News Brief

Two Republican lawmakers want the Bush administration to make public information about an Israeli airstrike on alleged nuclear targets in Syria. “If this event proves that Syria acquired nuclear expertise or material from North Korea, Iran, or other rogue states, it would constitute a grave threat to international security for which Syria and any other involved parties must be held accountable,” said the op-ed appearing last week in the Wall Street Journal and signed by Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.) Ros-Lehtinen and Hoeksra say the information is critical in assessing Bush administration requests for congressional approval of a deal that would assist North Korea’s peaceful nuclear development in exchange for ending its nuclear weapons program.

“The proposed deals with North Korea will involve substantial expenditures of U.S. funds to pay for heavy fuel oil deliveries,” they write. “Congress will be asked to approve the authorization of funds for this expenditure. We cannot carry out our duties when we are being denied information about these critical national security matters.” The op-ed faults the White House for leaking to the press details of the strike that favor its own positions. Israel has joined the Bush administration in maintaining a blackout on the details of the Sept. 6 attack. Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs committee, is usually seen as one of the most pro-Israel members of the House.