SYRIA: Was Damascus building a nuclear program?

So are the Syrians or the Americans bending facts about Kibar?

That's the site in the eastern deserts of Syria destroyed in an Israeli airstrike on Sept. 6. The consequences Kibar airstrike continue to unfold. Los Angeles Times Washington bureau reporter Nicole Gaouette writes today about the bipartisan skepticism of U.S. lawmakers about the timing and substance of the Bush administration's presentations (see video below) about the site last week.

The presentations to the Senate and House intelligence committees were meant to show that North Koreans were helping the Syrians build a plutonium reactor. Instead, the evidence drew unusually strong criticism.

Here's Rep. Peter Hoekstra, the Michigan lawmaker who is the ranking Republican on the House committee, speaking on a Sunday talk show:

The timing of it, what information they released, what information they did not release and who they released it to, is going to make it more difficult for them to reach an agreement that will be supported by Congress and supported by the American people.

The Syrian government harshly  condemned the allegations. Syria's ruling Baath Party newspaper published an editorial today that resurrected past U.S. intelligence failures:

When you look at these pictures ... a single image comes to mind — that of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell accusing Iraq of hiding weapons of mass destruction and presenting as proof a dossier of photographs.... Of course Mr. Powell later acknowledged that he had been fooled by the U.S. intelligence services and by conservatives within the administration. The new U.S. campaign of lies should surprise nobody -- it's a continuation of the same policy of U.S. pressure against Syria.... Syria again rejects the U.S. allegations and reaffirms that it has nothing to hide concerning its legitimate national defenses.

Arms control experts have also voiced doubt about some of the administration's claims. Scientist Jeffrey Lewis at Arms Control Wonk has dissected the presentation and admitted that he's baffled by the U.S. claim that the Kibar site was a replica of a North Korean plutonium reactor:

To be clear, I don’t doubt that Al Kibar was a reactor and, although I think the evidence of North Korean involvement is less impressive than early press reports suggested, that’s my working hypothesis too. But I don’t understand the claim that Al Kibar is a copy of Yongbyon in the strict sense — in particular, I don’t understand how the [intelligence community] concluded that Al Kibar is the same size as Yongbyon.

On the same blog, British arms control expert James Acton wonders why the administration decided to release the information now. Was it to pressure the Syrians or the North Koreans?

—Borzou Daragahi in Amman, Jordan

Comments

[bashar imam]

great information indeed,,,but please, could you compare this nuclear reactor to the Israeli's reactor,,,,
and why do you think we should trust this information ,,,,,,,,,,,is this the same CIA that got us into Iraq.
call Mr Powell, and ask him if you can use the same pictures we got from him on Iraq.,,,,
please get real and leave the world a lone. and stop listening to the bunch of idiots at the CIA and Mossad

[Bill]

Let us not forget that the US and Israel consistently ignore international agreements as well and already have the bomb! If we parade around bombing boogeymen out of fear that they 'might' develop weapons, it is we who are the rougue nations. Evidence must be investigated scientifically and sources should be checked before accusations of illegal weapons programs are made. The US invasion of Iraq should indeed frighten Libya. It should also frighten anyone in the free world who believes in democracy. Why is Israel not being held accountable for invading Syrian airspace and launching an attack?

[Antoine]

Louis, what is the prefered verb of americans : to nuke or to bomb ?

The only thing that the US can do is to bomb, bomb and bomb. ENOUGH !!!

The USA are not the savior of world, even less its beacon.

What a degenerated country. What a bunch of idiots.

[asdf]

How low will they go? PRETTY DAMN LOW!

[jack]

We need to recall that this intel originated with Mossad. not the CIA. I have great confidence in Mossad's capability, much more than in the CIA. Mossad is all that initially stands between Israel and annhilation, so they need to be sharp. Jeffrey Lewis is being obtuse. Nobody said this reactor was as large as Yongbyon! It was said it was a replica, but the replica is smaller than the original. Whats wrong with that? It closely resembles Yongbyon. Those inclined to perennial scepticism need to be careful. One day, while expressing their scepticism, the nuclear missiles will be falling on American assets in the ME or Europe. There is no doubt whatsoever that Iran is far advanced on its bomb program. Its also working on missile delivery systems. N Korea has the bombs already, fusion not fission. Never forget AQ Khan and his activities. And credibility is 100% because we know Pakistan has warheads, they've tested them, for heaven sake! I'm not one of those dupes who believes for a moment that Islamic n-bomb technology is confined to Pakistan? That would ludicrously naive, like believing in fairies. No matter what the governments attitude is, it cannot control all the Islamic engineers and scientists. Khan is living testimony to that fact! The US should assume Iran will shortly have bombs/warheads and that Syria will be close behind. Its planning should be based on that and not on what Mohamed ElBaradei says. He is an Egyptian and a Muslim! Can anyone believe he would back the US against a Muslim state? Get real.

[Louis]

It is about time...talk has shown that it does not work with these people, and bombing does!

Remember that right after the Iraq invasion in 2003 Lybia was so scared by that invasion that they gave up ALL of their nuclear program, and also more importantly information on hidden nuclear programs out there (this one in Syria for example).

So half messures like negociation and talk only go so far...bombing does a LOT more to stop maniacs like these nuts in Korea and Syria, who do NOT care about international agreements and the like!...and that have double crosses world leaders like Bill Clinton in the 1990's nuclear negociation with fake nuclear agreements, and that is now well documented, resulting in their nuclear bomb test in 2006:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6033457.stm

So let the bombs fall...! Get them before they can make and test any more bombs!