<http://www.westernresistance.com/blog/archives/003864.html> Israel's Raid
On Syria: What Is Going On?
Yesterday, September 26, 2007, 4:31:24 AM | Giraldus Cambrensis
<http://www.westernresistance.com/blog/archives/003864.html> Go to full
articlehttp://www.westernresistance.com/index.rdf
This article by Adrian Morgan (Giraldus Cambrensis of Western Resistance)
appeared today in Family
<http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/global.php?id=1381909> Security
Matters and is reproduced with their permission.
It took more than a week before news reached the rest of the world. On
September
<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2461421.ece>
6, Israel launched an aerial raid on a site within Syria. This site at Dayr
az-Zawr in the north of the country had been under surveillance for some
time. Israel and Washington knew that there were North Koreans at the site,
according to Andrew Semmel of the US State Department. He said: "There are
North Korean people there. There's no question about that." He claimed that
the network set up by Abdul
<http://www.westernresistance.com/blog/archives/003167.html> Qadeer Khan
could be involved.
A. Q. Khan, who developed Pakistan's nuclear capability using stolen and
smuggled material, admitted in February 2004 that he had sold nuclear
information and technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Pakistan's
president, Pervez Musharraf, publicly forgave Khan for subjecting the world
to another nuclear arms race. One of the fruits of Khan's greed was the
detonation of a small nuclear bomb by North Korea on October 9, 2006.
Syria, in conjunction with Iran, was known to have been attempting to
develop Scud missiles with a greater range than their maximum of 300 miles.
A recent report from Jane's Defense Weekly claimed
<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2489930.ece>
that in late July this year in Aleppo, a Syrian military team, accompanied
by Iranian advisers, was attempting to attach a chemical warhead to a Scud
when its fuel ignited. This caused a chemical explosion, containing VX,
Sarin and mustard gas. VX or S-2-(diisopropylamino)ethyl O-ethyl
methylphosphonothioate is a nerve agent, developed in Britain in 1952
<http://www.3dchem.com/molecules.asp?ID=99> , and Sarin or O-Isopropyl
methylphosphonofluoridate was developed for the Nazis in 1938
<http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/global.php?id=811317> . Sarin has a
short shelf-life, but VX lasts considerably longer, and can be made adhesive
for maximum effect. Sarin, VX and mustard gas were among substances listed
as Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) by the UN's 1993
<http://www.chemistrydaily.com/chemistry/Chemical_Weapons_Convention>
Chemical Weapons Convention.
The Scud nerve gas explosion was reported in the Syrian press as taking
place on July 26, claiming the lives of 15 Syrian military personnel and
injuring 50 others, though no mention was made of the "dozens" of Iranian
advisers who were also killed in the blast. North Korea had technically
assisted in increasing the range of existing Scuds. With Syria actively
involved in developing WMDs close to its border, with the assistance of Iran
and possibly North Korea, the developments taking place at Dayr az-Zawr
which appeared to involve nuclear plans were a serious cause for alarm.
Before an air strike would be approved by Washington, there had to be proof
that North Korea's presence in Dayr az-Zawr was connected to nuclear
materials. Three days before the raid, an Israeli commando
<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2512105.ece>
raid by the Sayeret Matkal unit, under orders from Ehud Barak, took place.
The commandos took material from the site, and this was brought back to
Israel for analysis. Israeli analysts confirmed that the material came from
North Korea, and the US gave approval for the air strike by F151s from the
69th Squadron.
The Sayeret Matkal raid on Dayr az-Zawr, which gathered what is now presumed
to be nuclear material, was a "fabrication", stated Muhsin
<http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3452749,00.html> Bilal, Syria's
information minister. On Monday, in Arabic language news source al-Sharq
al-Awsat, he was quoted as saying: "These reports are not true. This is a
baseless fabrication like the ones that have been spread against Iraq." In
addition to denying that the raids took place, he warned
<http://www.stratfor.com/products/premium/read_article.php?selected=Situatio
n Reports&sitrep=1&id=295698> that Syria would respond "when the time is
right".
