According to the latest report, Israel had pics, the CIA helped target, and the U.S. refused to bomb the site due to a lack of evidence of nuclear materials – and the U.S. (and Israel) continues to refuse to discuss the issue (h/t P):

Israel had obtained detailed pictures of a Syrian complex from an apparent mole, which supported an Israeli belief the facility was nuclear and led to an air strike on it last month . . . [A] senior U.S. official, said the person had provided several pictures of the complex from the ground, and Israel showed the images to the CIA. The U.S. spy agency helped pinpoint “drop points” to assist in potential targeting, ABC said.

Israel urged the United States to destroy the complex, but Washington hesitated because no fissionable material was found that would prove the site was nuclear, ABC said.

The network quoted the official as saying the facility was of North Korean design and that Syria must have had “human” help from North Korea.

The White House and the CIA declined to comment on the report, in keeping with a strict U.S. refusal to discuss the issue.

[. . .]

“It was unmistakable what it was going to be. No doubt in my mind,” ABC quoted the official as saying.

The United States had begun to consider ways to destroy the complex, such as a special forces raid using helicopters, ABC said. But it said the White House sent word the United States would not carry out a raid and urged Israel not to do it either.

Whether it was the beginnings of a nuclear reactor or not, perhaps some in Israel and the U.S. thought it was, perhaps not. It’s looking more and more like that is the case, but we’ll still have to wait for more information, I think.

Related posts:

• Has Syria Confirmed an IAF Attack on a Nuclear Facility?
• A Plausible Syria-North Korea Nuclear Scenario: Reactor
• Israeli Intel on Syria, North Korea Sparks Bush Admin Debate
• East Asia Intel: Israel Hit North Korean Missiles in Syria
• Speculation on the North Korea-Syria Nuclear Connection