Jane’s: Chemical Explosion in Syria Killed Iranians, N. Korean Engineers

When Israel bombed a mysterious site in Syria last September, the newspapers reported a dizzying number of theories about what was attacked and where.  Before summarizing those theories in this post, I warned you that they weren’t necessarily  mutually exclusive, and here’s another piece of evidence to throw into the hopper.  Jane’s Defense Weekly, a highly respected publication to be sure, claims that last July, the Syrians were loading chemical warheads onto their North Korean-made SCUD-C missiles for a test.  Then, God cast  a vengeful eye on the pad:

The British military magazine Jane’s Defence Weekly said  the explosion killed dozens of Iranians in addition to Syrian victims and caused the leak of chemicals like nerve gas within the facilities. The source said the explosion also killed three North Korean engineers. The Sankei claimed the North has helped Syria develop missiles in various ways, including selling it Scud-C missiles since the 1980s, and loading chemical warheads was part of that cooperation.   [Chosun Ilbo]

This was two months before Israel attacked a target in  northern Syria that the New York Times later reported to be a nuclear reactor, under  construction with North Korean help.  As recently as this month, the North Koreans had sent their scientific emissaries back to Syria to talk about how to reestablish their technical cooperation.

Since this isn’t nuclear-related, expect the State Department to have no curiosity about this whatsoever.  This is supposed to be a happy occasion!   Let’s not bicker and argue over who’s  planning to  gas who.