[Mr. Jeeves]

That was confirmed to The Spectator by a very senior British ministerial source: ‘If people had known how close we came to world war three that day there’d have been mass panic. Never mind the floods or foot-and-mouth — Gordon really would have been dealing with the bloody Book of Revelation and Armageddon.’

Hmmmm...the only way that could be true is if the North Korean shipment contained finished warheads, ready to go that very day onto Syrian missiles targeted at Israel. Dirty bomb material would not have been sufficient - and basic nuclear material would have taken time to prepare. Sounds like Israel destroyed the NK warheads in one place before they could be distributed to Syrian missile launch sites and mounted on delivery systems...but even had they not done that, "WWIII" would not have happened that very day.

The interesting question is: what did China know about this and did they tacitly approve of the North Korean shipment as a way of sticking a finger in the West's eye?

[Spktyr]

China’s cut North Korea off from supply. If someone in China knew about it, I doubt that the Politburo approved it. Remember, they’re on their best behavior until the 08 Olympics are over.

[bert]

....Israel destroyed the NK warheads .....

Matter can neither be created or destroyed.

How could they destroy bombgrade fissionable material?

Unless stolen, it is still there.

[Kozak]

How does one “destroy” nuclear material with an air strike?
At best you can scatter it around. But it’s still enriched uranium or plutonium. I would think the Israeli’s would need their commando’s to go in and retrieve the stuff.

[Uncle Miltie]

Supposing you’re right about warheads, did you see the other bit elsewhere that says Israeli commandoes entered the compound and stole stuff before the bombing?

One wonders if our friends are dismantling a NK Nuke right now.