James Forsyth James Forsyth

A nuclear Syria?

Perhaps, the oddest event of 2007 was the non-reaction to Israel’s strike on Syria. One would have thought that Israel bombing a target deep inside Syria would have sparked off a major international incident. But it did not. As The Spectator reported at the time the Israelis, the Syrians and the Americans all wanted to draw a veil over the affair.

Finally, though, the Bush administration has released some details about what happened. It seems that what the Israelis hit was a nuclear reactor that had been constructed with North Korean help—you can see the declassified evidence for this claim here. The Americans say that they were unaware of this facility’s existence until the Israelis brought it to their attention, once more showing just how strong Israel’s intelligence capabilities are, and that they did not green light the raid, a break from the two countries’ usual no surprises policy.

There are many lessons to be drawn from this affair.

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