ISRAEL STRIKES ARMS SHIPMENT TO LEBANON, SPOTS NUCLEAR FACILITIES IN SYRIA, AND DAMASCUS VOWS TO RET

(WASHINGTON, D.C., September 12, 2007) -- The New York Times is reporting this morning that Israeli warplanes attacked a Syrian target last week, most likely Iranian arms being shipped through Syria to Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.

But the paper is also reporting something far more disturbing: Israel has recently "carried out reconnaissance flights over Syria, taking pictures of possible nuclear installations that Israeli officials believed might have been supplied with material from North Korea."

"The Israelis think North Korea is selling to Iran and Syria what little they have left," the official said.

Syria, meanwhile, is vowing to retaliate against Israel, accelerating the possibility of a horrific new war in the region, one that U.S. and Israeli officials have been concerned about for months.

Significantly, a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman called Israel's strike in Syria "a very dangerous provocation little short of wantonly violating the sovereignty of Syria and seriously harassing the regional peace and security....The Democratic People's Republic of Korea strongly denounces the above-said intrusion and extends full support and solidarity to the Syrian people in their just cause to defend the national security and the regional peace."

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz notes that "the only countries that have expressed solidarity with Syria are Iran and North Korea," while "Russia issued a condemnation of sorts."