Right before September 11, 2001, the alarm bells were ringing across trading floors about some unusual trading in the US stock options market. An extraordinary number of trades were bet that American Airlines stock prices would fall.

The trades are called "PUTS" and at least 450,000 shares of American Airlines stock were involved. What raised the alarms was that more than 80 percent of the orders were "puts" and they far outnumbered "call" options (those betting the stock would rise). Usually, the numbers are fairly balanced on these kinds of trades so this imbalance caught traders' attention.

The next day, four American passenger jets were hijacked in a terrorist attack on American soil. Three of these jets belonged to American Airlines. Two allegedly crashed into the World Trade Center and one allegedly crashed into the Pentagon. The fourth aircraft was a United Airlines passenger jet that allegedly crashed into a field near the town of Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

In a September 21 story by the Israeli Herzliyya International Policy Institute for Counterterrorism, "Black Tuesday: The World's Largest Insider Trading Scam?" the Institute documented the following trades connected to the September 11 attacks:
Between September 6 and 7, the Chicago Board Options Exchange saw purchases of 4,744 put options on United Airlines, but only 396 call options... Assuming that 4,000 of the options were bought by people with advance knowledge of the imminent attacks, these "insiders" would have profited by almost $5 million.

On September 10, 4,516 put options on American Airlines were bought on the Chicago exchange, compared to only 748 calls. Again, there was no news at that point to justify this imbalance;... Again, assuming that 4,000 of these options trades represent "insiders," they would represent a gain of about $4 million.

[The levels of put options purchased above were more than six times higher than normal.]

No similar trading in other airlines occurred on the Chicago exchange in the days immediately preceding Black Tuesday.

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., which occupied 22 floors of the World Trade Center, saw 2,157 of its October $45 put options bought in the three trading days before Black Tuesday; this compares to an average of 27 contracts per day before September 6. Morgan Stanley's share price fell from $48.90 to $42.50 in the aftermath of the attacks. Assuming that 2,000 of these options contracts were bought based upon knowledge of the approaching attacks, their purchasers could have profited by at least $1.2 million. Merrill Lynch & Co., with headquarters near the Twin Towers, saw 12,215 October $45 put options bought in the four trading days before the attacks; the previous average volume in those shares had been 252 contracts per day [a 1200% increase!]. When trading resumed, Merrill's shares fell from $46.88 to $41.50; assuming that 11,000 option contracts were bought by "insiders," their profit would have been about $5.5 million.

For a total outlay of $2,070, some investor or investor groups stood to make a lot of money.
(My Note: to this day, it is uncertain if the investor/s ever collected their money and with all the hoopla of Homeland Security, there has never been a public investigation).

Someone obviously had advanced warning that American Airline passenger jets would be used in acts of terrorism. Who? Some have speculated that it was bin laden himself. Others have speculated that it was elite members of the CIA, while others have speculated it could have been the Carlyle Group or even members of the Bush family. But no matter who it was, it was definitely an "insider job."

Almost six years later, the same "PUTS" scenario happened again.

On August 26, 2007, an investor or investors (or "entity") made a $4.5 billion options bet (PUTS) for a catastrophe to happen before the options expired on September 21, 2007. (See: $4.5 billion options bet on catastrophe within four weeks)

Many bloggers and others speculated that there would be another massive terrorist attack that would tank the already sinking stock markets. Others speculated that China would dump its US currency and drive the stock markets down. I personally believed (and still do) that what's going on with the American stock markets is a "rolling recession" that's going to stop rolling (what goes up must go down) and turn into the worst economic depression the world has ever seen. That's why I paid little attention to the PUTS and that's probably why others didn't pay much attention to them, either.

But then on August 29/30, six nukes went missing from the Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota. Three days after the disaster PUTS are bought, six nukes go missing!

First question we need to ask is: how did they go missing when America is spending hundreds of billions of dollars on "Homeland Security" and military budgets?

An excellent article - Missing Nukes: Treason of the Highest Order - explains what happened very well. Ironically, Several military personnel died under mysterious circumstances shortly before and after the incident. Now what are the odds of this happening? But, as the above linked article states:
There are now questions regarding the fate of these individuals in the U.S. Air Force who could have had relationships in one way or another to the incident or possibly have been directly involved. It is also necessary to state that there is no proof that these deaths are linked to the August flight from Minot to Barksdale in question.
The interesting thing is that, if it weren't for whistleblowers (the story was first reported by the Military Times after military servicemen leaked it), this scandal about the missing nukes might never have been exposed at all! More, it is uncertain if all the nukes were recovered.

Next curious item: One week after the nukes went missing on American soil, on September 6, 2007, Israel purportedly bombed a nuclear plant that was being built in Syria. The news media did not report this for over a month. The New York Times only got around to reporting on October 13. They said that Israeli planes struck at what US and Israeli intelligence believed was a partly constructed nuclear reactor in Syria. On October 28, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the cabinet that he had apologized to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan if Israel violated Turkish airspace during this strike last month.

