IAEA: We Have No Information on Undeclared Syrian Nuclear Sites.

I spoke yesterday about my incredulity at the New York Times report of the Israeli attack on Syria and about what I see as the ramifications even if the Israeli claims are true, which I seriously doubt.

However, today Newshoggers are carrying a quote from the IAEA which shows that they are also seriously pissed off at the US and Israel, once again, showing contempt for international consensus and the rule of law.

"The International Atomic Energy Agency has no information about any undeclared nuclear facility in Syria and no information about recent reports," spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said in a statement issued from the IAEA's Vienna headquarters.

"The IAEA is in contact with the Syrian authorities to verify the authenticity of these reports," she said.

"We would obviously investigate any relevant information coming our way. The IAEA Secretariat expects any country having information about nuclear-related activities in another country to provide that information to the IAEA."

A Vienna diplomat close to the IAEA said it had initiated contacts with Damascus shortly after the air raid but the Syrians had provided no clarification yet. U.S. officials have linked the raid to apparent Israeli suspicions of covert nuclear cooperation between North Korea and Syria. They said the site in question was identified earlier this year in satellite photographs.

Syria has denied hiding any nuclear activity from the IAEA or having anything other than energy goals with nuclear work. The Vienna diplomat said that if Syria was indeed building a new reactor, it would have been required to inform the agency, and provide design data, as soon as it decided to construct one.

No country had provided satellite or other intelligence about the alleged plant to the IAEA although such help would be crucial to detecting such a site, added the diplomat, who asked not to be named due to the topic's political sensitivity.

"With the (low) level of IAEA funding, inspectors can't go around a country checking every building. The IAEA is not a go-it-alone investigative agency," said the diplomat.

The more one hears about this attack the less sense it makes. Why, other than sending a signal to Iran that they might be next, would Israel attack a facility that couldn't be completed for another decade?

And why is there such terrible silence from both the US and Israel about what has just occurred? Newshoggers also bring up a quote from Retired CIA analyst of Arab affairs Ray Close made during an interview with Juan Cole:

"Personally, I believe that the most persuasive reason for studied silence on this subject, on the part of both Republicans and Democrats, is the reluctance (call it fear) of individual politicians that they might be put in a position of appearing to criticize Israel for poor judgment (or even deliberate deception), and thereby appearing to oppose intimate collaboration with Israel (yes, even in acts of illegitimate preemptive military action) against "supporters of terrorism."

Maybe that's it. There's a fear of ever being seen not to fully support Israel, even when she is engaging in action which only her most fervent supporters could attempt to claim as pre-emptive; and that most of the planet would see as an outright act of premeditated aggression. So, rather than risk criticising her, the US adopts a policy of non discussion of the entire subject.

And it's fascinating that, since the IAEA said they could find no nuclear facilities in Iraq - a claim that turned out to be totally correct - that the Israelis have now chosen to cut the IAEA out of the process altogether and feel free to launch pre-emptive strikes against other nations based solely on their own "evidence"; "evidence" that even Washington doesn't feel is strong enough to publicly support.

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Tags: Israel, Syria, air strikes, Olmert, Bush