Syria has not denied that the September 6 raid against Dayr az-Zawr took
place, and a Syrian official told Reuters
<http://africa.reuters.com/world/news/usnL2459376.html> on Monday September
24 that: "After this raid, you can forget about peace. It is no secret that
our forces have been on alert for some time, but Syria will not be the first
to start a war." In what appeared to be an implicit justification for
Syria's new ties with North Korea, another official said: "Arab states have
not exactly rallied in our support. As for peace, the international picture
could start changing late next year with a new administration in
Washington." Syria has officially said that Israel had bombed an "empty
area".
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Sultanov has apparently advised
Syria not to retaliate against Israel other than by sending a letter of
protest.
On Saturday, September
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/world/asia/23nkor.html?ref=middleeast>
22, a delegation of Syrian diplomats had a meeting in Pyongyang, capital of
North Korea. This delegation, led by Saaeed Eleia Dawood, a leading figure
in the Ba'athist party, was met by the head of Korea's legislature, Kim
Yong-nam. In this "friendly talk", the strengthening ties between Syria and
North Korea were praised. It appears that Kim il-Jong, North Korea's "Dear
Leader" did not meet with the Syrian delegation.
On Monday, September
<http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1189411473833&pagename=JPost/JPA
rticle/ShowFull> 24, a South Korean news report claimed that North Korea has
denounced the US for defending the Israeli air strike.Yonhap news agency
quoted from North Korea's main newspaper Rodong Sinmun, which claimed:
"Israeli warplanes' intrusion into the territorial airspace of Syria and
bomb-dropping are an outright violation of Syria's sovereignty and a grave
crime that destroys regional peace and security," and stated that the US had
supported this "brazen behavior".
On Tuesday, an
<http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=14143> editorial in
Rodong Sinmun claimed that the US has "long actively promoted and cooperated
with the Israeli nuclear armament plan." Additionally, the commentary blamed
the US for assisting Israel, while denying North Korea the "right" to
develop nuclear technology for "peaceful" means. The editorial stated that
the US had "dispatched nuclear experts to Israel and transferred highly
enriched uranium, the key ingredient for nuclear weapons, to them."
Reports that first appeared in Friday's Washington Post claimed that
Washington and Israel had shared
<http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\09\22\story_22-9-2007_pg
4_1> intelligence before the air strike of September 6. Neither George W
Bush nor Israeli officials have agreed to talk about the events preceding
the air strike. Syria has officially denied that it has received nuclear
assistance from North Korea, and North Korea has denied cooperation. The
missile development by North Korea on behalf of Syria has been in operation
since 1995 under a "barter system". Farm products and computers are sent to
North Korea, which in turn trains Syrian engineers and provides missiles,
which have been "streamlined" by North Korean technicians.
The tension in the region has had its effects. On Saturday
<http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=14116> , September
22, a Syrian fighter jet which was being monitored disappeared from radar
view, causing alarm. Ir later turned out that the plane had crashed on
Syrian territory. On Thursday
<http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22467860-25837,00.html>
there had been another alarm in the Golan Heights, along the border with
Syria. "Suspicious activity" had been reported, but this was a false alarm,
caused by migrating birds. On Sunday, an abandoned
<http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1189411474337&pagename=JPost/JPA
rticle/ShowFull> Israeli car at Golan Heights again caused concern. It was
feared that the vehicle's four occupants had been kidnapped (in the manner
of the events in the summer of 2006 that led to conflict). The four
individuals were soon located - they had gone hiking. The Golan Heights were
captured by Israel in the six-day War of 1967.
The US nuclear envoy, Christopher Hill, will be in Beijing on Thursday
<http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2007/09/120_10729.html> this
week, to attend six-nation talks, where he is expected to continue arguments
for the "denuclearization" of North Korea. These talks will involve China,
the US, Russia, Japan, North Korea and South Korea.
In July, the six nations met after North Korea had shut down five "key"
nuclear facilities, as part of a deal brokered in February in which North
Korea would receive financial aid. North Korea has officially promised to
remove its nuclear programs. Earlier this month, nuclear experts from the
US, China and Russia, met to discuss the disabling of the main nuclear
facilities at Yongbyon which are currently "shut down". The findings of
these experts will be presented to the summit on Thursday.