What we are looking at here is the possible relationship of the missing nuke to the strange saga of Syria. SOTT has been chronicling the Syrian Saga for a long time now and just a glance at the headlines we have archived will suggest that something may definitely have been planned for late September, but it seems that things didn't go as expected. The following is chronological, but not exhaustive, list of events leading up to this "non-event," the bombing of Syria that may have been intended to coincide with a nuking of some US target in another false-flag operation designed to set off World War III - a False Flag nuclear attack on U.S. soil that is yet to come. Pay attention, people! This is important!

21 Nov 2005: US Official, reflecting the latest attitude of the US government, calls for Regime Change in Syria "Diplomatically if Possible by Force is Necessary"

16 Dec 2005: Saddam's WMD Moved to Syria, An Israeli Says

21 Dec 2005: Russia to take Syria's side if conflict with U.S. arises - Russian MPs

27 Dec 2005: US embassy close to admitting Syria rendition flight
The US embassy in London was forced to issue a correction yesterday to an interview given by the ambassador, Robert Tuttle, in which he claimed America would not fly suspected terrorists to Syria, which has one of the worst torture records in the Middle East. A statement acknowledged media reports of a suspect taken from the US to Syria.

Torture is banned in the US but the CIA has been engaged in a policy of rendition, flying terrorist suspects to countries in the Middle East and other parts of the world where torture is commonplace.
18 Jan 2006: Cheney and Netanyahu Pushing For War Against Syria

13 Feb 2006: Syria switches to euro amid confrontation with US

27 Mar 2006: Iran, Syria warn against Israeli nuclear threat

03 Jul 2006: Iran And Syria Sign Defense Agreement

13 Jul 2006: U.S. blames Syria, Iran for kidnappings
The United States blamed Syria and Iran on Wednesday for the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah militants and an eruption of violence along the southern border of Lebanon.
17 July 2006: Report: Israel gives Syria ultimatum
The London-based Arabic language newspaper Al-Hayat reported Saturday that "Washington has information according to which Israel gave Damascus 72 hours to stop Hizbullah's activity along the Lebanon-Israel border and bring about the release the two kidnapped IDF soldiers or it would launch an offensive with disastrous consequences."
25 July 2006: Putin Stresses Importance of Ties with Syria
Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed on Tuesday that his country gives great care to develop the Syrian-Russian dialogue regarding the regional and international urgent issues.
04 August 2006: Former ISI Chief sez: America will attack Iran, Syria in October
The former chief of ISI, Maj. Gen (R) Hameed Gul has "predicted" that America would definitely attack Iran and Syria simultaneously in October. [...] He also "predicted" that after Iran and Syria, Saudi Arabia would also meet the same fate, followed by Pakistan.
07 August 2006: Propaganda Rules! "Chilling threat" as Syria offers to join with Hezbollah
SYRIA'S foreign minister yesterday offered to join militant group Hezbollah in its fight against Israel and said a regional war would be "most welcome" as more than 30 people in Israel and Lebanon were killed on one of the worst days since the conflict began.

Israeli air strikes killed 19 people in southern Lebanon, including six Lebanese soldiers, as fighting continued despite a US-French draft UN Security Council resolution to halt the hostilities.

Lebanon yesterday rejected the resolution and asked the UN Security Council to revise the draft to include a demand for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon. [...]

The US-French draft resolution calls for a "full cessation of hostilities" but gives Israel the right to take "defensive" military action.

It also specifies that Hezbollah must be disarmed and the two captured soldiers returned. It does not demand that Israel withdraw its forces in advance of the deployment of an international force in southern Lebanon.
07 August 2006: Syria ready for regional war, blasts UN resolution
"The UN resolution is a recipe for the continuation of the (ongoing) war (between Israel and Hezbollah) ... and a recipe for civil war (in Lebanon) that nobody has interest in, but Israel," Muallem said.

"We defend Lebanon and its resistance against any plan that they try to impose on it through UN Security Council resolutions which do not reflect the Lebanese military victory over the Israeli army," he said.

"The American-French draft totally favors Israel."

Israel has said it has no plans to attack Syria but analysts have expressed fears of a wider conflict after Israel bombed Lebanese border posts close to Syria and also overflew President Bashar al-Assad's palace in northern Syria in June.
10 Aug 2006: Fox Military Analyst on Syria: 'We Can Talk To Them When We Line Them Up and Kill Them'

21 August 2006: Olmert Rules Out Peace Talks With Syria
Israel accuses Syria and Iran of arming and supporting Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas who fired nearly 4,000 rockets at Israel in the 34-day war that ended last week. However, during the war, Israel went to great lengths to keep Syria out of the conflict, apparently to avoid opening another front or closing future peace options.
23 Aug 2006: Olmert, Minister in Clash Over Returning the Golan to Syria
Dissent within Israel's war Cabinet appeared to spill into the open yesterday with the country's minister for internal security defying an order from Prime Minister Olmert and publicly saying that if Syria was interested, he would endorse negotiating the return of the Golan Heights to the Baathist regime in Damascus in exchange for peace.
28 Aug 2006: Hezbollah technology supplied by Britain not Iran or Syria
AN URGENT investigation was launched last night after Israel accused Britain of indirectly supplying Hezbollah terrorists with military night-vision equipment that helped them to target Israeli soldiers in Lebanon.

