The Timeline that Went Bump in the Night

Sept 3
-mtg btw FM Moallem and Ahmadinejad in Tehran
-Al-Hamad docks at Tartous in Syria under N Korea flag carrying cement

Sept 5
-Kucinich meets w Assad in Damascus
-talks held this week btw US and Nkoreans to stabilize relations in Geneva
-Olmert tells Solana to tell Assad that Israel will withdraw troops from Golan Hts

Sept 6
-Assad does interview with Katie Couric on stability in Iraq
-Syria: before dawn Israeli planes break sound barrier over N. Syria and drop "munitions" in unpopulated areas, no casualties -- complain but do not make a big deal
-Israel calls it Operation Orchard, israeli pilots not told of target until en route
-Syrian official says they "fired heavily" at Israeli planes, SANA says planes only "confronted"
-Min. of Info Bilal: "Syria retains the right to determine the quality, type and nature of its response."
Russia: "extreme concern"
Iran: support for Syria
US: not enough details
Israel: no comment on military operations

Sept 7
-israeli officials do not deny that they have flown over syria before
-worries by all that tensions may escalate, but no indication from higher up
-all seems to be silent on this day
Syrian VP Al-Shara: "I can say now that in Damascus a series of responses is being examined at the highest political and military levels. The results will not take long in coming."

Sept 8
Al-Arabiya: israeli official says strike aimed at russian-made missile system
hezbollah MP: strike aimed at putting pressue on Iran
Syrian minister Shaaban: when asked if israel attacked, responded only that airspace was violated
-israeli fuel tanks found in turkey near border, pictures on front page of Hurriyet newspaper, turkey says: "we have asked israel to explain"

Sept 9
powerful Syrian MP Habash: Israeli attacked failed, because if it had been successful (like 1981 Osirak), they would have said so
Syrian FM Moallem in turkey for talks: "We are prepared to defend ourselves against any attack that Israel may plan, but our basic priority is a comprehensive peace."
Israeli PM olmert: "I want to express my appreciation of the security forces's courageous and unusual operations that are aimed at impeding the activities of terror groups,"
Israeli minister Rafi Eitan: "The Syrians cannot say that they want peace and encourage terrorism,"
former IDF chief of staff uzi dayan: "The Israeli silence has started to exhaust itself,"
-Assad visits Tartous


Sept 10
Turkish FM Babacan: israeli actions "unacceptable development"
Syrian FM Moallem in Turkey: "Israel used live ammunition in a deliberate and hostile attack," "dropped bombs over Syria, they dropped fuel tanks on Syrian soil.", said that three Israeli planes fired four missiles at targets on the ground in the Dayr al-Zur district in eastern Syria
-Moallem does not demand that EU condemn attack, EU diplomats say they think Syria does not want to escalate incident
AL-Hayat: Olmert relayed message day before Sept 6 strike to damascus through EU's Javier Solana that israel will cut troops in golan hts.
-lack of arab support for syria
-hezbollah repeats that israeli strike practice for iran

Sept 11
CNN: American source says that israeli strike may have targeted weapons from iran to hezbollah, used group troops, "left a big hole in the desert" in Syria
-Syria makes formal complaint to UN
AFP: US offical says strike a warning to Syria not to rearm hezbollah
Al-Sinara(w. bank): Israeli source says strike targeted joint syrian-iranian missile base, razed it to the ground
"DoD official": at least one target struck, target and damage unclear
"officials in Washington": most likely target was weapons caches for hezbollah
"bush admin official": israel has been doing recon on possible nuclear sites supplied by n. korea, “The Israelis think North Korea is selling to Iran and Syria what little they have left,”
Al Mustakbal (lebanon): since attack there have been major communication disturbances in lebanon
-N. Korea denounces attack, support for Assad (on his 42nd b-day)
Telegraph: another US confirmation of strike, also theory that strike was aimed at russian Pantsyr air defense system, which may also be used by iran

Sept 12
BBC: israeli military censorship very tight on this subject, "no perceptible mood of satisfaction in Israel"
John Bolton in Wall st. journal: israel going after NK nuclear facilities
Reuters: "political source in region" says bombs were diversion for commando operations
Reuters: "US diplomatic source" says region where syria say bombs fell focus of suspected nuclear cooperation w NKorea
Reuters: "In Vienna, two senior diplomats familiar with the International Atomic Energy Agency said they knew of no serious suspicions of nuclear links between Syria and North Korea."
Reuters: "us official source" says unlikely NKorea would jeopardize talks w US by sending material to syria
WaPo: "sources" say new US intelligence, primarily from israel, says Nkorea and syria collaborating on nuclear weapons, with "dramatic satellite imagery" -- this intelligence restricted under direction of NSA Hadley

Sept 13
Al-Jarida (kuwait): turkey gave israel intel on syria for strike, turkish army allowed use of airspace -- but turkish govt did not know about this
-Assad and Moallem meet Putin's special envoy Alexander Sultanov

Sept 14
Turkish govt calls Al-Jarida claims "ridiculous"
US nuclear envoy Chris Hill: 6 party talks will go on as scheduled, does not address syria
"Senior US nuclear official" Andrew Semmel: N koreans are in syria, and damascus may have had contact with "secret suppliers" for nuclear equipment
Rice: also does not address syria directly, expresses need for anti-proliferation
-Iran announces Memorandum of UNderstanding to invest $10 billion in Syria in next 5 yrs, also mentions cement production plants undertaken in syria by iranian experts

Sept 15
Guardian: israeli operation involved high-tech israeli airplanes, up to 8, and an ELINT (electronic intelligence gathering plane)
Hezbollah Dep. Chief Kassem: war not likely btw Israel and Syria, Hezbollah won't get involved
Haaretz: Ronen Solomon says ship Al-Hamad, docked in lebanon and syria (nkorea flag) and egypt (s korea flag), carried cement to syria tartous port -- records on this ship changed after report comes out, tartous port website goes offline for several hours
Turkish Weekly: allegations that Turkey Ok'ed israeli strike, and that it was a practice run for iran

Sept 16
Times of London: "Israeli sources" say strike targeted nuclear-related material or equipment, involved israeli commandos, planned since spring, target agricultural facility at Deir Az Zor, only Olmert, Barak, Lipni, and US admin knew about it

Sept 17
-Olmert says he respects Assad and is willing to hold peace talks with him
-Meretz party MP Zehava Gal-On demands explanation of strike, but Meretz leader Yossi Beilin says no need for disclosure or criticism

Sept 18
-poll says 78% of israelis support strike, Olmert popularity rises 10%
-N Korea postpones 6 party talks, thought to be due to syria issue
-China makes first shipment of oil to N Korea
-Moallem in Kazakhstan mtg w Nazarbaev
-Joeseph Cirincione at Center for American Progress says whole story is an attempt to sabotage N Korea talks