This month brings back memories from June 1981, exactly 35 years ago, when one fine afternoon a fleet of F-16s, the new kid in the block and Israel's latest acquisition from US (America's toy gifted to its pampered baby) took off from an Airbase in Tel Aviv.
En route to Iraq, they flew over the Saudi air space, successfully camouflaging by chatting in Arabic to evade their Radars. When they entered the Jordanian Air space, they identified themselves as dilettante Saudi aircrafts mistakenly deviated into the friendly Jordanian territory. The smart and meticulous Israelis managed to hoodwink the air defense of both Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
After entering the Iraqi air space they flew low to avoid any radar detection. Upon reaching their destination of Iraqi Nuclear Reactor on the outskirts of Baghdad, the fighter aircrafts split into different formations and bombed their target in unison at utmost precision.
It took only 2 minutes of firepower raining from the sky to destroy the Osirek Reactor and Saddam Hussein's nuclear dream forever. They timed attack during the short lunch break taken by the Iraqi guards protecting the Nuclear plant. Before the guards, who were flummoxed as a desert Fox caught in front of searchlights could gather themselves to react and fire anti-Aircraft gun at the marauding F-16s, the ultra modern fighter planes had climbed enough altitude above and beyond them, proudly on their return journey.
As stated by the leader of this well executed OPERATION BABYLONE, the Israeli pilots radioed each other biblical verses, as a very cheerful Congratulations message was delivered to them. It was from the Israeli PM Menachem Begin, the man in charge of this Operation and ironically a Nobel Peace Prize winner for signing Camp David accord with his better noire Egypt not long ago.
As usual UN, the world's biggest, bloated Bureaucracy, utterly inefficient and helpless against its veto power wielding members, ended up severely condemning the Israeli attack. US also condemned the attack on face and blocked the delivery of 4 more of its F-16s fresh from its oven to Israel, only to resume their delivery couple of months later to its unofficial 51st state. It's akin to delaying a candy for two days to a child for being naughty.
Saddam Hussein's Iraq could never recover from this attack, nor resuscitate its nascent Nuclear power. Menachem Begin arguably justified his Nobel Peace prize by forever de-fanging the Iraqi dictator's nuclear teeth.
As the Odia proverb goes - MANKADA HATHARE SALAGRAMA or it's too risky to put the statue of a Deity in the hands of Monkey. Nuclear weapons in the hands of an unpredictable Saddam could have been catastrophic. Israel did not do the wrong thing, nor at the wrong time, a very peacefully executed by the Nobel Peace prize winner Begin.
Nostalgia!
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