The equipment was found by Israeli troops in Hezbollah command bunkers in southern Lebanon. Each set was stamped "made in Britain".
It is common practice for the CIA and MI6 to sell weapons and equipment to both sides in a conflict, especially when the conflict is strategically useful. For example, destabilization and destruction in the middle east can be used to increase profits for government-sponsored arms corporations, as well as weakening official enemies, and opening the back-door for a form of imperial conquest in the guise of "democracy", "free trade" and "reconstruction".

31 Aug 2006: Chavez 'united' with Syria against US aggression
"We are here in Damascus to call for peace," Chavez told Syrian state television on Tuesday night. "These two countries are strongly united against the imperialistic aggression and hegemonic pretensions of the US empire."
04 Sep 2006: Israel plans for war with Iran and Syria
"The challenge from Iran and Syria is now top of the Israeli defence agenda, higher than the Palestinian one," said an Israeli defence source. Shortly before the war in Lebanon Major-General Eliezer Shkedi, the commander of the air force, was placed in charge of the "Iranian front", a new position in the Israeli Defence Forces. His job will be to command any future strikes on Iran and Syria.
12 Sep 2006: 3 dead after U.S. Embassy attack in Syria
Syrian forces killed three armed men and wounded another on Tuesday after an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Damascus in which a car was blown up and gunfire exchanged with guards.
14 Sep 2006: Who was behind the attack on the US embassy in Syria?
Who could possibly have an interest in attacking the American embassy? The attack failed because of the intervention of the Syrian forces, combined with the apparently primitive character of the explosives used by the attackers. If it had succeeded, however, the most likely consequence would have been a sharp increase in pressure directed against Syria by the United States government. This would have played into the hands of sections of the American establishment who have been pushing for military actions against Syria and/or Iran.
14 Sep 2006: Syria Says US Behind Attack On Own Embassy
"Only the Americans can succeed in carrying out an attack just 200 meters from President [Bashar] Assad's residence in the most heavily guarded section of Syria."

The official charged that Washington had orchestrated the attack to "prove Syria is filled with terrorists and to put us in a weak position" in order to extract political concessions. Following the attack, Bush administration officials said they hoped the incident had convinced Damascus of the dangers of Islamic terror and the need to cooperate with the West against the phenomenon.
Meanwhile, strangely, in spite of all this hate talk, apparently the U.S. has covert "friendly" relations with Syria:

20 Sep 2006: Innocent Man Sent to Syria and Tortured; Canada may file protest against US
The United States "very likely" sent a Canadian software engineer to Syria, where he was tortured, based on the false accusation by Canadian authorities that he was suspected of links to al-Qaida, according to a new government report.
24 Sep 2006: President: Syria willing to make peace with Israel
Calling for "peace with Israel," Assad said he did not hold the same views on the nation as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, although the two countries maintained close ties.
Meanwhile, on a possibly related front:

17 Oct 2006: Eleven-millennium-old building discovered in Syria

One wonders, of course, if Israel's determination to bomb most of the Middle East back to the Stone Age is designed to destroy any archaeological findings that might reveal the true origins of Judaism - that could definitely be a blow to their claim on Palestine - that "God" gave it to them.

13 Nov 2006: War Whore Rice sez: Syria a 'dangerous' country
The United States believes Syria is a dangerous state whose territory is being used for the accelerated arming of Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in an interview with an Israeli daily Sunday.

"This is a dangerous state that is behaving in a dangerous manner," Rice told the country's second largest daily, Maariv.

"The United States is concerned and is following closely the use of Syrian territory as a way-station for the accelerated arming of Hezbollah," the Hebrew-language newspaper quoted her as saying.
14 Nov 2006: Bush defies diplomatic drumbeat on Iran, Syria
No softening in policy and no talks : President George W. Bush's warning on Iran and Syria defied a drumbeat of calls at home and abroad for the United States to engage its two foes.
14 Nov 2006: UK: Our new friends in the Middle East - Iran and Syria were demonised to justify the invasion of Iraq. Now Britain and the US want their help sorting out the mess ...
...fears of regime change are fuelled when Condoleezza Rice brands Syria as an "outpost of tyranny". Further setback for Syria when France and the US ensure expulsion of Syrian forces from Lebanon. [...]

