Part 2 of 2 Parts (Please read Part 1 first)
In late 2006, the Israelis became aware of a construction site in a remote area of northeastern Syria under a huge roof to conceal whatever was being built. Israeli intelligence decided that the Syrians were trying to construct a nuclear reactor. They had a policy since 1976 that they would not allow any enemy to have nuclear weapons.
In February of 2007, a high ranking Iranian military officer defected to the United States. When he was debriefed, he gave details of the Syrian nuclear program including the fact that Iran had provided money and North Korea had provided expertise. They were constructing a graphite-moderated nuclear reactor at the remote construction site that was intended to produce plutonium for nuclear warheads.
In March of 2007, the Israelis searched a hotel room in Vienna occupied by the head of the Syrian nuclear energy commissions. From a laptop left in the room, Israeli intelligence obtained detailed information and images from the remote construction site that confirmed beyond doubt that the Syrians were building a nuclear reactor. They also learned that the reactor was within months of completion. If Israel waited for the reactor to be finished and put into operation, any airstrike would risk spreading nuclear fallout.
In April of 2007, the Israelis briefed U.S. military officials. The Bush administration was leery of acting quickly because of the debacle with missing weapons of mass destruction in Iraq during the U.S. war there. While U.S. CIA agreed with Israel, other U.S. officials and foreign governments were skeptical and afraid of escalation of Middle East conflicts.
In June of 2007, the Israeli Prime Minister visited the White House and told the President that Israel might act alone against Syria if the U.S. refused to be involved. The President responded by suggesting that he would not interfere if Israel decided to attack Syria by itself.
The Israeli military began gathering information for an attack on the Syrian reactor site while the Israeli politicians debated the wisdom of such an attack. The mission to destroy the Syrian reactor was called Operation Orchard. On September 5th of 2007, the Israeli military received permission to attack Syria.
That night ten F-15 and F16 Israeli fighters took off from the Ramat David airbase in Israel. They flew north along the coast and then turned inland along the Syrian-Turkish border. They deployed electronic countermeasures and destroyed a radar station as they entered Syrian airspace. The planes successfully destroyed the Syrian reactor under construction and returned home.
The next day, the Syrians announced that Israeli planes had penetrated Syrian airspace but had been detected and had retreated without attacking Syrian targets. The Syrian president denied all reports of any Syrian work on a nuclear reactor. Israel kept silent because they did not want to admit their successful attack. Eventually the whole story was made public.
Now Israel is worried that Iran may be working on the development of a nuclear arsenal. Given the facts of the Iraqi and Syrian attacks, it is probable that Israel might attempt an attack on Iran. Unfortunately for Israel, Iran is equipped with sophisticated radar and anti-aircraft missiles from Russia. They have also buried a number of military facilities deep underground. If Israel does attempt an attack, they might not reach their targets and, even if they do, they might not be able to destroy them. Iran has a lot of conventional missiles and any attack by Israel could prompt an attack on Israel by conventional weapons. It is a volatile situation and, hopefully, cooler heads can prevail in Israel and Iran to prevent a violent conflict.
U.S. Government photo of destroyed Syrian reactor:
