Hmmm. What country might Syria want to target with nuclear weapons? "Possible Syrian nuke facility identified by satellite," by Yaakov Katz in the Jerusalem Post, December 3:
A compound in western Syria with buildings and hundreds of missile-shaped items has been identified as functionally related to a nuclear reactor Israel destroyed northeast of Damascus in 2007.Satellite footage of the site in Masyaf was obtained by the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security and shows a compound built in a ravine and surrounded by what appears to be a line of trenches....
ISIS head David Albright, who analyzed the satellite footage, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that the site at Masyaf could be a military storage facility. Hundreds of items seen stored in rows out in the open could be missiles or truck beds, he said.
"We have identified one site and learned the approximate locations of three other sites as well," Albright said.
On Thursday, the International Atomic Energy Agency's governing board convened in Vienna to discuss Syria's continued refusal to allow inspectors to visit the site of the al-Kibar reactor, in Syria's Deir Alzour region, that was destroyed by Israel in September 2007, or other sites, like the one near Masyaf that are suspected of being functionally related to the reactor. When the IAF bombed the reactor it was two-to-three weeks away from becoming operational and it would have been capable of producing plutonium for nuclear weapons.
IAEA director-general Yukiya Amano told the board on Thursday that he recently sent a letter to Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem urging him to grant inspectors access to the sites.
"Syria has not cooperated with the agency since June 2008 in connection with the unresolved issues related to the Deir Alzour site and some other locations," Amano said. "As a consequence, the agency has not been able to make progress towards resolving the outstanding issues related to those sites."
Albright said that he commissioned the satellite photos of the suspected site near Masyaf to raise awareness of Syria's continued violations ahead of the IAEA meeting.
"The issue needs more attention and there needs to be a special inspection by the IAEA at al-Kibar and other sites that are relevant," he said. "The issue is not getting enough attention and Syria can destroy evidence and can get away with it by stonewalling the IAEA."
Sure. It has happened before.
Just go back and bomb it to blazes!
"...Hundreds of items seen stored in rows out in the open could be missiles or truck beds, he said."
seeds of the peaceful religion of Islam....
"Neighborhood Bully" time. If Israel attacks, even though the bombs are "meant for [them]," the world will condemn Israel and not the states trying to destroy it.
With Israel being such a small country geographically any detonation of nuclear or thermonuclear weapon would do great damage to the dome of the rock and Al Agsa mosque and many muslims living in west bank cities would die as well.
These aren't nuclear bombs, these are hundreds of missles with crude nuclear-material laced "dirty bombs" with Israel's name on them.
Since when have jihadists cared how many of their fellow muslims die? As long as the evil Jews, infidels, et all are killed, the muslims who die are collateral martyrs. That's how they think and that's how they tell us they think.
"...If Israel attacks, even though the bombs are "meant for [them]," the world will condemn Israel and not the states trying to destroy it."...
and that is why i say, to hell with world's opinion!
bullshiting diplomats were hypocritically munching on hors d'oeuvres and politely wiping the corners of their mouth while 6 million were murdered!! (and that includes u.s.a's
fdr...)
this tradition of hypocrisy is carried on today at all levels of western societies, media and government...
and especially now with the muslime jihadist at the w.h.
israel!
you have the stregth!
use it god damn it !
there will be cries and condemnations ANYWAYS, so might as well give them a concrete reason to fume and have impassioned speeches at the un (ha! ) at the plight of the poor syrians who yesterday they had a country, and today they have a parking lot....
NEXT?
A. Lincoln,
I think that you are correct--this suspicious site is a Syrian stockpile of radioactive missiles and "dirty" munitions. At least, what you say makes sense, given what we know and suspect.
The Axis of Evil must be stopped.
Radiological weapons are not very effective from a military (as opposed to a terror) viewpoint. A radiological stockpile is much more difficult to handle than nuclear weapons, and is even more so than chemical weapons. If you plan on occupying attacked territory, the isotopes need to be short-lived, but such weapons can't be stored for very long. Long-lived isotopes prevent an occupation. The Manhattan Project debated these issues and decided radiological military weapons were not worth the trouble, and it's likely the other Cold War superpowers came to the same conclusion.
Radiological terror weapons, on the other hand, need not be a large stockpile (as in a large collection of trucks). Terror requires only radioactivity, the particular isotopes don't matter too much, in fact the witchier the brew the better. If the Syrian military is going down this road, it could mean radiological war is imminent, and both they and the Israelis know it. Remember, the Israelis have top-notch drone aircraft that can easily sniff out these materials.
If this is what these sites are, expect them to be plastered very soon. If the Israelis sit tight then they are probably not an imminent threat. We'll see
Alternatively, if these are "special" weapons sites, it is possible that they are chemical weapons depots. Remember these facts: first, Iraqi chemical weapons disappeared before the invasion of Iraq; second, truck convoys were seen going to Syria before the invasion; and third, within the last two years Syrian military personnel have been killed during a chemical weapons training accident. It's a plausible possibility.
The site is located only about 4 miles NE of the center of the town of Masyaf, Syria. There are a couple of ways to access the Google satellite view. The first is by Google Maps via http://tinyurl.com/27lpran and the second is via Google Earth with the coordinates 35.106356 N, 36.387424 E . It is obviously a military-type storage depot of some kind, with what appear to be dozens of missiles stored in the open. This is curious, as operational systems are not usually left out in the weather, which suggests this could be a boneyard like Davis Monthan AFB, AZ (type "Davis Monthan AFB" in the Google Earth adddress bar, then zoom in. You'll see where all those mothballed B-52s etc. end up). Also, road access to the Masyaf site seems not to be very restricted, which would be unusual for a site that Syria would want to be secure.
The administrative buildings appear to be about a half mile SE of the facility, and includes a swimming pool. Nice touch.