Do you remember this

[ianstone]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif1981: Israel bombs Baghdad nuclear reactor
The Israelis have bombed a French-built nuclear plant near Iraq's capital, Baghdad, saying they believed it was designed to make nuclear weapons to destroy Israel.
It is the world's first air strike against a nuclear plant.
An undisclosed number of F-15 interceptors and F-16 fighter bombers destroyed the Osirak reactor 18 miles south of Baghdad, on the orders of Prime Minister Menachem Begin.
The army command said all the Israeli planes returned safely.
The 70-megawatt uranium-powered reactor was near completion but had not been stocked with nuclear fuel so there was no danger of a leak, according to sources in the French atomic industry.
Mortal danger
The Israeli Government explained its reasons for the attack in a statement saying: "The atomic bombs which that reactor was capable of producing whether from enriched uranium or from plutonium, would be of the Hiroshima size. Thus a mortal danger to the people of Israel progressively arose."
It acted now because it believed the reactor would be completed shortly - either at the beginning of July or the beginning of September 1981.
The Israelis criticised the French and Italians for supplying Iraq with nuclear materials and plegded to defend their territory at all costs.
The statement said: "We again call upon them to desist from this horrifying, inhuman deed. Under no circumstances will we allow an enemy to develop weapons of mass destruction against our people."
The attack took place on a Sunday, they said, to prevent harming the French workers at the site who would have taken the day off.
There have been no reported casualties.
The Osirak reactor is part of a complex that includes a second, smaller reactor - also French-built - and a Soviet-made test reactor already in use.
Iraq denies the reactor was destined to produce nuclear weapons. http://news.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/999999.gifhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39217000/jpg/_39217061_menachem238.jpg Israel's Prime Minister Menachem Begin ordered the raid


http://news.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/999999.gif
http://news.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/999999.gif
http://news.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif In Context
News of the audacious raid did not actually emerge until 24 hours later when Israel made its announcement. Only then did Iraq admit it had happened and express indignation.
One of the pilots involved was Ilan Ramon who trained as Israel's first astronaut but was killed in the Columbia shuttle disaster in 2003.
Two weeks after the Osirak attack Israel admitted it had the capability of developing its own nuclear weapons.
And in 1986, Mordechai Vanunu, a former nuclear technician was found guilty of espionage after he told a British newspaper, the Sunday Times, that Israel was secretly building atomic bombs. French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac cultivated France's special relationship with Iraq during the 1970s to maintain an influence in a region dominated by Anglo-Saxons and boost trade links with the oil-rich nation. He led the universal condemnation of Israel's attack on Osirak. Then, 22 years later - as French president - Mr Chirac was vehemently against the USA and Britain going to war with Iraq over the issue of weapons of mass destruction.





History does have a habit of repeating itself, don't you think ?

[Cougar69]

here is the video....liveleak.com/view?i=525_1180677656 (when I get to 10 posts I'll come back and fix the link)


Operation Opera (also known as Operation Babylon and Operation Ofra) is the Israeli Air Force designation used to describe an Israeli air strike against the Iraqi Osirak nuclear reactor (French: Osirak; Iraqi: Tammuz 1) in 1981.

In the late 1970s, Iraq purchased an "Osiris class" nuclear reactor from France. Israeli military intelligence assumed this was for the purpose of plutonium productio More..n to further an Iraqi nuclear weapons program. Israeli intelligence also believed that the summer of 1981 would be the last chance to destroy the reactor without exposing the Iraqi civilian population to nuclear fallout. After that point, the reactor would be loaded with nuclear fuel.On June 7, 1981, a squadron of Israeli F-16A fighter aircraft, with an escort of F-15As, bombed and heavily damaged the Osirak reactor.Iraq had established a nuclear program sometime in the 1960s, and in the mid-1970s looked to expand it through the acquisition of a nuclear reactor. After failing to convince the French government to sell them a gas-graphite plutonium producing reactor and reprocessing plant, and likewise failing to convince the Italian government to sell them a Cirene reactor, the Iraqi government convinced the French government to sell them an Osiris-class research reactor and accompanying laboratories.The distance between Israeli military bases and the reactor site was significant (over 1000 miles), as it meant the military forces would be operating without easy resupply capability, and would have to arc across Jordanian and Saudi territory. Additionally, Israeli intelligence could not guarantee certain knowledge of the state of Iraqi defenses.
After much deliberation, the Israeli military finally concluded that a squadron of heavily fueled, and heavily armed F-16As, with a group of F-15As to provide air cover and fighter support, could perform a "surgical strike" to eliminate the reactor site, without having to refuel.Israeli military also decided that it was essential to destroy the reactor before it was loaded with nuclear fuel, in order to minimize the effects of the reactor's destruction on the civilian population.Having intelligence that the reactor's fuel rods were scheduled to be shipped to Iraq from France, the Israeli cabinet (then under the leadership of Menachem Begin) authorized the operation.The operation was a success. The reactor complex was put out of commission, and the Iraqi nuclear program set back considerably. Iraq said it would rebuild the facility, and France agreed, in principle, to aid in the reconstruction. However, in 1984, France withdrew from the project.Some Iraqi researchers have claimed since then that the Iraqi nuclear program simply went "underground", diversified, and expanded. Iraq's attempts to create a (potentially) plutonium producing reactor seemed to have a much lower priority in this new program.The Osirak facility remained a damaged facility, until the Gulf War, when a series of US air strikes, over a prolonged period of bombardment, finally destroyed the site completely.Politically, the operation yielded handsome results for the ruling Likud Party led by Begin as it was reelected to power with a strong mandate in the elections that were held three weeks later.

[joelee]

I remember it well. I was in High School here in Philly. I thought that it was so cool that they had the balls to do that. After Carter being such a dishrag, and Regan just starting to show what a real President should be, I could not wait to enlist. 3 years later. :)

[Stark]

:D

[Scott]

haha stark, good hitlist :D (the onesu nder bush that is.... )

[Stark]

lol I was just wondering what Sadam had on his paper he is holding :D

[joelee]

lol I was just wondering what Sadam had on his paper he is holding :D

Pictures of Bush's daughters.