Robert Gates, the new US Defence Secretary, is an advocate of dialogue with Tehran to enlist its help in extricating allied forces from Iraq. Tony Blair, who wants Iran to help stop cross-border attacks on UK troops, backs this, setting the scene for demise of Bush's neoconservative policy. But Iran is now in the grip of a hardline leadership, headed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is defiant over its nuclear programme.
21 Nov 2006: Iraq and Syria resume diplomatic ties
Baghdad and Syria today agreed to restore full diplomatic relations after a 24-year break.The move followed a visit by the Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem, to Iraq - the first by a Syrian minister since the US-led invasion in 2003. [...]

The summit initiative, a sign of Iran's diplomatic clout in the region, comes at a time when the US is debating whether to bring in Iran and Syria into diplomatic efforts to calm the situation in Iraq.

Iran and Syria, however, are not waiting for Washington, and have taken the initiative. [...]

The US has sought to play down the significance of the three-way summit, and the state department spokesman, Tom Casey, yesterday said previous statements by Iranian and Syrian leaders had not proved productive. [...]

As diplomatic efforts on Iraq gathered momentum, the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan - who angered Washington by describing the war in Iraq as illegal - said the US was "trapped".
29 Nov 2006: Haaretz Propaganda! Chirac reported to say France, U.S. agree there is no point talking to Syria

Here's what was actually said:
Speaking after a NATO summit in Latvia, Chirac said he was always in favour of dialogue in principle provided it led to results and was based on honesty and a commitment to carry out what was agreed.

"In the current state of affairs, this is not exactly the characteristic of the dialogue which some European countries have started with Syria. I deplore that," Chirac said.

"I understand that the American president's position is exactly the same as France's," Chirac said.
19 Dec 2006: Russia Concerned Over Middle East Turmoil, Pledges Support, Putin Assures Syria's al-Assad
News reports said earlier that Putin's talks with al-Assad would range from the situation in the Palestinian territories to Lebanon and Iraq. Russia is a member of the so-called Middle East diplomatic quartet together with the European Union, the United Nations and the United States.

But the United States and Israel have resisted the idea of Russia hosting a Middle East conference, which Moscow hopes would bring together arch foes such as Iran and Israel. Although it is relatively close to Israel, Moscow was at the forefront of objections to Israel's offensive against Lebanon's pro-Syrian Hezbollah in July-August.
17 Jan 2007: Ancient Weapons Found in Ruins in Syria
The discovery could also help explain how civilizations developed in different regions of the Fertile Crescent, Reichel said. [...]

He said the existence of Hamoukar and the nearby Syrian city of Tell Brak prove that early development of Mesopotamia occurred independently in the north and south, which is contrary to traditional scholastic belief. Previously, civilization in the north of the region was thought to have developed under the influence of urban areas in the south.
05 Feb 2007: Syria refuses to help refugees driven from Iraq in Winter
More than 700 Palestinian refugees who have been driven out of Iraq are stranded in squalid tented camps on the Syrian border. Damascus is refusing to let them in, despite the wintry conditions and limited supplies of food, water, fuel and medicines.
26 Feb 2007: Olmert: Prepare for war with Syria
Military Intelligence chief Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin opened the briefing and told the ministers that "Israel is surrounded by negative processes... that create more instability in the Middle East than in the past."
01 Mar 2007: In Bizarre Turnaround US agrees to Mid-East talks with Syria, Iran - What's Up?
IN A significant policy shift by the Bush Administration, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has announced a regional conference of Iraq's neighbours, including Iran and Syria, as well as the US, China, Russia and France.
03 Mar 2007: Israel Protests Planned Russian Missile Sale to Syria
Israel has harshly criticized a plan by Russia to sell advanced anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles to Syria. Israeli officials say those missiles will eventually wind up in the hands of the Islamic guerrilla group Hezbollah in Lebanon. [...]

"President Putin is playing with fire and it might burn a very big fire here in the region," he said. "And Israel cannot stand [for] it and cannot live with the idea that Syria will get such kind of a system."
07 Mar 2007: Propaganda! Dead Russian reporter was investigating Russian arms sales to Iran, Syria
A Russian reporter who died after falling out of a window was investigating sales of weapons by Russia to Syria and Iran, his newspaper Kommersant said Tuesday.

Ivan Safronov had told his newspaper that he had "received information" about the sale of Sukhoi-34 fighter jets to Syria and S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Iran via Belarus.

The business daily said the arms were being sold "via Belarus to avoid the west accusing Russia of arming rogue states". Safronov, a former colonel, specialised in writing about the army and space.
18 Mar 2007: Zionist Propaganda: JPost sez: Chirac pressed Israel to attack Syria

A second article appended at the end of the above linked story suggests that this is Zionist propaganda or an attempt to smear Chirac.

