What was in Syria?

Earlier this month, Israel sent F15s into Syria to take out a target. There has been little information broadcast about this incident. Middle East Volcano is Charles Krauthammer's look at the situation.

On Sept. 6, something important happened in northern Syria. Problem is, no one knows exactly what. Except for those few who were involved, and they're not saying.

We do know that Israel carried out an airstrike. How do we know it was important? Because in Israel, where leaking is an art form, even the best-informed don't have a clue. They tell me they have never seen a better-kept secret.

So can we assume that this was a Super-Secret operation? Probably. This was no accident. Rather it was a well planned military operation against something which Israel considered a serious threat.

Circumstantial evidence points to this being an attack on some nuclear facility provided by North Korea.

When a North Korean freighter docked at the Syrian Port City of Tartus, Israel re-directed its Spy Satellite to photograph the area. The North Korean Ship was officially loaded with Cement.

Speculation is that the cargo was actually Nuclear Weapon related. Probably not a bomb, but rather dismantled equipment from a North Korean Facility. Coincidentally, after the nuclear speculation, the September 19^th 6-party talks about the dismantling of North Korean nuclear facilities was canceled.

Apart from the usual suspects -- Syria, Iran, Libya and Russia -- only two countries registered strong protests to the Israeli strike: Turkey and North Korea. Turkey we can understand. Its military may have permitted Israel an overflight corridor without ever having told the Islamist civilian government. But North Korea? What business is this of North Korea's? Unless it was a North Korean facility being hit.

So the plot thickens. Mr. Krauthammer clearly enumerates the reasons for concern and implications of North Korean Nuclear involvement in the Middle East. It is known that Syria has Chemical Warheads for its missiles, and that Iran is aggressively pursuing the development of Nuclear Weapons. Syria also has Nuclear desires, and relies on Iran to train, equip and finance Syrian Terrorist Groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.

This is an extremely high-stakes game. The time window is narrow. In probably less than two years, Ahmadinejad will have the bomb.

Unless the World gets serious about Syria and Iran, as well as North Korea, we will have Nuclear Weapons being used. This situation makes it all the more important to achieve success in Iraq.

Previous post on the subject: (Middle East Tension).