Osirak/al-Kibar Redux

Israeli Minister Says 'We Will Attack Iran' If Nuke Program Continues

Israel will attack Iran if it doesn't abandon its nuclear program, a Cabinet minister hoping to replace embattled Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was quoted Friday as saying.

Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz also said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "will disappear before Israel does," the Yediot Ahronot daily reported. Ahmadinejad has called repeatedly for Israel's destruction.

Mofaz's spokeswoman did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the remarks, which were much more explicit than anything Olmert himself has said. Olmert has gone no further than hinting that Israel was prepared to use force against Iranian nuclear facilities, saying only Tuesday that "the Iranian threat must be stopped by all means."

Maybe Israel will do what Obama/McCain will never do and Iran won't even be an issue come November. Thank God for Israel.

via Michelle Malkin

Read more...

Suspect Syrian Site Before & After

Photos Show Cleansing Of Suspect Syrian Site

New commercial satellite photos show that a Syrian site believed to have been attacked by Israel last month no longer bears any obvious traces of what some analysts said appeared to have been a partly built nuclear reactor.

Two photos, taken Wednesday from space by rival companies, show the site near the Euphrates River to have been wiped clean since August, when imagery showed a tall square building there measuring about 150 feet on a side.

The Syrians reported an attack by Israel in early September; the Israelis have not confirmed that. Senior Syrian officials continue to deny that a nuclear reactor was under construction, insisting that Israel hit a largely empty military warehouse.

But the images, federal and private analysts say, suggest that the Syrian authorities rushed to dismantle the facility after the strike, calling it a tacit admission of guilt.

Awesome! Seriously, how do we get them to do the same thing in Iran?

Read more...

Nice Shooting Boys!

Israel Struck Syrian Nuclear Project, Analysts Say

Israel’s air attack on Syria last month was directed against a site that Israeli and American intelligence analysts judged was a partly constructed nuclear reactor, apparently modeled on one North Korea has used to create its stockpile of nuclear weapons fuel, according to American and foreign officials with access to the intelligence reports.

It's nice to know there's at least one nation who'll do what's needed to curb its (and our) enemies. Since the United States government doesn't seem to be up to the task, I wonder if the Israeli air force can reach Iran?

Read more...

Birds Of A Feather Get Bombed Together

Israelis Seized Nuclear Material In Syrian Raid

Israeli commandos seized nuclear material of North Korean origin during a daring raid on a secret military site in Syria before Israel bombed it this month, according to informed sources in Washington and Jerusalem.

The attack was launched with American approval on September 6 after Washington was shown evidence the material was nuclear related, the well-placed sources say.

They confirmed that samples taken from Syria for testing had been identified as North Korean. This raised fears that Syria might have joined North Korea and Iran in seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. [...]

Diplomats in North Korea and China believe a number of North Koreans were killed in the strike, based on reports reaching Asian governments about conversations between Chinese and North Korean officials.

Gosh, I hope the loss of their nuclear workers in Syria doesn't hamper the North Korean nuclear program. That would be a shame...

Again, good for the Israelis.

Read more...

Israel Isn't Afraid To Do What It Needs To Do

Israelis "Blew Apart Syrian Nuclear Cache"

It was just after midnight when the 69th Squadron of Israeli F15Is crossed the Syrian coast-line. On the ground, Syria’s formidable air defences went dead. An audacious raid on a Syrian target 50 miles from the Iraqi border was under way.

At a rendezvous point on the ground, a Shaldag air force commando team was waiting to direct their laser beams at the target for the approaching jets. The team had arrived a day earlier, taking up position near a large underground depot. Soon the bunkers were in flames.

Ten days after the jets reached home, their mission was the focus of intense speculation this weekend amid claims that Israel believed it had destroyed a cache of nuclear materials from North Korea. [...]

But why would nuclear material be in Syria? Known to have chemical weapons, was it seeking to bolster its arsenal with something even more deadly?

Alternatively, could it be hiding equipment for North Korea, enabling Kim Jong-il to pretend to be giving up his nuclear programme in exchange for economic aid? Or was the material bound for Iran, as some authorities in America suggest?

According to Israeli sources, preparations for the attack had been going on since late spring, when Meir Dagan, the head of Mossad, presented Olmert with evidence that Syria was seeking to buy a nuclear device from North Korea.

The Israeli spy chief apparently feared such a device could eventually be installed on North-Korean-made Scud-C missiles.

Surprise, surprise...it appears that Syria is interested in nuclear technology (i.e. a bomb to chunk at Tel Aviv). Whodda thunk it? Fortunately the Israelis are willing to do whatever they need to do to protect themselves - and by extension all Western nations - and they don't care what the rest of world thinks about it. Can the same be said about America?

Read more...