30 Mar 2007: Pelosi Going to Syria Despite Objections
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will visit Syria, a country President Bush has shunned as a sponsor of terrorism, despite being asked by the administration not to go.
16 April 2007: Russia warns Israel against Syria war

18 Apr 2007: Syria: A Lot of Uninvited Guests - 1.5M Iraqi refugees

03 May 2007: Condilizzard Rice Raises Border Concerns With Syria
In a diplomatic turning point for the Bush administration, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Thursday with Syria's foreign minister and expressed U.S. concerns about the country's porous border with Iraq. [...]

Ahead of the meeting, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad said Syria had somewhat stemmed the flow of foreign fighters. "There has been some movement by the Syrians," said Maj. Gen. William Caldwell. "There has been a reduction in the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq" for more than a month.
22 May 2007: Hidden Tombs of Ancient Syria
The tomb contained three layers of skeletons, undisturbed, as were the rest of the tomb's contents, in the nearly four and a half millennia since they were buried. Ancient tombs containing gold and silver objects tend to be prime targets for robbers, both ancient and modern, and so a pristine tomb is an exhilarating find. In three subsequent excavating seasons (in 2002, 2004, and 2006) we have discovered that "our" tomb, now designated Tomb 1, was not alone, but was part of a large complex devoted to the burial of high-ranking individuals in the mid- to late third millennium b.c.

We have also found clear signs of sacrifice. Next to the tombs we uncovered five smaller enclosures of mud brick that contained the bodies of sacrificed animals and, perhaps, sacrificed infants as well.
04 Jun 2007: Syria to End Dollar Peg, 2nd Arab Country in 2 Weeks

07 Jun 2007: Fears of war as Israel and Syria show army might
Concern is growing that Israel and Syria may be heading towards war, with signs that both are preparing their armies.

The preparations are being made across both sides of the ceasefire line in the Golan Heights area occupied by Israel since 1967.
08 Jun 2007: Israeli disinformation paper says PM Olmert offered land-for-peace deal to Syria
Citing an unnamed source in Jerusalem, the daily Yedioth Ahronoth said that in proposals sent to Syrian President Bashar Assad through German and Turkish envoys, Olmert pledged to return the Golan Heights, captured from Syria during the Six-Day War. In exchange, Israel wants commitments from Syria that it will cease supporting Iran, the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah and Palestinian radical groups, the paper reported.
26 Jun 2007: General Predicts Israel Will Attack Iran, Syria, Hamas, Hezbollah, "al-Qaeda" this Summer
It is a provocative headline: "Israel braces for July war with up to five enemies." If we are to believe Israeli military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, this attack will be launched by Iran, Syria, Hizbullah, Hamas and, of course, "al-Qaeda," the database. "Each of these adversaries is capable of sparking a war in the summer," Yadlin told the World Tribune. In other words, Israel is capable of attacking one or all of these "adversaries," as Israel has a notorious history of attacking its neighbors under contrived pretense.
04 Jul 2007: Syria describes U.S. travel ban as absurd
Syria on Tuesday described as absurd a travel ban imposed by the United States on Syrian officials who Washington accuses of undermining the Lebanese government.
11 Jul 2007: Olmert talks of peace with Syria to build up public image before launching invasion
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday he was willing to meet Syrian President Bashar Assad "anywhere he wants" and discuss peace.
11 Jul 2007: Syria urges Syrians to leave Lebanon by next week ahead of "Military Eruption"
Syria is calling on its citizens who are in Lebanon to leave the country ahead of an expected military "eruption" expected to take place next week.
06 Sep 2007: Syria air defense fires on Israeli jet
Syria accused Israel of bombing its territory on Thursday and warned it could respond, but Israel Radio carried a denial there had been an air strike.

The official Syrian news agency said there were no casualties or damage and that Syrian air defenses fired on the incoming planes shortly after midnight.

Israel Radio, quoting an unidentified military source, said there had been no air strike on Syria. But a military spokesman told Reuters: "We're still checking."

The Syrian news agency SANA said the aircraft "infiltrated Syrian airspace through the northern border coming from the direction of the Mediterranean and headed towards northeastern territory, breaking the sound barrier."

It added: "The Syrian Arab Republic warns the government of the Israeli enemy and reserves the right to respond according to what it sees fit."

Local residents said they heard the sound of five planes or more above Tal al-Abiad area on Syria's border with Turkey, around 160 km (100 miles) north of the Syrian city of Rakka.

An Israeli military source earlier said the air force had been carrying out a major exercise this week. Israeli aircraft routinely train over Turkey, a Muslim country friendly with Israel.

Tensions between the two neighbors have been high in recent months, with some Israeli intelligence officials suggesting President Bashar al-Assad's administration might be ready to try to take by force parts of the Golan Heights, which Israel captured in the war of 1967.

Syrian officials have said Syria had no intention to use force to regain the plateau and that it was seeking peaceful means to liberate the territory. [...]

