Redstate

Posted at 6:01pm on Apr. 22, 2008 North Korea Helped Syria's Nuclear Program

The Headlines Were Too Good To Be True

By California Yankee

At the Wall Street Journal, Jay Solomon reports North Korea was helping Syria build a plutonium-based nuclear reactor.

Speculation about North Korea's alleged role was sparked by a September Israeli strike inside Syria, which targeted what many U.S. government and private analysts believe was a nascent nuclear reactor.

[. . .]

This week, the Central Intelligence Agency is expected to begin briefing members of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees on the Israeli strike, according to Congressional and administration officials, based in part on intelligence provided by the Israeli government.

The information is expected to confirm that North Korea was helping Syria develop a plutonium-based nuclear reactor similar to the Yongbyon facility North Korea built north of Pyongyang, said an official familiar with the deliberations. The briefings are also expected to confirm that North Korean workers were active at the Syrian site at the time of the Israeli attack.

Less conclusive, however, is any firm evidence that Syria was attempting to develop nuclear weapons, according to the U.S. official.

This would seem to confirm what I posted last September -- about Israel attacking Syrian nuclear material and the North Korean involvement.

This also justifies my long held skepticism about North Korea's so-called agreement to give up its nukes.

Posted in Foreign Affairs | Israel | North Korea | Nuclear Proliferation | Syria — Comments (3)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:48am on Mar. 4, 2008 UN Sanctions Iran Again

By California Yankee

The United Nations Security Council has adopted a third resolution imposing sanctions on Iran for its refusal to cease enriching uranium designed to build nuclear weapons.

The new sanctions add to Council sanctions imposed in 2006 and 2007.

The resolution was adopted by a vote of 14 - 0, with Indonesia abstaining, and calls on "Member States" to inspect cargoes to and from Iran believed to contain goods prohibited by U.N. resolutions, mandates tighter monitoring of financial institutions and imposes additional travel bans and asset freezes.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Zamay Khalizad puts Iran's continued nuclear defiance in perspective:

Instead of suspending its proliferation-sensitive activities as the council has required, Iran is dramatically expanding the number of operating centrifuges and developing a new generation of centrifuges, testing one of them with nuclear fuel.

[. . .]

Continued below the fold.

Posted in Foreign Affairs | Iran | Israel | Nuclear Proliferation | Sanctions | UN — Comments (1)/ Email this page » / Read More »