Rumors that have been circulating in Israel for some time have now hit the mainstream press:
The September 6 raid over Syria was carried out by the US Air Force, the Al-Jazeera Web site reported Friday. The Web site quoted Israeli and Arab sources as saying that two strategic US jets armed with tactical nuclear weapons carried out an attack on a nuclear site under construction.
The sources were quoted as saying that Israeli F-15 and F-16 jets provided cover for the US planes.
The sources added that each US plane carried one tactical nuclear weapon and that the site was hit by one bomb and was totally destroyed. — Jerusalem Post [my emphasis]
If this is true, it would be the first time since 1945 — at least, as far as I know! — that a nuclear weapon has been employed operationally.
On October 17, I received a copy of an email (in Hebrew) that was circulating in Israel. In addition to the above, it said that at least one Israeli plane was damaged by Syrian antiaircraft fire, but returned safely to base. And it added that
The target included three nuclear weapons, which had been shipped in pieces by sea from North Korea and assembled by North Korean technicians in Syria.
Technorati Tags: Syria, North Korea, nuclear weapons
I doubt the truth of this report.
The Arabs find it difficult to take any defeat from little Israel. It must always be a sinister plot in which the superpower defeats them.
Without conclusive evidence either way, I tend to believe that Israel did it by itself.