Israel's air strike on a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor last year was the result of intelligence cooperation that included a "foreign partner" that first identified the facility's purpose, CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden said on Tuesday. Hayden refused to divulge the name of the "foreign party."
"We were able last year to spoil a big secret, a project that could have provided Syria with plutonium for nuclear weapons," Hayden said. The CIA director said it was the foreign partner first identified the nucelar facility as being similar to the reactor in North Korea. "When pipes for a massive cooling system were laid out to the Euphrates River in the spring of 2007, there would have been little doubt this was a nuclear reactor," Hayden said. "We would have known it was North Korean, too, given the quantity
and variety of intelligence reports on nuclear ties between Pyongyang and Damascus."
Responding to questions on Iran's race for nuclear power, Hayden said Teheran's conduct is suspicious especially taking into account that after years of nuclear activity they concealed, they still continue to deny all allegations.
While both Iran and north Korea have the capability to produce nuclear weapons, the CIA's top concern said Hayden is Al Qaida who if given the chance will try to obtain such weapons. "There is no greater national security threat facing the United States than al-Qaida and its associates," he said. 09/17/08
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