N. Koreans Taped At Syrian Reactor A video taken inside a secret Syrian facility last summer convinced the Israeli government and the Bush administration that North Korea was helping to construct a reactor similar to one that produces plutonium for North Korea's nuclear arsenal, according to senior U.S. officials who said it would be shared with lawmakers today. The officials said the video of the remote site, code-named Al Kibar by the Syrians, shows North Koreans inside. It played a pivotal role in Israel's decision to bomb the facility late at night last Sept. 6, a move that was publicly denounced by Damascus but not by Washington. Sources familiar with the video say it also shows that the Syrian reactor core's design is the same as that of the North Korean reactor at Yongbyon, including a virtually identical configuration and number of holes for fuel rods. It shows "remarkable resemblances inside and out to Yongbyon," a U.S. intelligence official said. A nuclear weapons specialist called the video "very, very damning." Nuclear weapons analysts and U.S. officials predicted that CIA Director Michael V. Hayden's planned disclosures to Capitol Hill could complicate U.S. efforts to improve relations with North Korea as a way to stop its nuclear weapons program. They come as factions inside the administration and in Congress have been battling over the merits of a nuclear-related deal with North Korea. Syrian Ambassador Imad Moustapha yesterday angrily denounced the U.S. and Israeli assertions. "If they show a video, remember that the U.S. went to the U.N. Security Council and displayed evidence and images about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. I hope the American people will not be as gullible this time around," he said. U.S. officials said that Israel shared the video with the United States before the Sept. 6 bombing, after Bush administration officials expressed skepticism last spring that the facility, visible by satellite since 2001, was a nuclear reactor built with North Korea's assistance. Israel has a nuclear weapons arsenal that it has never declared. But beginning today, intelligence officials will tell members of the House and Senate intelligence, armed services and foreign relations committees that the Syrian facility was not yet fully operational and that there was no uranium for the reactor and no indication of fuel capability, according to U.S. officials and intelligence sources. David Albright, president of Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) and a former U.N. weapons inspector, said the absence of such evidence warrants skepticism that the reactor was part of an active weapons program. "The United States and Israel have not identified any Syrian plutonium separation facilities or nuclear weaponization facilities," he said. "The lack of any such facilities gives little confidence that the reactor is part of an active nuclear weapons program. The apparent lack of fuel, either imported or indigenously produced, also is curious and lowers confidence that Syria has a nuclear weapons program." U.S. intelligence officials will also tell the lawmakers that Syria is not rebuilding a reactor at the Al Kibar site. "The successful engagement of North Korea in the six-party talks means that it was unlikely to have supplied Syria with such facilities or nuclear materials after the reactor site was destroyed," Albright said. "Indeed, there is little, if any, evidence that cooperation between Syria and North Korea extended beyond the date of the destruction of the reactor." The timing of the congressional briefing is nonetheless awkward for the Bush administration's diplomatic initiative to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear program and permanently disable the reactor at Yongbyon. The CIA's hand was forced, officials said, because influential lawmakers had threatened to cut off funding for the U.S. diplomatic effort unless they received a full account of what the administration knew. Also, the terms of a tentative U.S.-North Korean deal require that North Korean officials acknowledge U.S. evidence about its help with the Syrian program, and so the disclosures to Congress are meant to preempt what North Korea may eventually say. Following talks with the South Korean president last weekend, President Bush said that it was premature to make a judgment about whether North Korea was willing to follow through with a commitment to publicly declare its nuclear-related programs, materials and facilities. Washington and Pyongyang still differ over what should be included in that declaration, a State Department official said. Sung Kim, the State Department director of the Office of Korean Affairs, is in Pyongyang for discussions about the contents. Syria's top envoy to Washington said the CIA briefings were meant to undermine diplomatic efforts with North Korea, not to confront Syria. Why, Moustapha said, are "they repeating the same lies and fabrications when they were planning to attack Iraq? The reason is simple: It's about North Korea, not Syria. The neoconservative elements are having the upper hand." He added, "We do not want to plan to acquire nuclear technology as we understand the reality of this world and have seen what the U.S. did to Iraq even when it did not have a nuclear program. So we are not going to give them a pretext to attack Syria." Before the site was bombed, the facility included a tall, boxy structure like those used to house gas-graphite reactors and was located seven miles north of the desert village of At Tibnah in the Dayr az Zawr region, 90 miles from the Iraqi border, according to photographs released by the ISIS, a nonprofit research group. The White House and the CIA declined to comment on the briefings. Source ______________ First, I unlike many here on DP, I do trust my own government over Syria. Second, thank you Israel. Israel has done the world and the United States a great service by ending the Syrian weapons program. Syria is a state sponsor of terrorist groups. Those same groups attack Israel and keep the Palestinians from achieving statehood. Lastly, for those that question what our foreign aid to Israel gets us. It saved us from having to deal with a nuclear Syria for a some time. Much like Israel's attack on Iraq's nuclear facility protected the world from a similar threat. Yeah, I am pleased my foreign aid actually goes to a country that is getting it's hands dirty doing the necessary work to protect itself, it's citizens, it's neighbors, and it's allies like America. It is good that our allies share the work in dealing with our common threats.
