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The Mubarak Legend
(UPI) Arnaud de Borchgrave - Hosni Mubarak was appointed vice president of Egypt by his friend and mentor President Anwar Sadat in 1975. As chief of staff of the Egyptian air force during the 1969-1971 War of Attrition, Mubarak's Soviet advisers informed him they had detected a gap in the Israeli radar screen around the Sinai Peninsula. They told him this was a golden opportunity to fly through the gap and drop a few bombs on Israeli-occupied Sharm el-Sheik. A skeptical Mubarak declined the invitation. Five Soviet pilots climbed into Egypt's MIG-21s and were ordered through the radar gap to bomb Sharm el-Sheik. Israeli fighters were waiting for them. Four of the Russian-piloted Egyptian aircraft were shot down and a Russian general was recalled to Moscow.