Sifting the entrails for the hidden Mideast war

[mawilson 2,133]

Together with perhaps a million other inquiring minds who want to know, I am still trying

to figure out what happened over Dayr az Zawr in northern Syria on Sept. 6. And even more,

what happened on the ground.

Officially -- which is to say, the story carried in the mainstream media -- some Israeli planes

strayed into Syrian airspace, were duly shot at, and then flew home. The Syrian account

mentioned that they dropped some bombs, over uninhabited territory, but explained this as

shedding weight so they could flee faster. The Israeli account adds no details at all. This is

the more odd because, usually, a journalist or anyone else has no trouble getting more

information out of the Israelis. Both inside and outside the military, the Israelis are a candid lot,

and what happens backstage is quickly in the newspapers. But in this case, the only people

who seem to know are the pilots of the aircraft, and a list of very senior commanders and

politicians, who could be counted on the fingers of one hand. And they are not talking.

Some facts, however, speak for themselves. Three days before this incident, a shipload of

"cement" was landed at the Syrian port of Tartus. The flag on that ship was North Korean.

It is improbable that Syria imports cement from that distance, let alone from a country that

has trouble supplying even itself with that substance. North Korea has instead been a constant

supplier of missile technology and parts to Syria, Iran, and other rogue Middle Eastern powers

(Libya, for instance), and is one of Iran's principal sources of nuclear technology. And as

North Korea is presently under tremendous pressure to abandon its nuclear program and allow

known nuclear sites to be inspected, an alternative cargo has been postulated.

That alternative would be nuclear goods for Syria directly, or for transshipment to Iran. And,

speculation along this line tended to be confirmed immediately, when the short list of the usual

countries protesting any Israeli "overflight" included not only Iran, but North Korea. No one had

accused them until the fools stepped forward to accuse themselves.

None of the vociferously protesting countries gave hints to what the Israelis had hit, for the

plausible reason that none has an interest in letting the world know. But we do also know that

both Iran and North Korea sent teams, apparently to assess the damage, immediately after the

Israeli "overflight."

As I have elaborately hinted above, I do not have special sources of my own, but am inclined

to believe the Israelis performed an "Osirak II." (The reader will recall that Israeli warplanes

took out the Osirak nuclear testing complex at Al Tuwaitha, Iraq, in a surprise attack in 1981,

saving the world from the spectre of a nuclear-armed Saddam Hussein.) That is to say, they

knew something exceptionally lethal had been landed on Syrian soil, and by eliminating it they

have again saved, however indirectly, a large number of human lives.

The alternative, that it was just more short- and medium-range missiles for Hezbollah in southern

Lebanon, does not wash. The hard truth is that Hezbollah have been able to re-arm themselves,

from Iran through Syria, at least to the levels preceding the last Israeli-Lebanese entanglement,

under the noses of United Nations "peacekeepers," and without any significant intervention from

Israel or another interested party. Just as the Iranians have been able to arm insurgents in Iraq

and Afghanistan with the powerful and often fairly sophisticated devices they use to blow up local

civilians and troops from the U.S. and Canada and elsewhere -- without, so far, any risk of reprisal.

It follows that any Israeli airstrike was against a target on a bigger scale.

It further follows, I think, that much of the war in the Middle East is going offstage, curiously in

the interest of all parties. For what we've found in the West is that the "peace movement" only

responds to what is presented in the mainstream media. It makes a certain amount of sense,

today as during imperial frontier conflicts in the past, to keep as much as possible out of the news.

Indeed, one of the mistakes of Vietnam, repeated in Iraq, was giving remarkably open access and

full briefings to the media -- when for all practical purposes the reporting has been of assistance

only to the enemy. (It is with some pain that I admit that, being a journalist myself.)

David Warren, The Ottawa Citizen

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Israelis seized nuclear material in Syrian raid

[GaryC 7]

And they call Israel the terrorists.

[mawilson 2,133]

LuckyStrike said:

Israelis seized nuclear material in Syrian raid

mawilson said:

Gooooo Israel!

LuckyStrike said:

<LaL deletes post>

Edited September 24, 2007 by mawilson

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

LuckyStrike said:

Israelis seized nuclear material in Syrian raid

mawilson said:

Gooooo Israel!

LuckyStrike said:

<LaL deletes post>

different thread I think

Edited September 24, 2007 by LuckyStrike

[mawilson 2,133]

different thread I think

Hmm ok.

[GaryC 7]

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=89007

It's all still there. Freedom of speech has been allowed. Thank you mods.

[coolred38 0]

'And they call Israel the terrorists"...and for good reason hmmm?

[almaty 19]

i do not know who everyone is?