Iraq says it wants world’s help to build nuclear reactor

[DemolitionMan]

By AP and TOI STAFF

raq’s foreign minister asked nuclear countries for help building a nuclear reactor Saturday, over 35 years after Israeli jets destroyed the country’s first attempt to build a nuclear program.

Ibrahim al-Jaafari made the request in his speech Saturday to the UN General Assembly’s annual meeting of presidents, prime ministers and monarchs. He called for assistance “to build a nuclear reactor for peaceful purposes in Iraq, to acquire this nuclear technology.”Former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein’s previous efforts to build a nuclear reactor were met with an Israeli airstrike on the Osirak nuclear facility in 1981 and years of suspicion about his nuclear intentions.

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https://www.timesofisrael.com/iraq-says-it-wants-worlds-help-to-build-nuclear-reactor/

[DemolitionMan]

Israeli Air Force footage taken during the strike on Osirak:


www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX-iUqyUhfY

[DemolitionMan]

The IAF crossed the desert at 100 feet to the target.

[edpc]

The IAF crossed the desert at 100 feet to the target.

Right over King Hussein of Jordan's yacht, too, in the Gulf of Aqaba.

[DemolitionMan]

Right over King Hussein of Jordan's yacht, too, in the Gulf of Aqaba.

Hussein witnessed the planes overfly his yacht, and noticed their Israeli markings. Taking into account the location, heading, and armament of the jets, Hussein quickly deduced the Iraqi reactor to be the most probable target. Hussein immediately contacted his government and ordered a warning to be sent to the Iraqis. However, due to a communication failure the message was never received and the Israeli planes entered Iraqi airspace undetectedThe raid was a piece of masterpiece.e basic procedure for the airstrike had been formulated as early as 1979. However, the Israelis needed photographic intelligence about the layout of the plant. That task allegedly fell to the Iranians. Rather than carrying out a follow up air raid after their September attack, on November 30, 1980, an Iranian F-4 Phantom reconnaissance jet took pictures of the Osirak reactor. The photographs were allegedly placed in a top-secret metal container, and certain elements of the Iranian military delivered them to the Israelis. With these photographs, the Israelis began to plan out Operation Opera

[DemolitionMan]

Hussein witnessed the planes overfly his yacht, and noticed their Israeli markings. Taking into account the location, heading, and armament of the jets, Hussein quickly deduced the Iraqi reactor to be the most probable target. Hussein immediately contacted his government and ordered a warning to be sent to the Iraqis. However, due to a communication failure the message was never received and the Israeli planes entered Iraqi airspace undetectedThe raid was a piece of masterpiece.e basic procedure for the airstrike had been formulated as early as 1979. However, the Israelis needed photographic intelligence about the layout of the plant. That task allegedly fell to the Iranians. Rather than carrying out a follow up air raid after their September attack, on November 30, 1980, an Iranian F-4 Phantom reconnaissance jet took pictures of the Osirak reactor. The photographs were allegedly placed in a top-secret metal container, and certain elements of the Iranian military delivered them to the Israelis. With these photographs, the Israelis began to plan out Operation Opera

To avoid detection, the Israeli pilots conversed in Saudi-accented Arabic while in Jordanian airspace and told Jordanian air controllers that they were a Saudi patrol that had gone off course.While flying over Saudi Arabia, they pretended to be Jordanians, using Jordanian radio signals and formations. The Israeli planes were so heavily loaded that the external fuel tanks that had been mounted on the planes were exhausted in-flight. The tanks were jettisoned over the Saudi desert.