Report: North Korea Outsourcing Mayhem to Syria

Kim Jong Il

From the Full Story at the Washington Post:

"North Korea may be cooperating with Syria on some sort of nuclear facility in Syria, according to new intelligence the United States has gathered over the past six months, sources said. The evidence, said to come primarily from Israel, includes dramatic satellite imagery that led some U.S. officials to believe that the facility could be used to produce material for nuclear weapons.

The new information, particularly images received in the past 30 days, has been restricted to a few senior officials under the instructions of national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley, leaving many in the intelligence community unaware of it or uncertain of its significance, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Some cautioned that initial reports of suspicious activity are frequently reevaluated over time and were skeptical that North Korea and Syria, which have cooperated on missile technology, would have a joint venture in the nuclear arena."

If this report is correct, then two other assumptions have merit. First, John Bolton is absolutely correct that North Korea had no intention of ever giving up its nuclear ambitions. Second, the "Axis of Evil" is spreading to include Syria. It is equally plausible that Russia and/or China are facilitating this buildup in the Middle East, for political or economic reasons. China would be more pressed to keep the oil fields on the precipice, fearing U.S. intentions in the region.

Russia would have less worry with energy sources, due to a large oil reserve on Russian soil.

None of this requires expertise in foreign policy to see, however, I'd be curious to see what Washington knows that the rest of us don't. I suspect there will be a war with Iran (or Russia or China as the case may be) using Syria to launch attacks against Israel in a bid to further destabilize the region. China could use the instability to argue for the U.S. to get out.

At any rate, the North Koreans remain a menace and few have advanced plausible solutions to create change in Pyongyang.