Posted on 01/22/2005 11:37:41 AM PST by Lord Nelson
Iraq built the Osirak nuclear facility near Baghdad with French assistance. When intelligence confirmed Iraq's intention of producing weapons there, the Israeli government decided to attack. However, the raid would have to occur before the reactor went “hot” so as not to endanger the surrounding community.
Every detail of the mission was planned meticulously. The target was distant: 1,100 km from Israel. Preparations included building target mockups and flying full scale dressrehearsal missions. The aircrews were selected from the cream of the Israel Air Force's (IAF) fighter corps.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ChiefofStaff, Lt. Gen. Rafael (Raful) Eitan, briefed the pilots personally. Displaying unusual emotion, he told them: “The alternative is our destruction.”
At 15:55 on June 7, the first F15 and F16's roared off the runway from Etzion Air Force Base in the south. After a tense but uneventful lowlevel navigation route, the fighters reached their target. They popped up at 17:35 and quickly identified the dome gleaming in the late afternoon sunlight.
Enemy defenses were caught by surprise and opened fire too late. In one minute and twenty seconds, the reactor lay in ruins.
The way home was quiet, bringing the mission to its successful completion. It was a perfectly orchestrated opera conducted by the IAF Commander, Maj. Gen. David Ivry. At least for the present, the atomic genie of Baghdad was put back into his bottle.
The Frogs again? Who woulda thunkit.
While the Osirak raid was difficult for the IAF, a similar raid against Iranian facilities would, I think, be almost an impossible mission simply because of the distances involved (563 miles from Tel Aviv to Baghdad, while nearly 1,000 miles to Tehran). When I hear folks say, "Let's just let the Israelis take care of business," I cringe, since the logistics involved in such a mission would be truly formidable, especially since the IAF does not have any long range bombers, such as a B-52 or B-1, and would have to overfly either Jordan or Saudi Arabi to get to Iran. No, the U.S. is currently the 800-pound gorilla in the region, and, from our air bases in western Iraq, we will likely have to deal with the Iranians rather than the Israelis. My .02 worth
And the current reactor is built under a residential neighborhood.
I can recommend a great book if you want to read more about the 1981 air raid on Osirak. The book is called Bullseye One Reactor.
You can probably find it at your local library or you can order it off Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0941437078/qid=1106423364/sr=1-24/ref=sr_1_24/102-9824470-7597759?v=glance&s=books
From what little I've heard, stopping the Iranian nuclear program will not be as easy as it was in 1981. It sounds like the Iranians have spread out the research facilities across the country to make 'em harder to hit.
Though Netanyahu may have sounded unconcerned, you can bet that the Israelis are keeping a tight eye on this and when the time is right, they'll do whatever they need to do to make sure that that Iran doesn't get the bomb.
I saw former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Fox News Neil Cavuto. He was rather aloof to Neil , and in fact chided him about some of the questions.
Somehow I doubt patriotic politicians divulge secret information to talking heads, or others, outside the loop.
Of course I said patriotic politicians, not like those many buffoons in the United States Congress. ;)
I borrowed the tag line from Freeper marineinspector, who works on our southern border.
Pay him a visit here
Thanks for that. Maybe that's why Israel is hesitant to make the offer?
While the US is in the region I imagine Iran will tend to behave? But when the US leaves .... ?
And another link on the sale of bombs:
http://www.iht.com/articles/539926.htm
Don't I recall that the U.S. has sold the Israelis air refueling tankers and ground-penetrating bombs? Sounds like somebody was thinking ahead for just this occasion.
Yeah. Hilarious.
Does Netanyahu still hold a political post?
It makes sense then that he cannot divulge too much. If he were a former politicians of course I am sure he would have no problem expressing his desires and opinions, since he would not have current information on the situation.
In November 2002 Benjamin Netanyahu was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/netanyahu.html
Don't you just love the internet? ;)
Yeah, that's right, but still the IAF would have to somehow get past US-supplied Saudi air defenses, and then manage to fly through extremely hostile Iranian airspace to get to the target(s). Iran is a very large country, nearly the size of Texas, and to just get in and out during an air attack would require an enormous armada of bombers, fighters, and tankers for it to be succesful. I just don't see how it can be done by the IAF, unless they were granted secret access to captured bases in western Iraq, which would be politically risky for the U.S. to allow.
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