Press Asking Wrong Questions on Syria

At a press conference on the White House lawn on Tuesday, the President was asked repeatedly why his Administration had waited so long to deliver a full intelligence briefing to Capitol Hill about last September's Israeli air strike on a suspected Syrian nuclear facility. According to US and Israeli intelligence, the facility was constructed with the help of North Korea and most likely would have begun shortly to process nuclear fuel, possibly weapons-grade.

The press were allowing Syria, and North Korea, off the hook by diverting the crux of the issue. The real news is not why the White House rightfully judged it in our, and Israel's, national security interest to delay a full briefing. The real story -- the story with the dire consequences -- is why Syria, despite its nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty obligations, "concealed the very existence as well as the purpose of the installation and repeatedly denied the facts to the world and to the [International Atomic Energy Agency]," as an Israeli analyst put it. The Washington Post agreed, adding that Syria was suspiciously quick to demolish and bury the nuclear reactor's remains, actions which the Post said "require explanation."

Members of the media, then, should be pressing the Syrians, not President Bush, for answers and explanations. Trying to create tension and conflict between the White House and Congress reflects poorly on their responsibility to cover the real news.