thinking about the implications for today

One of the curious aspects about the Columbia disaster is that Col. Ilan Ramon, the Israeli astronaut, was involved in Israel's 1981 strike on an Osirak nuclear power plant in Iraq. I had never heard of this strike until reading the stories about Col. Ramon so I spent some time researching with Google.

Obviously, Israel's strike has a great deal of resonance today. Was the nuclear power plant (which, remember, is used to produce energy in place of electricity not weapons) part of an early attempt by Saddam Hussein to gain WMDs? Did the strike derail Iraq's WMD program, or did it provide a new impetus to it while also sending it underground? And what does this say about the Bush Administration's new policy of pre-emption?

Here are some articles to read. They represent a wide variety of viewpoints on the issues I've mentioned and are intended as an informational resource.

• Case Study: Osirak


• Israel Bombs Iraq's Osirak Nuclear Research Facility


• Israel's Osirak Attack


• The American and Israeli Strategic Thinking Behind Plans to Attack Iraq


• The Lessons of Osirak


• The Osirak Option (NY Times link, registration required)


• U.S. Hawks Look for First Strike Precedent in 1981 Attack on N-Plant