American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has questioned whether Israeli intelligence information on Syria that was presented to the Bush administration was sufficient enough to justify a strike in the northern part of the country. In what American media have billed as "one of the worst kept secrets," the IDF apparently bombed a shipment of nuclear warheads and may have killed North Koreans who were working with the Syrian government.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that Vice President Dick Cheney thinks the Israeli information was credible but that Secretary Rice is against a change in her diplomatic policies with North Korea. She has backed economic aid to North Korea in return for its halting nuclear development, but more hawkish officials have cited the Israeli information as proof that North Korea cannot be trusted. Israel reportedly struck Syria despite her opposition.