Raid on the Sun: Inside Israel's Secret Campaign That Denied Saddam the Bomb

by Rodger Claire

Book Overview

Discusses Iraq's initial steps toward creating an atomic bomb and the secret plan by Israeli air force commander David Ivry to launch an air strike on Iraq's reactor in defiance of its U.S. and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0767914007
• ISBN13: 9780767914000
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Broadway Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A true page turner

I was very impressed with this book. I thought it did an excellent job of covering all of the action (what Isreal was doing, what France was doing, what Iraq was doing, etc.). The book itself is very enjoyable and it moves very fast. My greater surprise is that this bombing hasn't been hashed about in the news (given the daily drone about the Iraq war). This raid, over 20 years ago, had an immense impact on what the entire world faces today. Had Isreal not taken this action, the world would be a very different place. The war against Iraq would have been far worse (possibly involving nuclear weapons). Jacques Chirack can kiss my . . . he would sell any arab country a nuclear reactor today, if the price was right (emphasis on the fact that arab countries don't need nuclear reactors). I was surprised the author didn't politicize the issue. He made casual reference to world leaders expressing the above point, but that was the extent of it. In my opinion, a saparate book can be written about the political implications of this bombing (20 years after the fact).

This great technothriller is a true story!

Wow! This exciting little book reads like a Tom Clancy technothriller, but it's the true story of the 1981 Israeli raid that is all that stopped Saddam Hussein from acquiring nuclear weapons. Surrounded by enemies, tiny Israel has always had to be tough and resourceful to survive. When the Begin government learned that Saddam was building a reactor to enrich uranium to build atomic bombs, they tried diplomacy to convince France to stop providing the needed components. But when that failed, they fell back on their own resourcefulness, ingenuity, resolve and courage, and sent eight F-16 fighters on an astounding mission to destroy the reactor.Rodger Claire interviewed all of the surviving planners and pilots, including Ilan Ramon, the youngest of the pilots, who became Israel's first astronaut and who died in the Columbia tragedy. In 250 pages, we get the exciting action story, and the thoughts and emotions of the participants as they meticulously planned and executed this extraordinarily dangerous mission. We also get some background on France's 30-year partnership with Saddam, and a photo of Jacques Chirac and Saddam grinning at each other in Baghdad in 1974, that speaks volumes to today's world.Claire has a fine facility with language, making the book delightfully readable, and he weaves a gripping story that I stayed up until 2 AM to finish. There are occasional minor technical inaccuracies, that readers with detailed knowledge of military aircraft will notice, but they don't detract from this wonderful book.

Excellent subject and writing

Raid On The Sun is a very well written book, literally a "page turner". I couldn't put it down.I can't add anything others have already said here, but to the positive reviewer who nevertheless wished more dirt on France and Jacques Chirac, I would want to know more too. But perhaps much more would detract from the action that pushes the narrative of this book. All the details on Chirac might be better placed in a prosecutor's criminal complaint.

Captivating Story

Rodger Claire's story of how Israel denied Saddam Hussein the atomic bomb in 1981 reads better than many spy thrillers.Author Claire smoothly sets the stage in explaining the genesis of the book, providing a brief history of Saddam Hussein's childhood and rise to power, the failed diplomacy, and the assassinations of scientists and destruction of vital equipment by Israeli agents before the F-16s were sent to bomb the Osirak nuclear facility in Al-Tuwaitha just south of Baghdad, Iraq.The book includes a map, a helpful table of abbreviations and several meaningful pictures. On more than one occasion, I reviewed the map of the region that provides a graphic depiction of the Osirak attack route, neighboring countries, major cities, rivers and bodies of water.The story is well told. However, I would have appreciated more detail about France's assistance with Iraq's nuclear program and the economic details of the relationship. Also, a final chapter that summarized the believed progress of Iraq's nuclear program over the succeeding two plus decades would have been interesting.In the "it made me chuckle" category is a reference in the first edition on page 151 to "her in-laws" when "his" is intended.

A much needed account of the daring raid

This is the much anticipated account of Israel's record breaking raid on the Iraqi Nuclear Reactor. During the 1970s the French, beginning their long relationship with the Iraqi Ba'athist regime, began shipping parts for a nuclear reactor to Baghdad. The reactor at Osirak was almost completed in 1981 when PM Begin ordered a lighting raid to destroy it. The heroic mission of Israeli pilots ranks with Entebbe in the history of daring raids against terrorist regimes. Here is the story, finally, told in its fullest glory after more then 2 decades. Here one will once again learn of how Israel, against all odds, dealt with the Iraqi menace 10 years before America was confronted with the same regime. In fact Israel was taking the lead in destroying the same `Weapons of mass destruction' that future American administrations would complain about. This is a wonderful blow by blow, minute by minute account from the diplomacy of the 1970s to the actual raid. The text is quick and witty and the reader will enjoy the fast paced narrative of this much needed account of a forgotten military raid, that may have saved the world from a nuclear armed Iraq. Anyone who enjoys military non-fiction or Middle Eastern conflicts will love this book, also anyone interested in the Saddam regime and Iraq will enjoy this fresh new account.Seth J. Frantzman