Norks nuke deal with Syria goes before Congress

AP/Houston Chronicle:

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Congress will be presented with evidence that North Korea was helping Syria construct a reactor similar to its facility at Yongbyon, in the west-central part of the country, said the government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. That reactor has in the past produced a small amount of plutonium, which can be a component in nuclear weapons.

One senior administration official said Thursday's briefing was scheduled because the intelligence community had been deluged for months with congressional requests for information about North Korean activity in Syria and the Israeli airstrike and felt it was now time to brief lawmakers.

The official said, though, that there were concerns that the revelations if leaked or made public could encourage opponents of the administration's attempts to negotiate an end to North Korea's nuclear weapons program. U.S. diplomats are pressing North Korea to come clean about its nuclear cooperation with Syria as part of those talks but have had little success.

At the same time, Middle East experts in the administration are worried that the timing of the briefing might upstage visits to Washington this week by Jordanian King Abdullah II and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and hurt Arab-Israeli peace prospects with allegations of nefarious activity by an Arab nation with the aid of North Korea, the official said.

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Jordan is not going to be upset about the revelations. It is likely very pleased with the Israeli action removing a threat to its own security. Abbas also should not be carrying water for the Syrians on this issue. Hopefully, he is intelligent enough to realize that a nuclear strike on Israel will kill his people too.

I think the real concern is whether it will kill a deal with the Norks. What it will reflect is that the word of the North Koreans is not much worth. In a way the strike in Syria cleared up a deal killer that lets the current negotiations go forward, assuming they don't try to rebuild in Syria.