Seymour Hersh: A Shot in the Dark

[laststeamtrain]

Seymour Hersh: A Shot in the Dark:http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/02/11/080211fa_fact_hersh

... However, in three months of reporting for this article, I was repeatedly told by current and former intelligence, diplomatic, and congressional officials that they were not aware of any solid evidence of ongoing nuclear-weapons programs in Syria. It is possible that Israel conveyed intelligence directly to senior members of the Bush Administration, without it being vetted by intelligence agencies. (This process, known as “stovepiping,” overwhelmed U.S. intelligence before the war in Iraq.) But Mohamed ElBaradei, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations group responsible for monitoring compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, said, “Our experts who have carefully analyzed the satellite imagery say it is unlikely that this building was a nuclear facility.” ...

http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/006951.html

[wuushew]

1. This is the best article by far that has been written on this subject!

I sure hope the numerous Syria bashers(You know who you are, i.e. posting the before and after satellite photos) read this article as it explains the motivations and behaviors of all the various players.

If I read the article correctly, the Israeli assumptions of Syrian WMD development were complete bunk. I don't know why Hersh saves the absolutely most important points of an article for the last page.

Shortly after the bombing, a Chinese envoy and one of the Bush Administration’s senior national-security officials met in Washington. The Chinese envoy had just returned from a visit to Tehran, a person familiar with the discussion told me, and he wanted the White House to know that there were moderates there who were interested in talks. The national-security official rejected that possibility and told the envoy, as the person familiar with the discussion recalled, “‘You are aware of the recent Israeli statements about Syria. The Israelis are extremely serious about Iran and its nuclear program, and I believe that, if the United States government is unsuccessful in its diplomatic dealings with Iran, the Israelis will take it out militarily.’ He then told the envoy that he wanted him to convey this to his government—that the Israelis were serious.

“He was telling the Chinese leadership that they’d better warn Iran that we can’t hold back Israel, and that the Iranians should look at Syria and see what’s coming next if diplomacy fails,” the person familiar with the discussion said. “His message was that the Syrian attack was in part aimed at Iran.”

[wuushew]

2. kick

:nuke: