PrintOctober 6, 2007
Background on Israeli Syrian Strike
ABC News is reporting that last month's raid on a Syrian military facility by Israel was actually delayed several months at the insistence of the United States:
The September Israeli airstrike on a suspected nuclear site in Syria had been in the works for months, ABC News has learned, and was delayed only at the strong urging of the United States.One more "surprise" to chalk up for our vaunted intelligence agencies.
In early July the Israelis presented the United States with satellite imagery that they said showed a nuclear facility in Syria. They had additional evidence that they said showed that some of the technology was supplied by North Korea.
One U.S. official told ABC's Martha Raddatz the material was "jaw dropping" because it raised questions as to why U.S. intelligence had not previously picked up on the facility.
Officials said that the facility had likely been there for months if not years.
Apparently, the Israelis decided to go ahead with the strike in September when it became clear that news about the Syrian facility was about to leak.
There have been many conflicting reports regarding exactly what the Israelis bombed. One thing is for sure, whatever it was they attacked, the Israelis were absolutely convinced it was a threat to them and that they were determined to take the target out with or without American approval.
