Word: reactor
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...read your editorial (“Israel’s Inalienable Right,” Sept. 25) suggesting not only that Israel should retaliate in the event of an Iraqi attack, but that the United States should fully support retaliation. The authors point to the bombing of the Osirak reactor over 20 years ago to support this argument, but this misses the essential issue at stake: whereas 20 years ago Iraq had no nuclear capability, today we are at least expected to believe that they may. Certainly, Israel now has nuclear weapons. And let us not delude ourselves into thinking...
...June 7, 1981, Israeli warplanes destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor, called Osirak, which had been sold to the Baathist government by France in November 1975. The air strike, known as “Operation Babylon,” was carried out to prevent Hussein’s engineers from constructing a nuclear weapon that could have been used against Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin stressed that a pre-emptive disabling of the Osirak reactor was wholly justified as a means of national self-defense...
When the facts were re-examined, moreover, they all indicated that Begin had made the proper decision. The budget for Iraq’s Atomic Energy Commission had increased dramatically from $5 million to $70 million per year in 1976 (a year after the Osirak reactor was purchased). Even more troubling, in 1980 the Italian government had sold Hussein three “hot cells”—nuclear laboratories that are shielded by lead and specifically designed for handling radioactive materials—which, when combined with reprocessing technology, would’ve enabled Iraq to make...
Thus, prior to destroying Osirak, Israel had substantial evidence that the reactor was being used to produce a nuclear bomb. What’s more, Baghdad appeared to be frighteningly close to developing weapons-grade fuel. The Israelis had seen the brutal reality of Hussein’s territorial ambitions in the Persian Gulf—he had invaded Iran the previous year—and they were well aware of his thinly-veiled desire to conquer and destroy the Jewish state. The imperative nature of Operation Babylon, from their perspective, was undeniable...
...Imagine that Israel had not destroyed the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981. What would have happened when Iraq invaded Kuwait? With a nuclear arsenal at Saddam's disposal, would the U.S. have attacked? As it was, war against a nonnuclear Iraq was authorized by the U.S. Senate by a mere five votes. Had Saddam had nukes in 1991, he would probably today be king of all Arabia...