Thursday, September 20, 2007
The Plot Thickens
I'm not seeing reports anywhere that elaborate on the Washington Post's claim that US and Israeli intelligence collaborated on an investigation of a potential Syria-North Korean nuclear partnership. The story is fascinating, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out tomorrow and in the coming days. These leaks, most importantly, that "the United States is believed to have provided Israel with some corroboration of the original intelligence before Israel proceeded with the raid," are far more interesting than the blather we're hearing from Benjamin Netanyahu, who blithely confirmed the fact of the raid today despite the government and defense establishment's efforts to keep this hermetically sealed.
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4 comments:
Evening, cars are starting to run.
Hazbani observing.
What is going on in Lebanon is much more important than these planes episode. It seems that we are facing, in this time, a major change in the nature of Lebanon. It is not christian any more in a very pronaunced way and it is going to be less and less so. Seems some body on this blog has an interest in Armenians. A friend of mine is going to lake Van. We were talking, I said that part of what happen now to the christians of lebanon has to do with the idiots of Dashnak who voted anti Seniora government. They should go also to lake Van and learn. but like I said in a month we will know about Lebanon presidency.I think a lot of Christians will be buying a one way ticket, too bad.
From the beginning I didn't think it was likely that Israel would undertake such a risky and provocative operation in the current political climate just to test Syria's air defenses or to send a reminder of the IAF's capabilities. I always assumed there was some real target involved. On the other hand it strikes me as almost absurd that Syria would attempt to develop a nuclear program now. They couldn't possibly think that they could get away with it in the long run, and in the short run it provides no tangible benefits.
On a related matter, what the hell was Bibi doing? Did he just want to make certain that he got part of the credit for a bold military action?
Hope everyone who celebrated had a good fast, and maybe an inspiring experience. Noah K and I did actually, and as always, you can't beat the taste of food when you haven't eaten for 26h+. Wishing all our readers a great year.
Ariel - very funny about Bibi. I guess he was trying to get some credit - I think it backfired completely. Olmert & Barak are looking very smooth right now. Barak more so than the PM actually. People eat this stuff up - the more reports proliferate, the better Barak, the ex-Matkal man, looks. Commando raids, daring air force attacks, superb intelligence...this is what Israel is good at, and this is where people like to see the IDF
"kicking butt."
I am still SKEPTICAL, but I'll concede that I was wrong when someone other than the Sunday Times gives us more credible evidence that there was nuclear stuff involved.
The latest report is that Israeli commandos raided the site beforehand and seized some of the material! Furthermore, some North Koreans were killed in the strike.
It's possible that the North Koreans were just trying to dump their stuff and that Syria wasn't so serious about developing a program. But I'm less surprised about Assad doing something stupid than I am by the North Koreans screwing up like this. Seems like it could endanger their goals in the 6-nation talks (because of the domestic pressure it puts on Bush from people like Bolton).
Hazbani - very interesting about your friend going to Van. Is he visiting it for pleasure or business? I'd be curious to hear some kind of report back...is there a lot of tourism in the area? Are diaspora Armenians managing to go there?
Yes, unfortunate about the Dashnak in Lebanon - maybe not the first time they did something stupid. I am afraid your prognosis might be correct.
Hazbani Respoding
Pleasure, if studying the ancient kingdom of Uraratu and Armenian art is considered pleasure.
Turkey is full of tourists, all kinds. Services are getting better but prices are going up. Ten - 15 years ago services were low so were prices. Still one of the most interesting places in the world.
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