North Korea's chief nuclear envoy, Kim Kye Gwan, warned on Tuesday
<http://voanews.com/english/2007-09-25-voa10.cfm> that the peace talks on
North Korea's "denuclearization" could fail if the six-country summit does
not reach clear consensus. He was speaking as he arrived at Beijing ahead of
the conference. He also denied that North Korea had provided nuclear
material to Syria. He said: "That matter is fabricated by lunatics. So you
can ask those lunatics to explain it."
Despite Syria's involvement, along with Iran, with North Korea scientists
developing Scud missile technology to be more deadly, the US administration
is keen to have Syria attending peace
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/23/AR200709230
0743.html> talks between Israel and Palestians, which will take place this
fall. The US also hopes that other Arab countries which have refused to have
dealings with Israel, such as Saudi Arabia, will also attend. Condoleezza
Rice said <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14649315>
on Monday: "We hope that those who come are really committed to helping the
Israelis and Palestinians find a way through. That means renouncing
violence. Working for a peaceful solution. Coming to this meeting also
brings with it certain responsibilities."
In a sign that Israel is committed to the latest plans in the Palestinian
peace process, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert confirmed
<http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=3642494> on Monday that
his country would not object to Syria and other Arab states attending the
international summit. He additionally claimed that he believes that the
tensions between Syria and Israel will subside. Spokesman Mark Regev stated
<http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-09-24-voa39.cfm> : "Israel is
interested in as many Arab states attending this meeting as possible, states
that support peace, that support reconciliation, that oppose terrorism."
Alon Liel, an Israeli analysts, urges caution: "Syria all the time said that
it has one hand extended to peace and the other one is preparing for war.
Israel believes the second half, that Syria is preparing for war, and did
not believe the peace option." Official invites to the conference have still
not been sent out.
North Korea may claim innocence over the Dayr az-Zawr incident. But it is in
a vulnerable position, which is why it agreed in February to running down
its nuclear plans in exchange for assistance. The nation has been on a
military footing since 1953 and the end of the Korean War. South Korea has
thrived since then, while North Korea's Stalinist policies and mismanagement
have led to mass starvations. In the 1990s, 3 million people are said to
have starved to death during one such famine. While its people starved, the
People's Democratic Republic diverted funds, given to assist famine, into
its nuclear weapons programs. North Korea is still officially "at war" with
the US.
Kim Jong-Il is reportedly severely ill, suffering complications from
diabetes, and unlike his father, the "Great Leader" Kim il-Sun, in the years
since 1994 when he took power, he is not able to exert much charisma to his
downtrodden people. Abuses of human rights, which flourished under his
predecessor, have not diminished, and the labor camps established by his
father still exist. Financially, North Korea cannot support itself and is in
many ways a "failed state". Last year, the Times
<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article667040.ece>
reported last year that his regime has resorted to counterfeiting US
currency and exporting amphetamines to Japan and South Korea.
Despite its claims to be complying with the February deal to denuclearize,
the recent incident in Syria appears to undermine the sincerity of its
stated intentions. After pursuing a policy of nuclear arms development for
two decades, it has produced just one nuclear bomb test. It is still a
threat to South Korea, but it should not be given benefits of any doubts.
The people of North Korea should not be held hostage to the whims and
ambitions of a physically weak, comic-obsessed lunatic.
Syria is in some ways a greater threat to international peace, linked as it
is to the regime of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran. As Jonathan Strong pointed
out in Family
<http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/terrorism.php?id=1370471> Security
Matters, Syria has been made the co-chair
<http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1189411432622&pagename=JPost/JPA
rticle/ShowFull> of the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA).
This body, under the auspices of the UN, has a role to prevent nuclear
proliferation. It patently failed to prevent Iran from announcing on April
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=2XG4VXFZ4N1XHQFIQMGSF
F4AVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2006/04/12/wiran12.xml> 11, 2006, that it had produced
its first batch of highly enriched uranium. Iran ignored
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/13/wiran13.xml
> requests by the UN Security Council to wind down its nuclear program, and
accelerated it.
With Iran's ally Syria in a prime position within the IAEA, it appears that
the foxes have been put in charge of the hen house.
The full story of what was going on at Dayr az-Zawr has not yet been
revealed. But what is certain is that diplomacy must be made to work to
pressure North Korea from exporting the products of its nuclear program. The
alternative is too dreadful to contemplate.
Adrian Morgan
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