Report Discusses Irsraeli Airstrike within Syria

Report Discusses Irsraeli Airstrike within Syria

news.yahoo.com

CAIRO, Egypt - Commercial satellite images show construction in Syria that resembles the early stages of a small North Korean-model nuclear reactor, a report said Wednesday, speculating that it was the site hit last month by an Israeli airstrike.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Finally - SOMETHING about this odd strike. Not a lot, but hopefully the doors will slowly open on this.

news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Best (prestrike) image of the facility found so far.
Too small to really tell anything. Still looking for hi-res image.



Although...there are some slightly better images in the actual ISIS report(PDF) the OP article describes.

Here are the reported coordinates for you google earth fans.



[edit on 10/25/07 by makeitso]

OK, I take it back.

If you copy the image from the ISIS report and save it, thats the best image so far.

Quite large.


img522.imageshack.us...

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Well, finally some news that have shed some light on this rather secretive issue. While this is by no means definite proof, and building used to house a reactor is not a reactor, I'm sliding towards opinion that there is very strong possibility that the complex that was bombed was actually meant to become a nuclear reactor in the future. Let us see how will this story unfold. If Syria wants to clear itself, it should clearly explain exactly what this complex was. At this time, considering this article and the satellite imagery, silence and rhetorics are working against them, they make their whole story look more and more suspicious.

Well this is some interesting information. So it seem Syria might have been building a reactor. Ok can any one say if Syria needs the power from a reactor or not? Just asking because the obvious question will be does Syria have the intent to produce bomb grade material.

I did not find out if the power from a reactor is needed, but I did find out that Syria does produce oil and gas. Electricity is produced in enough abundance that a small amount is exported.

world fact book

I just came across this which I thought was kind of interesting.

Newly-released satellite images of the presumed site of an Israeli air raid on Syria last month show that a large building has been completely removed.

The independent US research group, the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), obtained and analysed the photographs.

The industrial-style building may have been a nuclear reactor under construction, says the ISIS.

Syria says it never had any plans to build a nuclear reactor.

The images suggest that, for whatever reason, the Syrian authorities have gone to great length to remove any trace of the facility.

bbc

Here are images of the site before the strike and after supposed clean-up. Good for comparison. If these pics are not modified, and I don't think they are, this is clear proof that someone had put up quite an effort to make the scene look clean and innocent. What do you think?

reply to post by Duby78


Quite an effort indeed.


The referenced article says that this is the site of the Israeli airstrike in September.

Although not familiar with the details of North Korean nuclear reactor construction, I would assume that they are rather massive structures.

At least with regard to the amount of heavy steel and re-inforced concrete employed in their construction (for radiation shielding purposes, if nothing else).

And yet, we are supposed to believe that, based on the published photos of the supposed site of the attack, Syria was able to rush sufficient personnel and equipment to a remote locale in their desert, and within just a matter of a few weeks (2-4 perhaps?) virtually erase any evidence of such a massive structure?

I'm not comfortable with that.


Given the time-frame imposed by these photos, I'm inclined to more likely believe that what was supposedly destroyed by that Israeli airstrike in September, if it was at this site, was something considerably less substantial than a reactor building would have been.


I also note that the proffered photos show no signs of remaining collateral damage in the surrounding area.

Strange.

I accept that Israel has some of the finest pilots in the world. But...

Given the shear amount of ordinance likely required to effectively take out a large, hardened structure like a nuclear reactor containment building, a supposedly covert nuclear reactor containment building, at that; It seems to me that the immediate area should show signs of at least a few mis-strikes. Just based on probability.

Yet the "after" photo seems to show nothing. No craters, no debris.

Nothing.

Are we to seriously believe that not one Israeli round missed its target?

Or are we to believe that the Syrians, amidst what had to be a frantic effort (to be accomplished so quickly), whilst clearing the rubble of the destroyed "reactor" building, took the time and effort to "fill in" the errant craters?


I'm not saying that there wasn't something in that Syrian dessert that shouldn't have been there.

I just have a hard time believing that what was there, was anything as potentially massive as a reactor; "under construction" or otherwise.

My internal lie detector is buzzing on this one...

A fresh image of the facility in Syria turned up today. You can probably expect more pictures in the near future.

Earlier this week, federal and private analysts identified the precise location of the Syrian site, and since then rival companies have raced to release images.

This image shows that the building existed in 2003.
Analysts speculate that construction began in 2001.



LOL, of course this does nothing to clarify the mystery.

www.nytimes.com...

Even if the Syrians did something shady here, it's not exactly as if Israel has clean hands. Furthermore, I don't really think this story is that important.