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who launched his forces against Syrian-allied Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon a year ago, has been at pains to stress that he has no hostile intentions toward Damascus.
06 Sep 2007: Iran offers Syria aid following Israeli jet incursion
Iran's ambassador to Damascus, Mohammad Hassan Akhtari, assured security officials in Syria that Teheran would be ready to offer Damascus any assistance it may need, Iranian media reported on Thursday afternoon following a resurgence of tensions between Israel and Syria.

Syria claims that IDF aircraft entered Syrian airspace overnight.
11 Sep 2007: Sources confirm Israeli airstrike on Syria
Israeli aircraft carried out an airstrike inside Syria last week, possibly targeting weapons that were destined for Hezbollah militants, according to sources in the region and in the United States.

Syria reported that its aircraft fired on Israeli "enemy aircraft" that flew into northern Syria early Thursday. The Israel Defense Forces had no comment on the report, and have refused to comment further on the new revelations.

But the sources told CNN the military operation, which happened Wednesday into Thursday, may have also involved Israeli ground forces who directed the airstrike which "left a big hole in the desert" in Syria.

The strike may have targeted Hezbollah weapons coming into Syria or transiting through the country from Iran -- a pattern over the past three or four years which has occurred without any retaliation or action taken against it -- the sources said.

The Israeli government is very happy with the success of the operation, the sources said.
12 Sep 2007: Israel sees nukes everywhere, bombs Syria
Washington official says Israeli surveillance shows possible Syrian nuclear installation stocked by North Korea, Israeli Arab newspaper claims target of alleged raid last week was Syrian missile base financed by Iran
13 Sep 2007: Turkey gave Israel intel on Syria
Turkey provided Israel with intelligence on Syria prior to last week's alleged IAF flyover into the country, Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida claimed on Thursday.
13 Sep 2007: Report: Turkish intelligence assisted IDF in attack on Syria
Turkish intelligence provided Israel with information on the Syrian targets allegedly attacked by the Air Force last week without the Turkish government's authorization, Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jareeda reported Thursday.
15 Sep 2007: Mystery deepens over Israeli strike on Syria
Israel is still maintaining official silence a week after Syria complained that Israeli aircraft invaded its airspace in a mysterious incident which raised tensions and triggered a welter of US media speculation about possible targets for the operation.

Explanations - for what anonymous US officials have said was a strike inside Syria - range from suggesting it was aimed at the shipment of weapons to Hizbollah from Iran, to saying Syria may be building a nuclear facility with North Korean help. [...]

Reuters, The New York Times and CNN have all quoted officials - mainly in the US - as saying that Israel carried out a strike in Syria. Reuters quoted an unnamed US official on Wednesday as saying: "The strike I can confirm. The target I can't." The agency quoted another US official as saying that reports on the targets were "confused".

Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported this week a US official as saying that recent satellite imagery, mainly provided by Israel, suggested that Syria may building some form of nuclear facility with the help of material unloaded by North Korea. [...]

The only hint - if such it was - dropped by an unusually taciturn Israel was the release of a video by the Israeli military shortly after the incident showing a broadly smiling Chief of Staff, Gabi Ashkenazy, shaking the hands of his deputy while sharing a Jewish New Year toast. This has helped to fuel speculation that Israel had conducted a successful mission in Syria. [...]

There have been persistent reports over the last year that the US has discouraged Israel from responding to oblique overtures from the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for a negotiated recovery of the Golan. The New York Times quoted equally anonymous US sources on Wednesday as saying that the likely targets were weapons shipments Israel believed Iran was sending to Hizbollah through Syria. That claim was dismissed later in the day by Bashar Ja'afari, the Syrian ambassador to the United Nations.

"This is blah blah," Mr Ja'afari said. "This is nonsense, this is an unfounded statement. It is not up to the Israelis or anyone else to assess what we have in Syria. There was no target, they dropped their munitions. They were running away after they were confronted by our air defence."

European diplomats who met with the Syrian Vice-President, Walid Moallem, reportedly formed the impression that Syria was not planning a military retaliation. But the Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister, Faysal Mekdad, warned after a meeting with his Russian counterpart yesterday that growing tension could yet spark violence in the region and that Syria has the "means to respond in ways that will preserve its position of power".
19 Sep 2007: How dare they! Egypt, Syria press for IAEA resolution over Israel's nuclear weapons
Egypt and Syria urged the UN nuclear watchdog on Wednesday to pass a resolution condemning Israel for possessing nuclear weapons. [...]

Israel's policy is one of "nuclear ambiguity", neither confirming nor denying it has nuclear weapons even if, in an apparent blunder, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appeared to imply late last year that his country does in fact have the bomb.
21 Sep 2007: Israel consulted US before Syria strike, report says
Israel's decision to launch an air strike against a suspected nuclear site in Syria allegedly set up with the help of North Korea came after Israel shared intelligence with the US, it was reported today.

The attack on September 6 has been shrouded in mystery, although the Israeli opposition leader, Binyamin Netanyahu, yesterday confirmed in a TV interview that such an attack did take place. His admission came despite a news blackout over the incident. ...

