What Isn’t Being Said

Bret Stephens points out that what the Israelis are not saying about the raid into Syria says rather a lot about the whole affair:

What's beyond question is that something big went down on Sept. 6. Israeli sources had been telling me for months that their air force was intensively war-gaming attack scenarios against Syria; I assumed this was in anticipation of a second round of fighting with Hezbollah. On the morning of the raid, Israeli combat brigades in the northern Golan Heights went on high alert, reinforced by elite Maglan commando units. Most telling has been Israel's blanket censorship of the story–unprecedented in the experience of even the most veteran Israeli reporters–which has also been extended to its ordinarily hypertalkative politicians. In a country of open secrets, this is, for once, a closed one.

The censorship helps dispose of at least one theory of the case. According to CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Israel's target was a cache of Iranian weapons destined for Hezbollah. But if that were the case, Israel would have every reason to advertise Damascus's ongoing violations of Lebanese sovereignty, particularly on the eve of Lebanon's crucial presidential election. Following the January 2002 Karine-A incident–in which Israeli frogmen intercepted an Iranian weapons shipment bound for Gaza–the government of Ariel Sharon wasted no time inviting reporters to inspect the captured merchandise. Had Orchard had a similar target, with similar results, it's doubtful the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert–which badly needs to erase the blot of last year's failed war–could have resisted turning it into a propaganda coup.

And one by one Stephens explains why a lot of the opinions out there about this operation are probably incorrect. The Israeli and Syrian governments are both being uncharacteristically quiet about the whole thing. Was whatever Israel bombed nuclear in nature? That is still unknown as well. But it certainly would fit into what is known at this point - and what is being left unsaid as well.

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  By Neo, Tuesday, 18 September , 2007 @ 7:59 am

  Reuters finally does something interesting, and nobody notices.

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  By Gaius, Tuesday, 18 September , 2007 @ 8:05 am

  Wow - good catch. Thank you.

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  By Glenn, Tuesday, 18 September , 2007 @ 9:43 pm

  If cnn said it, commence fire, fire at will

Other Links to this Post

1. Blue Crab Boulevard » Empty Hospitals - In Iraq — Tuesday, 18 September , 2007 @ 8:18 am