
BOOK
Israel's Attack On Osiraq: A Model For Future Preventive Strikes?
Peter S. Ford
$9.95
About this product:
The 1981 Israeli air raid on the Osiraq nuclear reactor to delay or destroy Iraq's nuclear weapons program is often raised as a possible model for preventive strike and direct action counterproliferation. In this paper, Peter Ford presents that raid in both strategic and operational detail, directly addressing its wider applicability as a model for contemporary military action. Ford reviews the operational details of mission planning and execution as seen through a pilot's eyes, but he also reviews the larger context of Israeli decisions and actions from both the domestic and international perspectives. Upon that history, he overlays a policy template to draw broader lessons and cautions for those contemplating preventive strikes in other contexts. The conclusion that they can, at best, buy time for other policy tools and efforts should not be lost on security planners today.