(New York Times) Nicholas D. Kristof - In June 1981 there was broad agreement among sensible people that Israel's destruction of the Osirak nuclear reactor near Baghdad in a pre-emptive strike was outrageous. Britain denounced it as "a grave breach of international law." A New York Times editorial began: "Israel's sneak attack on a French-built nuclear reactor near Baghdad was an act of inexcusable and short-sighted aggression." In retrospect, the condemnations were completely wrong. The lesson of Osirak is that in extreme cases it is justifiable for a country to make a pre-emptive pinpoint strike to prevent an unpredictable enemy from gaining weapons of mass destruction that would be used against it.
2002-11-15 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive