I find this disturbing. Not because the US gov. is trying to play the same trick of escalating scare stories against Syria. Surely the "crying wolf" effect is gonna set in, and claims are going to be disregarded.

No, it's this : A CIA report submitted to Congress in April contained more cautionary language. Noting that Syria and Russia have reached preliminary agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation, the CIA report said only, "In principal, broader access to Russian expertise provides opportunities for Syria to expand its indigenous capabilities, should it decide to pursue nuclear weapons."

Syria is suspect for even trying to increase it's access to civilian nuclear knowledge. Almost anything may have a security implication. Are the US now determined to prevent other countries acquiring knowledge and expertise in general, in case there are military applications? Is all genetic research suspect because it may lead to biological weapons? Would the US like to prevent the study of physics and chemistry in the rest of the world? IT is probably out as well.

Does a paranoid US security service now want to make war on foreign science?

(Or maybe they always thought like that and I didn't notice?)