However, the US is believed to have provided Israel with some corroboration of the original intelligence before Israel went ahead with the raid, the Post said. ...

The Israeli attack came three days after a North Korean ship docked at the Syrian port of Tartus carrying a cargo officially listed as cement.

The ship's contents remain in dispute, with some Israeli sources suggesting it was nuclear equipment. Others say the ship was carrying missile parts, while some have said the vessel's arrival and the attack were merely coincidental. ...

Meanwhile, North Korea and Syria today held high-level talks in Pyongyang. The talks were between Choe Tae Bok, the secretary of the central committee of the North's ruling Workers' party, and Saaeed Eleia Dawood, the director of the organisational department of Syria's Ba'ath Arab Socialist party, the official Korean central news agency reported. ...

Andrew Semmel, the acting US deputy assistant secretary of state for nuclear nonproliferation policy, said last week that North Koreans were in Syria, and that Syria may have had contacts with "secret suppliers" to obtain nuclear equipment.
23 Sep 2007: Israel stole North Korean nuclear material from Syria: report
Elite Israeli forces seized North Korean nuclear material during a raid on a secret military site in Syria before Israeli warplanes bombed it September 6, a newspaper reported Sunday. [...]

North Korea has angrily denied sharing atomic know-how with Damascus, and some news reports have suggested that Israel's target was actually tied to missile exports from the cash-strapped regime to Syria.
27 Sep 2007: Clinton supports Israeli 'strike' on Syria
In televised debate, presidential candidate says she supports Israel's alleged air strike on Syria in which she believes a nuclear facility, built with North Korean aid, was eliminated; says attack on Iran not realistic.
28 Sep 2007: Israel will attack Syria soon Warns PFLP Leader
Israel has already made a decision to attack Syria and was just mulling over where to land its first strike, Ahmad Jibril, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed in an interview published Friday by Arabic newspaper Al Hadat.

Jibril estimated that Israeli action, several weeks after an alleged IAF foray into Syria on September 6, would likely be a wide-scale operation, and would probably be answered with attacks by Iran, Hizbullah in Lebanon and the Palestinians of Syria.

"I believe Israel has prepared all likely scenarios for war with Syria, but they are still considering where they will land the first strike, which will come very soon," Jibril said. "They are weighing whether to attack on one front or on multiple fronts.

"There is an American Israeli plan, backed by silent agreement from the Arab world, to change the balance of power in the Middle East," he added.
01 Oct 2007: Syria wants Golan Heights on Middle East agenda
Syria will not attend a Middle East peace conference set for next month unless the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights are on the agenda, President Bashar al-Assad said in comments broadcast on Monday.
02 Oct 2007: Propaganda released! Israeli Censorship lifted on September 6 IAF strike inside Syria
Israel on Tuesday began to lift its strict veil of secrecy on an air strike in Syria last month, allowing the media to report on the raid without attributing such reports to foreign sources.[...]

Israel has kept quiet on the subject until now. However, Syrian President Bashar Assad told the BBC on Monday that IAF jets had hit an "unused military building" in his country.

Assad said Israel's air raid on northern Syria showed Israel's "visceral antipathy towards peace," according to excerpts posted on the BBC's Web site. [...]

The overflight was first reported on Syrian television just after the attack, and various reports regarding the strike's target have circulated in the press over the past month.

The Washington Post reported that the target had been a facility involved in a joint Syrian-North Korean nuclear project - a claim backed by former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton.

Britain's Sunday Times, meanwhile, reported just over a week ago that soldiers from the IDF's elite General Staff Reconnaissance Unit (Sayeret Matkal) had seized North Korean nuclear material from a secret Syrian military installation before it was bombed by IAF jets.

The paper claimed that the IAF attack on September 6 was sanctioned by the US after the Americans were given proof that the material was indeed nuclear-related. It also stated that Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who used to head the unit, personally oversaw the operation.

However, Syrian officials have repeatedly called news of the strike lies and fabrications, and on Monday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem accused the US of inventing these reports.
02 Oct 2007: Israel admits air strike on Syria
It is still not known why Israel carried out the strike or what exactly was hit.

On Tuesday, Israeli Army radio reported that Israeli planes had attacked a military target "deep inside Syria", quoting the military censor. No further details were given.

Some US officials have linked the raid to suspicions of secret nuclear co-operation between Damascus and North Korea, suggesting a fledgling research centre may have been the target.

Damascus and North Korea have denied any nuclear ties.
06 Oct 2007: Sickbag Alert! US 'must break Iran and Syria regimes': Wurmser
America should seize every opportunity to force regime change in Syria and Iran, a former senior adviser to the White House has urged.

