So the State Department spent four years pressuring Israel not to bomb Syria's nuclear reactor. And then when Israel did it anyway the Bush Administration covered up the true extent of Assad's nuclear plans for another half a year. So naturally State Department Middle East specialists - having almost presided over the nuclearization of another member of the Axis of Evil - are using their friends in the press to insist that there was never anything to worry about anyway:

The prospect of nuclear technology in the hands of another terrorism-sponsoring state is scary enough. Worse is the notion that Syria's reactor is no big deal. That's the interpretation being shopped in Washington by anonymous Administration officials, presumably at State, who have been quoted as saying the CIA has "little confidence" that the goal was to build a bomb. The no-big-deal thesis expounded by the President's men directly contradicts their boss. After briefing Congress behind closed doors, the White House put out a statement expressing "confidence" that "this reactor was not intended for peaceful activities." CIA Director Michael Hayden said yesterday an operational reactor could have produced enough plutonium to make one or two nuclear bombs.

We're kind of surprised State hasn't figured out a way to blame Israel for failures caused by State's own analytical and diplomatic failings. That's how their incompetent anti-Israel experts and generals usually do it.

References:
* Syria's Been Building Their Nuclear Reactor Since 2003 And The State Department Still Tried To Stop Israel From Taking It Out (Plus: Awesome IDF Bombing Raid Just Got Filled With Even More Awesome) [MR]
* Bush: Disclosing Syrian reactor details sends a message to Iran [JPost]
* Memo To Foreign Policy Sophisticates - You'd Sound A Lot Less Stupid If You Stopped Mixing Your Condescension With Demonstrably False Fantasies Of Competence [MR]

Previously:
* Syria To Launch Bio-Weapons Against Jewish State If The US Attacks Iran
* Syria To Launch Bio-Weapons Against Jewish State If The US Attacks Iran
* State Department Tries To Cleanse Obviously Illegal "No Jews Allowed" Application But Is Too Fucking Stupid To Turn Off Track Changes