 The Bush administration will tell Congress tomorrow that a nuclear facility in Syria built with North Korean help was nearly complete when Israel bombed it in September, and that Pyongyang has not provided any further nuclear assistance to the hard-line Arab nation, at least at that site, U.S. officials said.
CIA Director Michael V. Hayden and other intelligence officials are expected to brief several congressional committees in closed-door sessions, breaking the administration's silence on the issue.
| I think we need some salt for this one, but it is rather disturbing ... |
The Syrian facility has become a key issue in six-nation negotiations to end the North's nuclear programs. “The belief is that the reactor was nearing completion,” said one official familiar with the content of the briefings. “It would have been able to produce plutonium.”
Another official said that the facility in Syria was similar to North Korea's main nuclear complex at Yongbyon, which has been almost disabled by U.S. experts. Both programs were based on technology to produce plutonium, a man-made element that is the most common ingredient used to make the fissile core of atomic bombs.
Administration and congressional officials spoke about the Syrian facility in past tense. One official said it was “good that it was put out of commission,” and others added that the Israeli air strike occurred before fuel “had been placed in the reactor.”
| Sounds like the Israelis pulled off another Osirak. |
Satellite photos taken before the Israeli strike show a large cubical building that was believed to have housed the reactor. The building is absent from photos taken afterward.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said the administration will be able to discuss the issue publicly “soon,” but official spokesmen for the main national security agencies refused to comment on the matter and only offered general statements. “We have certain responsibilities to brief the Congress on matters of foreign policy and national security, in this case, intelligence matters,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
The chief U.S. negotiator with North Korea, Christopher R. Hill, has said that Pyongyang insists it is not currently engaged in proliferation activities and will not be in the future. Asked today whether the North has assisted Syria's nuclear program since the Sept. 6 bombing, officials said, “not at that site.” They declined to elaborate.
| Doesn't sound as if they need to elaborate. Not at that site. Hmmmm ... |
The officials, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said they based their conclusions on “very good intelligence derived from a variety of sources.” They added that the Israeli government had been informed about the congressional briefings.
However, Yuval Steinitz, a member of the Israeli Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee said that no such information had been provided to legislators. “This is inconsistent with the standard procedure,” he said. “I'm upset with our government. It is not healthy that such a briefing is taking place in another parliament, even if it is a friendly parliament like the U.S. Congress.”
| We'll take care of ours, you take care of yours. |
Administration officials and outside analysts said that members of Congress are likely to ask what North Korea's nuclear cooperation with Syria means for the future of the six-party talks.
| The Dhimmicrats will immediately want to ship food to the Norks so as to appease Kimmie. Let's see how close I am ... |
Even though they disagreed on the answer, they all deplored the North's assistance to Syria. “It's a very outrageous step, but what do you now? Throw away the whole process? That's a conundrum,” a former administration official said.
| It's simple. Stop the process. No further shipments of food or oil until the Norks come very, very, verifiably clean. And start putting the pieces in place so that we can very quietly, without notice or fuss, destroy any ship or plane that we suspect to contain a shipment of nuclear material out of North Korea to another state. It will have to be seen as a series of unfortunate, untimely accidents, but the Norks and the Chinese will get the message. Get the Sorks to start spinning up to a more defensible footing. And most importantly, get China to curb their dog. We have a good lever: curb the Norks or we won't show for the Olympics. That would at least buy enough time to get the striped-pants crowd do their jobs. |
Another former official, John R. Bolton, who was undersecretary of state for arms control and international security during President Bush's first term, said: “North Korea is outsourcing its nuclear weapons program. And if you want to hide your activities from inspectors in North Korea, what better place than in Syria?”
| Interesting idea, but why not hide the activities in Iran? The Iranians and the Norks would learn from each other. Short Round would make that deal in a minute. |
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