supposedly one of the most comprehensive in the world - as well as their Iranian allies, who have also received similar air defense packages. I'm sure this doesn't make the Russians particularly happy either.
Rob Kay
October 11th, 2007 2:24amBDUSA: I do see your point and as I often peruse these sites late in the evening I certainly could miss a point. But, as a reread all 3 pages of the story I am still am led to believe that WWIII could have begun "that day." I take that to mean that a Syrian retaliation would have started WWIII which, to me, is ludicrous. But, maybe I am wrong. Let me float this thought..what if there is nothing what-so-ever wrong with the Russian equipment, but the Syrian air defense operators were ordered to stand down? Could the near silence of all parties and lack of Syrian retaliation not be explained by such a scenario?
Michael Robinson
October 23rd, 2007 9:19pmwhat a relief!!
eileen m
October 23rd, 2007 11:15pmWhere is the Necular Fallout!!!!!!
The Voice
November 11th, 2007 7:16amKudos! About freaking time! America & Israel forever. Now if you just get Condi to cancel that blasted conference that leads to hell, things might just get better.
charly.a
November 22nd, 2007 6:26pmfear keeps people under control..if there was nuke material after bombing it fallout shouldt be everywhere..dont get too paranoid..cause they want you to be so..
Pl.Jus
November 23rd, 2007 9:59amNoone seems to report that this strike has put Olmert out of a difficult position. Probably that was the cause and not a nuclear cargo just politics micromanagement. As far as the undetected part etc I ve heard that the place was very near to turkey - do you know how much time does it take for f-15 to attack from turkey borders to syria?? if they did attack at all from syrian airspace and they did just used stand off weapons (popey 150KM range among others)
J. Guth
November 26th, 2007 4:20pmThank you for the heads-up on this vital information and assessment. It's better than any of the so-called "news sources" in the U.S. have made. Our government is completely broken and now it seems that governments all around the world are too. Six weeks after the fact, we should be hearing nothing about this but I only received this story today by email.
Roger Hague
April 11th, 2008 2:28pmI know little about these matters but wouldn't it be true that bombing an installation containing large supplies of nuclear material is very hazardous to the health of people in the surroundings, and even further afield as happenened in Chernobyl? Or am I missing something important here?