Rodger Claire

It's scarcely believable that the Israelis managed to pull off this operation. It's also odd that Israel allowed so much of this information to be declassified. It's also quite a neat trick of the writer to have elicited such fascinating emotions from those involved, in addition to incredible details that went into this (the operation and the book). The actual attack run elicits the same visceral response to the Rebel Fleet's attack run on the Death Star: positively heart-pounding.

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 show more 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. show less

Case 4 shelf 6