Syria, the IAEA, Nuclear Weapons, and a Prediction

United Nations nuclear inspectors are planning to go to Damascus soon. The hope is that they'll gather facts and do a thorough investigation into whether or not Syria has - or had - a nuclear weapons program.

Quite recently, the International Atomic Energy Agency, (IAEA) found out that they'd be allowed to bring ground-penetrating radar, to probe under the building that the Syrians built over the site that Israeli jets bombed last year.

There's still reason to believe that the United Nations inspectors will be told where they can look, how they can look, and what they can use to look for evidence.

Besides that, Syrian crews have had nine months to clean up the alleged empty sand, or agricultural station, or unused military facility, that Israeli jets blew up last year. It looks like there's been a controlled explosion there, and new construction.

I think it's fairly safe to predict what will happen.

• Syria will put strict limits on what the IAEA inspectors can do, and where they can go
• The IAEA technicians will not find obvious, compelling, in-your-face, evidence of a nuclear reactor in the places they've been allowed to see
• This will be hailed as proof that Syria never had a nuclear weapons program
• Israel will be condemned for launching an unprovoked attack
• America will be condemned for supporting Israel

I could be wrong. But previous experience suggests that this is what will happen after the IAEA's little three-day trip to Syria.

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More, at "UN atomic inspectors begin Syria mission"
Associated Press (June 23, 2008)

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