ISIS has obtained commercial satellite imagery from DigitalGlobe taken on October 24, 2007 that shows the suspected reactor construction building completely removed and the ground scraped….The pump house and secondary structure still remain in the October 24, 2007 imagery, but the suspected reactor building has been razed to the ground. Dismantling and removing the building at such a rapid pace dramatically complicates any inspection of the facilities and suggests that Syria may be trying to hide what was there.
This doesn’t prove it was a nuclear site, of course. But it’s sure looking more and more like it was. Whatever the case, though, “They are clearly trying to hide the evidence,” ISIS president David Albright told the Washington Post. “It is a trick that has been tried in the past and it hasn’t worked.”
The full report has more pictures, along with a discussion about whether this constitutes a breach of Syria’s obligations to the IAEA under the Nonproliferation Treaty. Short answer: maybe.
