Middle East Tension

From a report in the Times of London on-line that about 10 days ago Israel sent F-15s into Syria to destroy Nuclear Materials imported from North Korea. Israelis ‘blew apart Syrian nuclear cache’ is a report of actions taken by the Israeli Government against suspected military grade nuclear materials. But this highly secretive military mission was kept quiet for some time.

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.

At least 2 theories as to why North Korean nuclear weaponry would be in Syria. The most likely scenarios are that Syria wanted to bolster its military posture with a nuclear threat or Syria is acting as a conduit for Iran.

An expert on the Middle East, who has spoken to Israeli participants in the raid, told yesterday’s Washington Post that the timing of the raid on September 6 appeared to be linked to the arrival three days earlier of a ship carrying North Korean material labelled as cement but suspected of concealing nuclear equipment.

The instability of the Middle East will not be helped by adding Nuclear Fears to the Equations. It is only a matter of time before a General Middle East War becomes a reality, unless some sense of compromise returns to the Iran, Syrian and North Korean leaders.