This selection recounts “Operation Babylon,” Israel’s daring 1981 raid on Iraq’s nuclear reactor at al-Tuwaitha. This successful operation is credited with preventing Saddam Hussein from acquiring the capacity to produce nuclear weapons. This techno-thriller begs to be made into a movie. The narration by Adam Grupper is in the dramatic action mode, appropriately evoking the boldness and self-effacing heroism of the Israel Air Force pilots and re-creating moment by moment the actual tension of the mission as it unfolds. Unfortunately, the story today, given circumstances in the Middle East, is more relevant than ever. J.W. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine
From the earliest days of his dictatorship, Saddam Hussein had vowed to destroy Israel. So when France sold Iraq a top-of-the-line nuclear reactor in 1975, the Israelis were justifiably concerned. The reactor formed the heart of a huge nuclear plant situated twelve miles from Baghdad, 1,100 kilometers from Tel Aviv. By 1981, the reactor was on the verge of becoming "hot," and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin knew he would have to confront its deadly potential. He turned to Israeli Air Force commander General David Ivry to secretly plan a daring surgical strike on the reactor -- a never-before-contemplated mission that would prove to be one of the most remarkable military operations of all time.
Written with the full and exclusive cooperation of Israeli Air Force high command, General Ivry (ret.), and all of the eight mission pilots, Raid on the Sun tells the extraordinary story of how Israel plotted the unthinkable: defying its U.S. and European allies to eliminate Iraq's nuclear threat. Claire recreates a gripping tale of personal sacrifice and survival, of young pilots who faced a nearly unsurmountable challenge: how to fly the 1,000-plus-kilometer mission to Baghdad and back on one tank of fuel. He recounts Israeli intelligence's incredible "black ops" to sabotage constructions on the French reactor and eliminate Iraqi nuclear scientists, and he offers a pilot's eye-eye view of the action on June 7, 1981, when the planes roared off a runway on the Sinai Peninsula for the first successful destruction of a nuclear reactor in history.
"1100304428"
Written with the full and exclusive cooperation of Israeli Air Force high command, General Ivry (ret.), and all of the eight mission pilots, Raid on the Sun tells the extraordinary story of how Israel plotted the unthinkable: defying its U.S. and European allies to eliminate Iraq's nuclear threat. Claire recreates a gripping tale of personal sacrifice and survival, of young pilots who faced a nearly unsurmountable challenge: how to fly the 1,000-plus-kilometer mission to Baghdad and back on one tank of fuel. He recounts Israeli intelligence's incredible "black ops" to sabotage constructions on the French reactor and eliminate Iraqi nuclear scientists, and he offers a pilot's eye-eye view of the action on June 7, 1981, when the planes roared off a runway on the Sinai Peninsula for the first successful destruction of a nuclear reactor in history.
Raid on the Sun: Inside Israel's secret campaign that denied Saddam the bomb (Abridged)
From the earliest days of his dictatorship, Saddam Hussein had vowed to destroy Israel. So when France sold Iraq a top-of-the-line nuclear reactor in 1975, the Israelis were justifiably concerned. The reactor formed the heart of a huge nuclear plant situated twelve miles from Baghdad, 1,100 kilometers from Tel Aviv. By 1981, the reactor was on the verge of becoming "hot," and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin knew he would have to confront its deadly potential. He turned to Israeli Air Force commander General David Ivry to secretly plan a daring surgical strike on the reactor -- a never-before-contemplated mission that would prove to be one of the most remarkable military operations of all time.
Written with the full and exclusive cooperation of Israeli Air Force high command, General Ivry (ret.), and all of the eight mission pilots, Raid on the Sun tells the extraordinary story of how Israel plotted the unthinkable: defying its U.S. and European allies to eliminate Iraq's nuclear threat. Claire recreates a gripping tale of personal sacrifice and survival, of young pilots who faced a nearly unsurmountable challenge: how to fly the 1,000-plus-kilometer mission to Baghdad and back on one tank of fuel. He recounts Israeli intelligence's incredible "black ops" to sabotage constructions on the French reactor and eliminate Iraqi nuclear scientists, and he offers a pilot's eye-eye view of the action on June 7, 1981, when the planes roared off a runway on the Sinai Peninsula for the first successful destruction of a nuclear reactor in history.
Written with the full and exclusive cooperation of Israeli Air Force high command, General Ivry (ret.), and all of the eight mission pilots, Raid on the Sun tells the extraordinary story of how Israel plotted the unthinkable: defying its U.S. and European allies to eliminate Iraq's nuclear threat. Claire recreates a gripping tale of personal sacrifice and survival, of young pilots who faced a nearly unsurmountable challenge: how to fly the 1,000-plus-kilometer mission to Baghdad and back on one tank of fuel. He recounts Israeli intelligence's incredible "black ops" to sabotage constructions on the French reactor and eliminate Iraqi nuclear scientists, and he offers a pilot's eye-eye view of the action on June 7, 1981, when the planes roared off a runway on the Sinai Peninsula for the first successful destruction of a nuclear reactor in history.
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Raid on the Sun: Inside Israel's secret campaign that denied Saddam the bomb (Abridged)
Raid on the Sun: Inside Israel's secret campaign that denied Saddam the bomb (Abridged)
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Product Details
BN ID: | 2940171004774 |
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Publisher: | Simon & Schuster |
Publication date: | 04/01/2004 |
Edition description: | Abridged |
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