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In September 2007, Israeli fighter jets destroyed
a mysterious complex in the Syrian desert. The incident could have led
to war, but it was hushed up by all sides. Was it a nuclear plant and
who gave the orders for the strike?
The mighty Euphrates river is the subject of the prophecies in the
Bible's Book of Revelation, where it is written that the river will be
the scene of the battle of Armageddon: "The sixth angel poured out his
bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to
prepare the way for the kings from the East."
Today, time seems to stand still along the river. The turquoise waters
of the Euphrates flow slowly through the northern Syrian provincial
city Deir el-Zor, whose name translates as "monastery in the forest."
Farmers till the fields, and vendors sell camel's hair blankets,
cardamom and coriander in the city's bazaars. Occasionally
archaeologists visit the region to excavate the remains of ancient
cities in the surrounding area, a place where many peoples have left
their mark - the Parthians and the Sassanids, the Romans and the Jews,
the Ottomans and the French, who were assigned the mandate for Syria by
the League of Nations and who only withdrew their troops in 1946. Deir
el-Zor is the last outpost before the vast, empty desert, a lifeless
place of jagged mountains and inaccessible valleys that begins not far
from the town center.
But on a night two years ago, something dramatic happened in this
sleepy place. It's an event that local residents discuss in whispers in
teahouses along the river, when the water pipes glow and they are
confident that no officials are listening - the subject is taboo in
the state-controlled media, and they know that drawing too much
attention to themselves in this authoritarian state could be hazardous
to their health.
Some in Deir el-Zor talk of a bright flash which lit up the night in
the distant desert. Others report seeing a gigantic column of smoke
over the Euphrates, like a threatening finger. Some talk of omens,
while others relate conspiracy theories. The pious older guests at Jisr
al-Kabir, a popular restaurant near the city's landmark suspension
bridge, believe it was a sign from heaven.
All the rumors have long since muddied the waters as to what people
may or may not have seen. But even the supposedly advanced Western
world, with its state-of-the-art surveillance technology and
interconnectedness through the mass media, has little more solid
information than the people in this Syrian desert town. What happened
in the night of Sept. 6, 2007 in the desert, 130 kilometers (81 miles)
from the Iraqi border, 30 kilometers from Deir el-Zor, is one of the
great mysteries of our times.
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