In-credible! Thousands of tanks and armored vehicles for peanuts
Posted on 12/13/2019 4:58:39 PM PST by daniel1212
Yet it seems it took about 4 days after that for aid actually arrived in Israel. Meanwhile Kissinger, while seeking to keep aid modest, was not one of the many who opposed it:
Based on intelligence estimates at the commencement of hostilities, American leaders expected the tide of the war to quickly shift in Israel's favor, and that Arab armies would be completely defeated within 72 to 96 hours.[381] On October 6, Secretary of State Kissinger convened the National Security Council's official crisis management group, the Washington Special Actions Group, which debated whether the U.S. should supply additional arms to Israel. High-ranking representatives of the Defense and State Departments opposed such a move. Kissinger was the sole dissenter; he said that if the U.S. refused aid, Israel would have little incentive to conform to American views in postwar diplomacy.
The Soviet Union had supplied Egypt and Syria over 600 advanced surface-to-air missiles, 300 MiG-21 fighters, 1,200 tanks, and hundreds of thousands of tons of war material.[1] Seeing Israel's vulnerable position, Henry Kissinger, the United States Secretary of State and President Richard Nixon's National Security Adviser, made arrangements for El Al to pick up some items, including ammunition, "high technology products" and AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles at a US naval base in Virginia. A modest effort soon began, but Kissinger still hoped to keep any visible involvement at a minimum.
In-credible! Thousands of tanks and armored vehicles for peanuts
Thank God for what it reveals.
Thanx for posting this. I remember the war and the sporadic press over it, but these details brought tears to these old eyes. Thanks be to God indeed!
That, and Linebacker II...
A guy in my squadron told me that when we had been deployed on the JFK over in the Med at that time, they had panes take off loaded with ordinance that came back with nothing on the racks.
If true, I am good with that.
I remember it well. I was stationed at McClellan AFB in Sacramento, CA at that time it was a major logistics and supply depot. It has since been closed. I was a medic working in the base clinic. Our office had a wonderful view of the flight line. We watched as about 5 - 8 brand new F-5’s still wrapped in plastic with the wings detached being loaded into C-5A aircraft.
I commented at the time “They might as well put a banner on the side that says Arms for Israel.” I was 19 at the time. We also supplied thousands of tons of spare parts for all sorts of aircraft. Like I said, I remember it well.
In-deed.
And it is telling that the Soviets were supplying the side of the enemies. Proxy wars.
Interesting:
The Northrop F-5A and F-5B Freedom Fighter and the F-5E and F-5F Tiger II are part of a supersonic light fighter family, initially designed in the late 1950s by Northrop Corporation. Being smaller and simpler than contemporaries such as the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, the F-5 cost less to both procure and operate, making it a popular export aircraft. The F-5 started as a privately funded light fighter program by Northrop in the 1950s. The design team wrapped a small, highly aerodynamic fighter around two compact and high-thrust General Electric J85 engines, focusing on performance and a low cost of maintenance. Though primarily designed for a day air superiority role, the aircraft is also a capable ground-attack platform. The F-5A entered service in the early 1960s. During the Cold War, over 800 were produced through 1972 for U.S. allies. Though the United States Air Force (USAF) had no need for a light fighter, it did procure approximately 1,200 Northrop T-38 Talon trainer aircraft, which were directly based on the F-5A.
fter winning the International Fighter Aircraft Competition, a program aimed at providing effective low-cost fighters to American allies, in 1970, Northrop introduced the second-generation F-5E Tiger II in 1972. This upgrade included more powerful engines, higher fuel capacity, greater wing area and improved leading edge extensions for better turn rates, optional air-to-air refueling, and improved avionics including air-to-air radar. Primarily used by American allies, it remains in US service to support training exercises. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_F-5
bkmk
[Half a world away, the United States was in a funk, unable or unwilling to act decisively. Washington was in the throes of not only post-Vietnam moralizing on Capitol Hill but also the agony of Watergate, both of which impaired the leadership of President Richard M. Nixon.]
And here the Democrats are attacking President Trump with ridiculous nonsense while Ezekiel 38 seems to be on the horizon.
Strange times.
[In my opinion, saving Israel was Richard Nixon’s greatest accomplishment as president.]
I agree. As I said before, it was Nixon’s finest hour.
I saw a video with him talking about it. Had no idea at the time.
That was fascinating.
Thanks.
A similarity is that in both cases you have a President who is charged with abuse of power while being correct in major policies that the ones who lust to impeach are wrong in.
And yet there is more. The https://www.airforcemag.com/article/1298nickel/ and https://www.airforcemag.com/article/the-yom-kippur-airlift/ pages in particular provide more than the WP alone does, and so a compilation helps. God’s mercy and grace to a nation.
I have a friend of mine who was an Air Traffic Control supervisor working in the Radar Approach Control at Lajes AB in the Azores when this airlift was in effect. He told me that they had C-141’s and C-5’s lined up 10 miles apart streaming out over 100 miles coming into Lajes to refuel.
“The frontiers were mostly defended by short term conscripts.”
Mr. GG2 was touring the Golan heights with the IDF as a guest of the Israeli government when the first rockets started coming over. They handed him an AK and said “do you know how to use this?” He nodded yes and they pointed to a foxhole and said “ if anything tries to come across that wire over there kill it. We will be back for you later.” He sat in that hole for 24 hours.
Later Mr.GG2 was with the IDF forces as they came down off the heights and he walked past the burned out Syrian tanks with charred bodies hanging out of them. He said it was just surreal.
Most people have no idea how close Israel came to being exterminated.
A lot of interesting details in a 4 part audio series:
https://rabbiwolbe.com/category/history/
Thanks for the link!
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