Twenty one years have now passed since Israeli fighter-bombers destroyed Iraq's Osiraq nuclear reactor shortly before it was ready to go "on line." At the time, the general global community reaction was overwhelmingly hostile. Even the UN Security Council, in Resolution 487 of June 19, 1981, indicated that it "strongly condemns" the attack and that "Iraq is entitled to appropriate redress for the destruction it has suffered."
Israel's very controversial defensive action of June 7, 1981 now looks very different. We now know for certain that Saddam Hussein's plans to build a French-supplied reactor at his nuclear research center at Tuwaitha, about 20 kilometers from Baghdad, were designed to produce militarily significant amounts of plutonium. There was no other purpose. The Iraqi objective was "simply" to manufacture nuclear weapons that could provide Saddam with regional dominance and - if necessary - with the implements of atomic warfighting. An Iraqi dictatorship with nuclear weapons would have had far-reaching global implications, affecting not only the "infidel" Jewish State, but also the security of those other states requiring Middle Eastern oil and/or those states that came to be engaged in the 1991 Gulf War. In this connection, protracted failure by the international community to prevent Saddam's post-Gulf War efforts to create nuclear weapons now allows Iraq to prepare for even vastly-greater levels of aggression. If only this international community had been willing to replicate Israel's heroic action of June 7, 1981, rather than foolishly to condemn it, our fragile world would not be faced presently with the threat of unconventional Iraqi attacks.
Israel did not act illegally at Osiraq. International law is not a suicide pact. Under the long-standing customary right known as anticipatory self-defense, every state is entitled to strike first when the danger posed is "instant, overwhelming, leaving no choice of means and no moment for deliberation." As noted above, this right is especially compelling today, when failing to preempt Iraq could bring nuclear terror to the United States and annihilation to Israel.
Israel did not commit aggression at Osiraq. Iraq has always insisted that a state of war exists with "the Zionist entity." It follows that since aggression cannot be committed against a state with which a country is already at war, Jerusalem could not possibly have been guilty of such a "crime against peace."
Israel did not violate the international laws of war at Osiraq. Fourteen Israeli aircraft took part in the raid - eight F-16 Falcons, each carrying two 1000-kilogram bombs, and six F-15 Eagles serving as escort planes. The reactor was completely destroyed, without civilian casualties and before any radiation danger existed. Unlike Iraq's thirty-nine SCUD attacks on Israel during the Gulf War, which were expressly designed to harm innocent civilians, Israel's raid on Osiraq was conceived for essential protection of civilians.
Ever since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Iraq has been conspiring to destroy it. Baghdad joined several other Arab states that attacked Israel on the day of its declared independence. But while Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria proceeded to sign armistice agreements with the Jewish State in 1949 (and Egypt and Jordan went on to sign actual peace treaties), Iraq has always steadfastly insisted upon a permanent state of hostilities.
All things considered, Israel's defensive strike against an outlaw enemy state preparing for extermination warfare was not only lawful, but distinctly law enforcing. In the absence of a centralized enforcement capability, international law relies upon the willingness of individual states to act on behalf of the entire global community. This is exactly what took place twenty one years ago, when - with surgical precision - Israel's fighter-bombers precluded an Iraqi nuclear option. Today, when waiting to absorb a "first shot" could sentence a tiny state like Israel to obliteration, the legitimacy of anticipatory self-defense should be more widely acknowledged than ever before.
No less than Israel's citizens, both Jews and Arabs, American and other coalition soldiers who fought in the Gulf War owe their lives to Israel's courage, skill and foresight in June 1981. Had it not been for the brilliant raid at Osiraq, Saddam's forces would have been equipped with atomic warheads in 1991. Ironically, the Saudis, too, are in Jerusalem's debt. Had it not been for Prime Minister Menachem Begin's resolve to protect his own people back in 1981, Saddam's SCUDs falling on Saudi Arabia might have spawned immense casualties and lethal irradiation.
With these facts in mind, one thing is certain. It is time for the world community generally, and the United Nations in particular, to acknowledge the obvious: Israeli preemptive action in 1981 was an heroic and indispensable act of international law enforcement. Regarding future essential resorts to anticipatory self-defense, whether by Israel or by any other state facing unconventional aggression, such an acknowledgment could provide an important incentive to do what is needed to save human lives within the authoritative bounds of international law.
Presently, regional and world security are greatly endangered by Iraqi nuclearization. The time has arrived, therefore, for a widely strengthened commitment to self-defense rights in global affairs, legal rights designed to prevent aggression in an increasingly anarchic world and to assure national survival. Israel acted in support of these essential rights back in June 1981.
Today, twenty one years later, we must ask ourselves whether the lessons of Osiraq shall finally be taken seriously, and whether they shall be learned in time.
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Louis Rene Beres is the author of twelve books and many articles dealing with international law. His work is well-known to the Prime Minister of Israel, to senior government and military officials, and to the Israeli and American intelligence communities.
