Raid on the Sun: Inside Israel’s Secret Campaign That Denied Saddam the Bomb by Rodger W. Claire. Random House: Broadway Books (http://www.broadwaybooks.com), 201 East 50th Street, New York, New York 10022, 2004, 288 pages, $24.95 (hardcover), $14.95 (softcover).
Perhaps the most significant military, and certainly political, event of Israel’s fight for survival is the surprise attack on Saddam Hussein’s Osirak nuclear facility in 1981. This event shocked all the nations involved, left Iraq’s nuclear ambitions in ruins, and frightened the rest of the Arab world. Raid on the Sun describes the attack with remarkable clarity and accuracy.
Granted access by the Israeli government to formerly classified documents and voluntary contact with all eight pilots, the mission coordinator, and cockpit film of the attack. Rodger Claire captures details previously unknown to the rest of the world. His style combines historical fact with clandestine thrill and the suspense of cloak and dagger, making the reader privy to every perilous decision made by the Israeli leadership. Claire goes a long way toward breaking the code of fighter-pilot language, explaining and providing enough information to satisfy even an F-16 pilot. He occasionally lapses into Nintendo-like references, however (e.g., using joystick rather than control stick or stick), and twice mentions infrared-guided SA-6s (a capability thus far not demonstrated by this missile). All in all, though, his diligent research is most impressive.
Claire’s firsthand accounts of the mission are by far the most remarkable part of this book. At the time the United States was fielding the F-16, Israel took advantage of a dropped deal with a shaky Iran to take delivery of the world’s newest fighter. Although the aircraft had not seen combat and its limitations remained relatively unknown, Israeli pilots would demonstrate its combat potential and, more importantly, show how a select group of determined men can change the course of world events. The author effectively captures the psychological dilemmas of each player on the Israeli team. Accounts of the squadron’s veteran commander, who, though inexperienced in the F-16, requisitioned a place on the mission and thus disrupted the team’s cohesion, create the type of locker-room drama that sets this book apart. To follow an extraordinary group of warriors on a landmark mission that would change the face of the Middle East, to know the risk of failure on a personal and political level, and to feel the sweat pour into their eyes as they validate two years of training with one precise squeeze of the pickle button—all of these elements will attract historians, tacticians, and military leaders to this story.
Though 24 years removed from the historic attack, we cannot ignore its significance. Imagine, as the first Bush administration did, that Saddam Hussein possessed any form of nuclear capability in 1990. Imagine, as an Israeli, that Scud warnings mean running to a fallout shelter instead of donning a gas mask. Imagine a madman who stops at nothing to satisfy his megalomania, including bartering that weapon to any number of suspect agents. In a current international environment that includes similar risks from an unpredictable Kim Jong Il and an insolent Iran, this book serves to remind diplomats as well as the world’s political and military leaders of the significance of action as opposed to contemplation.
Raid on the Sun is a tribute to the people who reached beyond conventional boundaries to make a difference. It marks the strategic relevance of military ingenuity and the decisive outcome of leaders who truly lead. Historical scholars, casual military enthusiasts, and aviation experts will all find this book most rewarding. I recommend it highly.
Maj J. Rick Rosales, USAF
Monterey, California
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