This could be the coup of the year. Syria might be one of the sensitive spots in the Middle Eastern region but one would have hardly expected this somewhat small nation to possess nuclear power. But in a world where all nations are vying for more power and control, the emergence of the fact that Syria does possess nuclear facilities inside their own territories shouldn’t really come as a shock.
When Israel launched a sudden raid on Syria last month, the world was surprised and bemused at the outrageousness. The fact that there was US support for the bombing of the then mysterious targets didn’t help Israel’s cause to endear itself to the major fraction of the international community. At the time, no one was sure what the target was but now it’s been revealed that the target was in fact a nuclear facility center built with North Korean human resources.
The suspected nuclear plant was about 100 miles from the Israeli border and in the middle of the desert along the Euphrates River. Photographs of this nuclear reactor center was first taken by Israelis, thanks to a spy inside the Syrian set-up and the US picked up the investigation thread from there. US satellite pictures with a high degree of resolution confirmed the images and also facilitated the Israeli raids on the area.
The role of the US played in the entire phenomenon is not direct but that ought not to undermine their contribution to the raids. The Bush administration, headed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, urged the Israeli army not to carry out the attacks but failed to stop the bombed attacks.
The key point in this entire scenario is that even small Syria is going nuke. Moreover, its nuclear facilities would never have been exposed had Israel not stumbled across the images. Another crucial point in the messy affair is that the US and Israel decided to bomb the reactor center without proper United Nations permission. It makes one wonder whether the UN really has a major role to play in military matters in the world.
Source: ABC News
