Raid on the Sun by Rodger Claire
If for some unknown reason you had felt that Saddam Hussein had been wrongfully targeted by the U.S. military campaigns in Iraq may I please direct you to page 13 of this book where Rodger Claire outlines Hussein’s youthful and disturbing practice of stabbing helpless dogs in the stomach with a red hot poker. I mean cute harmless dogs, why Saddam why? OK, that doesn’t necessarily redeem anyone’s actions but at a minimum it demonstrates what kind of a child he was.
Alas this book is not really about Hussein. Instead its a non-fictional thriller that reads more like a novel outlining a single controversial air assault on Iraq’s first and hopefully last attempt to develop atomic weapons, otherwise know as WMD’s (you know, those things Bush was looking for). If you didn’t already know that Israel has one of the strongest military forces in the world this book will help you realize that. It came as no surprise to me when I read about the incredible detail that went into this strike. A year and half in the making, utmost secrecy and pin point accuracy are a few of the trademark attributes with which the Israeli military operates.
Being a member of the tribe and a firm believer in Israels staunch policy and politics in the middle east I will not be critical of the actions which were taken. Instead I will applaud the bravery and heroics of the elite airmen who took this daring and dangerous strike on without asking questions fully aware that they may not return. Had it not been for their actions the volatile middle east would possibly be a nuclear waste land today.
This book is fast, entertaining, factual and as many books of this nature are, has a slight air of propaganda regarding an event that took place nearly thirty years ago that is for the most part unknown.
One special note, this book like the previous book I read on the Vietnam war was filled with acronyms. Thankfully Mr. Claire was kind enough to provide a glossary of these acronyms at the beginning of the book so that someone like me would know that AAA in the context of this book does not stand for the American Automobile Association.
