Upfall

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On September 6, 2007 Israeli fighter-bombers attacked a mysterious target in eastern Syria, near the Euphrates River. For many weeks Israel refused to formally acknowledge the raid. It is now known that the target was a secret Syrian nuclear site. Some sources opined that the attack was really a decoy to distract the Syrians, while a clandestine team of Israeli commandos actually hit the target.

Syrian spokesmen seemed to confirm the latter version of events by pointedly denying that Israeli ground forces were present, while at the same time acknowledging that Israeli planes had inexplicably bombed empty areas of desert. But few knowledgeable experts believed that. Rather, it appeared that the Syrians had indeed suffered some kind of devastating commando attack, but were too embarrassed to admit the truth.

Adding to the mystery was Israel’s uncharacteristically stubborn silence on the matter. When Israeli jets destroyed Iraq’s nuclear facilities in 1981 the Israel government was quick to claim the success. On this occasion, however, official Israeli sources remained mute. The likelihood that an Israeli commando force could be airlifted deep into eastern Syria, destroy a major nuclear facility, and get away, leaving no trace behind, is hard to credit. But the veil of secrecy Israel still maintains over the operation has led some to speculate that the Israelis had developed a new means of stealth transport that is so sensitive, only a very few people inside the Israeli establishment are even aware of its existence.

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