"We need to do everything possible to destabilise the Syrian regime and exploit every single moment they strategically overstep," said David Wurmser, who recently resigned after four years as Vice President Dick Cheney's Middle East adviser.
11 Oct 2007: World's oldest wall painting unearthed in Syria
French archaeologists have discovered an 11,000-year-old wall painting underground in northern Syria which they believe is the oldest in the world.
14 Oct 2007: Propaganda Alert! Analysts Find Israel Struck a Nuclear Project Inside Syria

19 Oct 2007: UN Nuclear Agency Examines Syria Images
U.N. experts have received satellite imagery of the site struck last month by Israeli warplanes and are analyzing it for signs that it might have been a secret nuclear facility, diplomats said Friday.

One of the diplomats indicated that the photos came from U.S intelligence. Two others said the images, which have been studied by experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency since being received on Thursday, do not at first examination appear to substantiate reports that the target was a nuclear installation, but emphasized that the images were still under examination.
21 Oct 2007: NKorea envoy in Syria amid 'nuclear' talk
The visit by Choe, who arrived in Syria on Friday, follows an Israeli air raid on Syria last month that Western media reports have said targeted a nuclear site being developed with North Korean help.

Both governments have categorically denied the allegations.
27 Oct 2007: NYT continues with propaganda: Yet Another Photo of Site in Syria, Yet More Questions
The mystery surrounding the construction of what might have been a nuclear reactor in Syria deepened yesterday, when a company released a satellite photo showing that the main building was well under way in September 2003 - four years before Israeli jets bombed it.

The long genesis is likely to raise questions about whether the Bush administration overlooked a nascent atomic threat in Syria while planning and executing a war in Iraq, which was later found to have no active nuclear program.
29 Oct 2007: IAEA chief lashes out over Israeli raid in Syria
UN nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei Sunday accused the Israelis of taking "the law into their own hands" with a mysterious raid on Syria last month and demanded more information about what was hit.

Neither Israel nor the United States has furnished "any evidence at all" to prove that the Syrian site bombed in early September was a secret nuclear facility, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency told CNN.
2 Nov 2007: 'USAF struck Syrian nuclear site'
The September 6 raid over Syria was carried out by the US Air Force, the Al-Jazeera Web site reported Friday. The Web site quoted Israeli and Arab sources as saying that two US jets armed with tactical nuclear weapons carried out an attack on a suspected nuclear site under construction.

The sources were quoted as saying that Israeli F-15 and F-16 jets provided cover for the US planes.

The sources added that each US plane carried one tactical nuclear weapon and that the site was hit by one bomb and was totally destroyed.
Considering all of the above, it seems possible that at least one (or perhaps several) of the six nukes that went missing from the Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota at the end of August this year was stolen with the possible intent being to use it on U.S. soil and blame it on Iranian or Syrian terrorists thereby giving a good reason to initiate a nuclear war. For all we know, the plan was to bomb Syria on the 6th, and then have a little "anniversary nuke party" in the U.S. on September 11th. That would fit with the put options schedule.

But, obviously, something went wrong... somebody had a bigger stick or at least the means to disrupt this particular plan. Do high level military personnel still have consciences?

As for the purported attack on Syria: the spin machine has gone into action with The Jerusalem Post quoting al-Jazeerah that: 'USAF struck Syrian nuclear site'.

Now let's just look at what we have here: On August 26, 2007, some unknown person or persons optioned PUTS betting that that the stock market would tank significantly by September 21st. They are called "Bin Laden Options" because some kind of catastrophe would have to happen to make the stock market fall (like another 9/11 or the real losses of the subprime markets revealed). On August 29/30, 2007, six nukes go missing from an American Air Base, but only five are "found" in Louisiana.

Six people allegedly connected to the missing nukes allegedly end up mysteriously and violently dead within a week.

And then: Exactly one week later after the missing nuke scandal, a nuclear plant being built in Syria is claimed to have been nuked either by the U.S. or Israel or both.

What are the odds that all these events are not related?

Six nuclear weapons disappeared from Minot AFB in North Dakota.

Five nuclear weapons were discovered at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana.

Where is the missing nuke?

Will a Missing Nuke from the B-52 Incident be used in a Simulated Terrorist Attack?

BARKSDALE- missing nuke number six

The answer has been provided several times, most recently by CIA Director and General Michael Hayden. On September 7, dressed in full military uniform, Hayden told assembled members of the Council of Foreign Relations:
"Our analysts assess with high confidence that al-Qaida's central leadership is planning high-impact plots against the U. S. homeland."

"We assess with high confidence that al-Qaida is focusing on targets that would produce mass casualties, dramatic destruction and significant aftershocks."
An eye for an eye. Use of nukes will justify use of nukes. A perfect excuse to wage nuclear war against Iran.

I suspect Hayden is absolutely correct, except for his mistaken identification of the "central leadership" that is planning detonation of a nuclear weapon on American soil.

Is "Osama" still under the collective USA bed, waiting to leap out and bomb the U.S. with our own nuke?

Will "they" thereby have their way: World War III?