One step closer to an Islamic bomb

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 — The Sept. 6 attack by Israeli warplanes inside Syria struck what Israeli intelligence believes was a nuclear-related facility that North Korea was helping to equip, according to current and former American and Israeli officials.

Details about the Israeli assessment emerged as China abruptly canceled planned diplomatic talks in Beijing that were to set a schedule to disband nuclear facilities in North Korea. The Bush administration has declined to comment on the Israeli raid, but American officials were expected to confront the North Koreans about their suspected nuclear support for Syria during those talks.

The American and Israeli officials said the Israeli government notified the Bush administration about the planned attack just before the raid. It is not clear whether administration officials expressed support for the action or counseled against it.

The raid has aroused intense speculation in Washington and Jerusalem, but details remain extraordinarily murky. Officials said access to new intelligence about suspected North Korean support to Syria has been confined to a very small group of officials in Washington and Jerusalem.

We wonder why the Chinese are canceling talks about dismantling the North Korean nuclear program. Perhaps they want to protect the North Koreans from any confrontation with the United States.

What we have to consider here is that Syria is a satellite of Iran. Whatever technology the Syrians get will sooner than later find its way to Iran.

I have a challenge to all the Ron Paul pod-people. Put this together with the fact that Syria, Iran and North Korea all have access to nuclear scientists and engineers who used to build the nuclear weapons for the Soviet Union and then tell me how all this doesn't add up to a threat.