you are welcome.. haha. i hope the next is Iran. Iran with nukes = disaster. not only for Israel, for Europe too. yes iggysick, Croatia is in their range.
Everybody wants nukes now. They only want to use them on us and a few other countries. But GOD willing, all their efforts will be in vain!
The only thing that stoping Palestinians from archieving their statehood is your facist government with their blind support for apartheid regime in Israel. You can tell your fairy tales to someone else. Claiming that Israel did something that protect his allies is like claiming that Earth is flat. Their only goal with Syria is to hold land they stole form them: Golan heights. Israel is a thief willing to do anything they can to keep stolen goods. Common threats? Syria is threat to US?!? I guess AIPAC propaganda doing fine job. Sure, each single day I look from by balcony is there any rocket coming from Iran...
Yeah, I must admit, I don't love thieves at all. Did you confiscated more land since yesterday? Building more settlements on stolen land? Since when is stating a facts being hater? Are you claiming that you didn't stole anything?
That doesn't change a fact that you stealing land to build more settlements. In civilized world we call it pure and simple: stealing and those who doing that: thieves.
Sure, and i am doing propaganda all time. you know what their meaning was when they started the war? stealing our land. all our land. destroy us. and i never saw them apologize or i never saw you call them thieves.
So they started war and that give you right to steal land from Palestinians? Nice logic you have there indeed... As far as I remember you came to Palestine and expeled 700,000 Palestinians and stole their land. Correct me if I am wrong.
Since when is taking back land that was yours stealing? Especially when anyone that is on your land was part of the sect that stole it anyway. No one who is on Israeli land is innocent of spilling Israeli blood to be there.
Ah yes, the US is a fascist government. You prove your own ignorance with statements like that. Perhaps you wish to educate yourself before you next ignorant post. Fascism
Stealing land is stealing land everywhere in civilized world. Of course I don't consider Israel to be civilized. Yet you live on stolen land which you got after commiting genocide on raightful owners of that land and you still have guts to talk about spilling someone blood and stealing land! Geeez! Where do you people come from! I will repeat to make myself more clear: your facist government, full of war criminals and liars is the main obstacle why Palestinians don't have their state yet. You may tell as many fairy tales as you like but only ignorant Americans can buy them. The rest of world is not buying it. Syria is threat to US? lol Do they have plans to attack US any time soon? Seriously, you need to be biggest ignorant on planet earth (and I consider you one of those) to believe in something like that. Israel doing something for someone?!? Yeah, they have a lot of troops in Afganistan... Oh wait! They don't have single soldier there! I wonder why... It seems to me that great US "ally" only protecting their own asses but AIPAC did great job and convinced ignorants in US that protecting their asses is actually protecting US. Iraq was threat to US? I wonder how...
Just because you can't or don't recognize the threat posed by countries like Iran and Syria is no reason for the US to be so foolish. It is not my concern that you understand the threat. It matters to me that the people in power understand the threat - the people we elect as Americans to look out for our interests and protect our nation. By the way, there are many ways Syria and Iran can harm the US without attacking our homeland directly. Do you really think we should ignore every threat until they are at our doorstep? I know you don't share America's interest but surely you understand the we act in ours, not yours.
First you need to make up your mind: are Syria and Iran threats to your interest or your nation because those are two different thing and when comes to US that difference,depending on how big facist is in White house, can be and are huge. I would like to hear right here from you how Iran and Syria are threats to your nation? What Iran did to US so that you can say that (we all know what US did to Iran and Iran never did anything similar to US) they are threat to your nation? And what have Syria did to US?
No I'm not a Native American and they would not have to kill me to get their land back. I'd leave because it is their land or if they allowed me to stay I would but I wouldn't start throwing rocks at them or rockets.
iggy you are making me sick with your lies. Iran is a country that executing gays (just for example). do you want this country to have nukes? BTW you probably saw the video that one of Hamas leaders saying: "one day we will conquer Rome". well Croatia is in the way to Rome so maybe you should look out from you balcony for rockets.