Aw I have waited for this.... As always now come the lies. lol

Assad says facility Israel bombed not nuclear: ((AND if it was we would have heard them shout Jihad the same day it happened))
paper Sun Apr 27, 12:32 PM ET

Assad says facility Israel bombed not nuclear: paper - Yahoo! News

DUBAI (Reuters) - The Syrian site Israel bombed in September was not part of a nuclear weapons program, but was a military facility under construction, President Bashar al-Assad said in remarks published on Sunday.

Last week, Washington released intelligence alleging Syria had built a nuclear reactor with North Korean help before an Israeli air strike destroyed the facility on September 6.

"Is it logical? A nuclear site did not have protection with surface to air defenses? A nuclear site within the footprint of satellites in the middle of Syria in an open area in the desert?" Assad told Qatar's al-Watan newspaper in an interview conducted before the U.S. accusations were made.

At that stage, he was commenting on media reports that said the target was a nuclear site. "The truth is that the raid was at a military site under construction," Assad said in the interview. "We are against mass destruction weapons for Israel, Iran or others."

Assad said it was illogical for Syria to seek a nuclear bomb. "Where would we use it? On Israel it would kill the Palestinians. I do not see this as logical."

Assad accused Washington of ignoring a Syrian proposal to make the Middle East a region free of weapons of mass destruction "because it included Israel."

In 2003, when Syria was a member of the United Nations' Security Council, the Arab state pushed for a ban on nuclear, biological and chemical weapons in the Middle East in what was seen than as a bid to shine a spotlight on Israel's arsenal.

Israel is believed to have about 200 nuclear warheads but the country's policy is not to discus the issue -- which some diplomats say is an open secret.

Speaking after the U.S. accusations, Syria's ambassador to the United States dismissed as "a fantasy" the U.S. allegations.

Assad said he did not know why Israel, officially at war with Syria since the 1973 Middle East conflict, bombed the site.

"Why did they raid it, we do not know what data they had, but they know and they see through satellites; they have raided an incomplete site that did not have any personnel or anything. It was empty," he added.

BILATERAL RELATIONS

Asked about Syria's response, Assad said: "Retaliation does not mean a missile for a missile, a bomb for a bomb or a bullet for a bullet ... They (Israelis) understand what we mean. We do not say that we will retaliate, i.e. we will bomb."

"You have to ask a different question; had Syria not been harming Israeli policy would Israel have carried out an operation of this sort? The truth is that we have the means to respond, but in our own way."

"We understand Israel wants to provoke Syria and possibly to drag Syria into war while we do not seek war. We have been clear about this point. We have other means and we do not necessarily have to declare them."

Assad refused to answer a question about reports that Syria was seeking to acquire Russian missiles.

"If there was a door open, even if it was small, for peace you should not seek war but you should seek to defend yourself. Now are you prepared or not, psychologically we are always ready and constantly prepare ourselves, but in terms of results no one knows results until the battle itself."

Watan ran part of the interview on Thursday in which he said Damascus was ready to negotiate with Israel through Turkey to "find common ground" for peace, but any direct talks must wait until a new U.S. president is elected.

Syria says it received word from Turkey that Israel was willing to give back the occupied Golan Heights in full in return for peace with the Arab state -- a key issue that led decade-long negotiations to falter in 2000.

(Reporting by Summer Said; writing by Inal Ersan)

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Yea can't keep the words of your great leader.

Prophet Muhammad - “Do you love your creator? Love your fellow-beings first.”

You must admit, discounting all other evidence against this being a nuclear site, that he has a point there. Nuking Israel would kill palestinians and also send radioactive fallout over Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, and probably further than that. It would make no sense.

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"Well done Dubya. You freakin' imbecile." - ViolaLee

The other theory I heard about this bombing was that the Israelies were testing the Syrian alert system so they would know what to expect of they were to do airstrikes on Iran. The concern is Syria would furnish Iran an early warning, giving them time to prepare defenses.

I don't know what to think about this theory. Some people are convinced Bush / Cheney /Israel are going to conduct airstrikes before the end of the Bush administration.

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National Debt =

It shouldn't matter if it WAS a nuclear site. Why is the debate always about whether it was or wasn't. The higher debate is why it should matter.

India is nuclear. Pakistan is nuclear. Neither, if i'm correct, has signed the non-proliferation treaty, yet we care not.

Good work Mlurp[. You call iut lies but back your statement up with nothing. Why would Syria want a nuclear bomb ? Assad has no intention of killing Palestinians.
Also what about the US ignoring pleas to make the middle east a nuclear free region ? Quite shameful.

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Viva Fidel

If there ever was in the history of humanity an enemy who was truly universal, an enemy whose acts and moves trouble the entire world, threaten the entire world, attack the entire world in any way or another, that real and really universal enemy is precisely Yankee imperialism

They talk about the failure of socialism but where is the success of capitalism in Africa, Asia and Latin America?

Why would Syria want nuclear weapons? Why not? In that area of the world, it pays to be prepared for anything, plus have a nuclear deterrent against any country...Israel, Iran, etc..
By the way, since when does Syria care about the Palestinians? Their hatred of Israel is far greater than their love of the Palestinians.

It's called the MAD defence. I want to know why it took them this long to say something in response.

As for the "testing" of a defense system, I've heard that too, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. If you see a hole in your enemy's defense, you don't want to inform them of it, you want to keep it hidden until you need to use it, than make the most of it. Now Syria and Iran are going to replace that aspect of their defense system, most likely.

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Set your destination with your heart, get there with your mind.

"The wisest men follow their own direction." - Euripides

It's odd that it took Syria 8 months to make this claim. Add to that the fact that Sryia immediately sanitized the site after it was bombed and didn't file a protest about the attack. And what about the N. Koreans. Not a peep out of them.

Has anyone given any thought that Syria might have been the proxy site for nuclear weapons development for their good friends in Iran? Syria builds it and ships it to Iran.

I don't see why they'd do it in that manner. Why move the product so close to 'enemy' territory if that isn't it's final destination?

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Set your destination with your heart, get there with your mind.

"The wisest men follow their own direction." - Euripides

Why? The common denominator which ties Syria to Iran. Hezbollah.