Israel's Unusual Silence

The Israelis attacked Syria earlier this month. But nobody is talking. It looks like it could be a big deal. Maybe equivalent to their raid on Iraq's nuclear facility.

North Korea of all countries is making noises about the attack, and there's some reason to believe that Syria, Iran and North Korea are the players in this little—likely nuclear—drama. We'll have to wait to find out just what happened. But Bret Stephens of Opinion Journal clarifies some of the issues, and clears away some of the speculation being reported.

"More questions will no doubt be raised about the operational details of the raid (some sources claim there were actually two raids, one of them diversionary), as well as fresh theories about what the Israelis were after and whether they got it. The only people that can provide real answers are in Jerusalem and Damascus, and for the most part they are preserving an abnormal silence. In the Middle East, that only happens when the interests of prudence and the demands of shame happen to coincide. Could we have just lived through a partial reprise of the 1981 Israeli attack on Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor? On current evidence, it is the least unlikely possibility"

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The Gunslinger