Was The Perfect Spy A Double Agent?

(CBS) Sometimes history is shaped by unknown people who operate in the shadowy world of espionage. And this story of war, deception and murder has a plot worthy of a John le Carre novel.

Thirty-five years ago, the armies of Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack against the state of Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year. Militarily, it ended in a stalemate, but in practical terms the war changed the map and the politics of the Middle East.

At the center of it all is a little known story about one man who played a major role in the outcome. Strangely enough, he's a hero in both Egypt and Israel, considered by each of these former enemies to be their greatest spy ever.

The question is: who was Ashraf Marwan really working for? And who finally murdered him in London?

Nasser wasn’t the head of Egypt during the 1973 yom Kippur war of Oct. 1973. Mubarak was. Nasser may have planned it, but he was, if I remember correctly, already dead.

Israel lost something like 6 out of 7 East Suez side forts to the Egyptians and suffered heavy tank losses to the Egyptians and Syrians because of the heavy/accurate Russian Sager missiles.

Only a determined tank charge on the Golan stopped the Syrians and a Sharon counter-attack on the Suez area which trapped the Egyptian 3rd? Army in a position where they could be annihilated, won the day for Israel. Israel dead numbered about 2,000, plus the loss of hundreds of good tanks and many planes, due to Soviet Anti-Aircraft missiles and guns.

If this guy was such a good spy, why did Israel suffer such heavy casualties, and were caught with their pants down (just because it was Yom Kippur, there was no reason not to be on high alert, esp. since they knew about the No. Vietnamese/Viet Cong surprise attack at Tet 1968 in Vietnam).

This story doesn’t sound right.

Well, yeah, I don’t think he was a good guy; I never heard of the sob. I was just telling what essentially happened. The Isralites held the Syrians off while they took pot shots at the Egyptians. Thanks to the US airlift (C5), the Isralites saved the day. Egypt, however, whose troops had been training for a takeback of the Suez Canal, in the end, after losing the war, won back their control of Suez.

Militarily, it ended in a stalemate...

Well, that's wrong. On the northern, Golan front, Israel took back everything, destroyed over 1000 Syrian tanks (actually, some were barely or slightly damaged, and recovered and converted to Israeli tanks with upgraded guns and other improvements; some of those conversions were performed before the end of the Yom Kippur war, and saw action), liberated their captured listening post on Mt Hermon, captured the Syrian listening post on the same height, and had the Arabs not finally simultaneously begged for a ceasefire, Syria would have been mauled even worse.

In the Sinai, Israel withdrew what tanks had survived the initial Egyptian assault (which was BTW tremendously well-planned and effective; FTM, so was the Syrian offensive) and innovated some new tactics to deal with the profusion of portable anti-tank crews.

Sadat used the war to kick out the USSR and align with the US; restore Arab pride after the past maulings and humiliation (and almost screwed that up) in order to make his historic trip to Jerusalem and subsequent treaty more palatable (and of course, the Islamicists Sadat himself had released from prison wound up murdering him in broad daylight); and reopen the Suez Canal.

The Israeli losses were terrible for such a small country, but the successful counterattack and invasion of Egypt proper, along with the newly innovated tactics, and new weapons systems airlifted from the US, and the virtual purge of the handful of idiots in Israeli intelligence who had paved the way for the early Arab success -- not to mention the treaty with Egypt -- led to a stronger Israeli army and airforce.

It is too bad that Israel didn't have a bit more time and resources to shatter Damascus with massive bombardment.

Israel should not have permitted Syrian troops to invade and occupy Lebanon a few years later; during the first Israeli incursion into Lebanon, Israel should not have permitted Arafat and his gang of cutthroats safe passage out of the country; also, Israel should have cleaned the Syrian infestation out at that time.

“and were caught with their pants down (just because it was Yom Kippur, there was no reason not to be on high alert, esp. since they knew about the No. Vietnamese/Viet Cong surprise attack at Tet 1968 in Vietnam).”

They were NOT caught unaware. This was a political decision by Golda Meir and Moshe Dayan to let Israel be attacked first and not be the aggressor even though they had intel that they were about to be attacked. In 1967 Israel struck first and the Arab narrative became that Israel started the war.

This incredibly stupid, PC decision almost did Israel in. And cost Golda Meir and Dayan their jobs and reputations. Kissinger had a role in this too urging the Israelis to hold off.

http://www.truepeace.org/yomkippur.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur_War

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