1 Boring Old Man

The hardest part about the recent briefing on the Israeli bombing of a suspected Nuclear Reactor in Syria is that there have been so many half truths and outright lies that our index of suspicion is through the roof. Here’s a set if links to some of the relevant documents:

We’re all so jaded by their earlier lies that it’s hard to look at all of this without suspicion. But that’s not going to be clarified by a blogger living in a log cabin in the North Georgia Mountains. It sure looks dangerous to me [see above from my Google Earth]. There is a big building[1] in the middle of the Syrian desert near the Euphrates River with what looks like a connecting pipeline.

In the video, the bombed out version[2] certainly contains a circular structure compatible with a nuclear reactor. After it was bombed, the Syrians demolished the remaining ruins[3], covered them over with dirt[4], and built a metal skinned building on the site[5-6]. It looks pretty reactor-like to me. Most bloggers are going down the skeptical path – Why release the photos? Were they retouched? Why didn’t Israel or the U.S. go to the U.N. [answer: They don’t believe in the U.N.]? But all of that’s too much second guessing for me. Maybe this time, the intelligence was right and they played it sort of straight.

The notion of this Administration playing it straight is comforting – but unlikely. I would suggest this scenario:

Dick Cheney: Look Mr. President, if we release these pictures, maybe it will wake the American people up to how dangerous these people [Arabs] are and they’ll get out of our way and support our bombing Iran too!