Bush considered strike on Syrian facility in 2007

WASHINGTON – Former US president George W Bush says he considered ordering a US military strike against a suspected Syrian nuclear…

WASHINGTON – Former US president George W Bush says he considered ordering a US military strike against a suspected Syrian nuclear facility at Israel’s request in 2007.

Israel eventually destroyed the facility, which Syria denied was aimed at developing a nuclear weapons capability.

In his memoir, Decision Points, to be published on Tuesday, Mr Bush writes that he received an intelligence report about a "suspicious, well-hidden facility in the eastern desert of Syria".

After a conversation with then Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert, Mr Bush said he discussed options with advisers. A bombing mission was considered, “but bombing a sovereign country with no warning or announced justification would create severe blowback”, he writes. – (Reuters)