Your entire argument would have had some value if it wasn't for one thing. IT WAS SYRIA THAT PUBLISHED ABOUT THE ATTACK. While to say that I somehow like Olmert would be a hyperbole of the most grandiose form. The fact was that he did not and no one within the Israeli government has officially admitted to it. The Syrian's were the ones who specifically stated it, explicitly talking about the bravery of there soldiers shooting at jets that were long gone. The fact is that the Google pictures as stated previously are not dated. Another point that you have made is things such as "we don’t even see a guard post ". Now lets do a thought experiment. In the day in age where satellites are everywhere in sky taking pictures of pretty much every inch of the earth. Would you if trying to do something secret which cannot easily be hidden such as say building a nuclear reactor. Would you at the beginning of building such a structure surround with with watchtowers, anti-aircraft positions, barracks, and everything else that would make it look like a high profile target? Or try to keep it discrete as possible until some point in the future and also take great care to conceal everything used to defend the this new very valuable covert structure? I guess in the authors world you would be driving neon green tanks about the building with signs on top of it saying "NUCLEAR REACTOR". This is a pathetic piece of writing that anyone with basic logic skills could destroy. I seriously wonder how do you become a Ynet writer, because if this is the tripe coming out I'd like an opportunity.

So, what you say is :Why waste billions on military satellites if Google Earth is enough. Your sense of humor (Sic) is outstanding.

The "Logic" of this piece is ridiculous. Didn't anyone read the article before publication? The Koreans denounced Israel. Good grief!!! How often does that happen? B. Michael is a jerk.

This article (and many comments) remind me of the so-called "Bible Codes" and the predictions of Nostradamus. After the fact, everyone is so clever. So the information was on Google all along? Duh! The earth is comprised of millions of square miles of geography, hundreds of thousands of which are in the Middle East. Very easy to see what the site looks like on Google if you know the coordinates. But those coordinates were among a sea of other coordinates being visited during the meticulous, time intensive search for and evaluation of all potentially hostile installations, nuclear and non-nuclear. No one knew to look there before the story broke, and the fact that, in hind-sight, we now all know the coordinates means nothing. There is a phrase, "hidden in plain sight." Often, the best camouflage is conspicuity. Other times, the best camoflage is obscurity. The supposed facility was underground. That the above ground structures bore no indication of the underground facility is essentially meaningless. NORAD, one of the most sensitive military installations in the United States, is built into the side of a mountain. The site was deliberately chosen not only for its resistance to attack, but because it is largely obscure to aerial view. "Area 57," the home of the development and testing of top secret U.S. aircraft (and according to some alien spacecraft) is situated in a Nevada dessert, with above ground structures that are rather commonplace. Yet it was there that the stealth aircraft first were tested.

Google Earth is not enough - if you want pictures which are from today and not 5 years old.

In 20 or 30 years when all the info gets declassified people will be shocked to find that this overblown overly speculated on story was the result of the failure of 3 military machines. And the press is being the completely idiotic by reporting on unverified facts as though it was the truth. And people are believing every word. My speculation is this. One Israeli fighter strayed into Syrian Airspace due to equipment failure. The Syrians didn't detect the Israeli Jet because either the equipment is no good or they were asleep at the wheel. After the Israeli pilot realized that "this isn't Kansas" he kicked in the afterburners. Dropped his spare fuel tank which landed in Turkey (so Turkey failed to detect the IAF jet as well.) The original Syrian statement that nothing was bombed was probably correct but said nothing more because of embarrassment. Israel says nothing because of embarrassment. Turkey says nothing because of embarrassment. The current satelite image shows nothing because there was nothing there for quite some time. You can't clean out a demolished nuclear site that quickly unless you have team the size of that Ancient Egypt used to build the pyramids. The only "current" photographic evidence is of one dropped fuel tank. Not 5. Not 10. One!!! Sheese give me a break already willyah and let this story die the ignoble death it deserves.

the Ha'Aretz talkback poster Mark Lincoln. Secret identity? Or just one pulling the story from the other.