Yoash Tsiddon-Chatto, a Member of the 12th Knesset and a Colonel (Res.) in the Israel Defense Forces, was Chief of R & D and Planning for the Israeli Air Force. He is a graduate of the Ecole Superieure de Guerre Aerienne, Paris, and was a member of the First Israeli Peace Mission to Madrid in 1991.
Israel's very controversial defensive action of June 7, 1981 now looks very different. We now know for certain that Saddam Hussein's plans to build a French-supplied reactor at his nuclear research center at Tuwaitha, about 20 kilometers from Baghdad, were designed to produce militarily significant amounts of plutonium. There was no other purpose. The Iraqi objective was "simply" to manufacture nuclear weapons that could provide Saddam with regional dominance and - if necessary - with the implements of atomic warfighting. An Iraqi dictatorship with nuclear weapons would have had far-reaching global implications, affecting not only the "infidel" Jewish State, but also the security of those other states requiring Middle Eastern oil and/or those states that came to be engaged in the 1991 Gulf War. In this connection, protracted failure by the international community to prevent Saddam's post-Gulf War efforts to create nuclear weapons now allows Iraq to prepare for even vastly-greater levels of aggression. If only this international community had been willing to replicate Israel's heroic action of June 7, 1981, rather than foolishly to condemn it, our fragile world would not be faced presently with the threat of unconventional Iraqi attacks.
Israel did not act illegally at Osiraq. International law is not a suicide pact. Under the long-standing customary right known as anticipatory self-defense, every state is entitled to strike first when the danger posed is "instant, overwhelming, leaving no choice of means and no moment for deliberation." As noted above, this right is especially compelling today, when failing to preempt Iraq could bring nuclear terror to the United States and annihilation to Israel.
Israel did not commit aggression at Osiraq. Iraq has always insisted that a state of war exists with "the Zionist entity." It follows that since aggression cannot be committed against a state with which a country is already at war, Jerusalem could not possibly have been guilty of such a "crime against peace."
Israel did not violate the international laws of war at Osiraq. Fourteen Israeli aircraft took part in the raid - eight F-16 Falcons, each carrying two 1000-kilogram bombs, and six F-15 Eagles serving as escort planes. The reactor was completely destroyed, without civilian casualties and before any radiation danger existed. Unlike Iraq's thirty-nine SCUD attacks on Israel during the Gulf War, which were expressly designed to harm innocent civilians, Israel's raid on Osiraq was conceived for essential protection of civilians.
Ever since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Iraq has been conspiring to destroy it. Baghdad joined several other Arab states that attacked Israel on the day of its declared independence. But while Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria proceeded to sign armistice agreements with the Jewish State in 1949 (and Egypt and Jordan went on to sign actual peace treaties), Iraq has always steadfastly insisted upon a permanent state of hostilities.
All things considered, Israel's defensive strike against an outlaw enemy state preparing for extermination warfare was not only lawful, but distinctly law enforcing. In the absence of a centralized enforcement capability, international law relies upon the willingness of individual states to act on behalf of the entire global community. This is exactly what took place twenty one years ago, when - with surgical precision - Israel's fighter-bombers precluded an Iraqi nuclear option. Today, when waiting to absorb a "first shot" could sentence a tiny state like Israel to obliteration, the legitimacy of anticipatory self-defense should be more widely acknowledged than ever before.
No less than Israel's citizens, both Jews and Arabs, American and other coalition soldiers who fought in the Gulf War owe their lives to Israel's courage, skill and foresight in June 1981. Had it not been for the brilliant raid at Osiraq, Saddam's forces would have been equipped with atomic warheads in 1991. Ironically, the Saudis, too, are in Jerusalem's debt. Had it not been for Prime Minister Menachem Begin's resolve to protect his own people back in 1981, Saddam's SCUDs falling on Saudi Arabia might have spawned immense casualties and lethal irradiation.
With these facts in mind, one thing is certain. It is time for the world community generally, and the United Nations in particular, to acknowledge the obvious: Israeli preemptive action in 1981 was an heroic and indispensable act of international law enforcement. Regarding future essential resorts to anticipatory self-defense, whether by Israel or by any other state facing unconventional aggression, such an acknowledgment could provide an important incentive to do what is needed to save human lives within the authoritative bounds of international law.
Presently, regional and world security are greatly endangered by Iraqi nuclearization. The time has arrived, therefore, for a widely strengthened commitment to self-defense rights in global affairs, legal rights designed to prevent aggression in an increasingly anarchic world and to assure national survival. Israel acted in support of these essential rights back in June 1981.
Today, twenty one years later, we must ask ourselves whether the lessons of Osiraq shall finally be taken seriously, and whether they shall be learned in time.
----------------------------------
Louis Rene Beres is the author of twelve books and many articles dealing with international law. His work is well-known to the Prime Minister of Israel, to senior government and military officials, and to the Israeli and American intelligence communities.
Yoash Tsiddon-Chatto, a Member of the 12th Knesset and a Colonel (Res.) in the Israel Defense Forces, was Chief of R & D and Planning for the Israeli Air Force. He is a graduate of the Ecole Superieure de Guerre Aerienne, Paris, and was a member of the First Israeli Peace Mission to Madrid in 1991.