Israel and the Iraqi threat - Eitan Vazani / Israel
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.
First, let me introduce myself.
I was born in Israel almost 23 years ago, and lived here ever since.
While graduating high school I was attracted to the world of micro-
computers.  I bought a small computer (Tandy Color Computer compatible),
and started with BASIC.  Today, after 9 years of learning by myself, I am
a professional programmer and work for a software company.
Several months ago I decided to find out something about BBSing
outside Israel.  I picked several names & numbers randomly, and started
calling.  It seems that I was lucky - the Shadow BBS was the first BBS
I tried in the U.S.A., and the one which I liked the most.
I really enjoy this BBS, so I decided to this special contribution,
with the approval of the SysOp, of course.
.
Before discussing the situation now, I will make a short introduction.
For 2000 years Jews were spread all over the world.  In 1948, at the
end of a long struggle, and after the loss of 6 million Jews (a third
of the Jewish people), the state of Israel was established and declared.
Since then, Israel is in a constant state of war with the Arab nations.
.
The Iraqi problem has no direct connection to Israel or to Israel's
relationships with the Arabs.  Iraq resides about 300 miles away from
Israel, with Syria and Jordan in between.
.
The problem with Iraq started in the 70's, with the rise of their leader,
Saddam Houssain.  Saddam was born to a poor peasants family, and was
neglected by his parents.  He grew up and lived in the streets.  Thus he
became hard and cruel, as he had to fight each day in order to exist.
An old Israeli man, that was born in Iraq and escaped many years ago,
knew Saddam as a little boy.  He helped him every now and then, and Saddam
remembered that.  Years later, when Saddam was on his way to take over
Iraq, he helped that man get out of the Iraqi prison. (He was arrested
only for being a Jew, not a criminal).
Saddam always wanted power.  As a young man he was leading gangsters and
was known for his cruelty.  He was also known for his pistol, which he
carried all the time and used without hesitation.  Years later, he used
his pistol to shoot personally high officers of his own army, in front of
their friends or families (unbelievable but true!).  He became involved
with political groups.  First, because he was attracted to violent
groups, and after some time in prison, his political views started to
develop.  At some point he decided that he is going for the top.
He started to make his way into the system, and once inside, he used his
charisma and violence to clear the way up.  He finally succeeded.
.
Saddam invested Iraq's resources in the Army.  When he thought he has
a powerful army, he tried to conquer some territories from Iran, which
was in the first days of the Hayatholla Houmainy revolution.
He failed, and he was dragged into a long war in which he couldn't win.
His pride did not let him stop, and so Iraq lost hundreds of thousands
of its men, and completely ruined its economy.  Only about two years ago
the Iran-Iraq war came to an end.  Saddam found himself with a poor
country, huge debts, and desperate people.  He knew very well that if
he had let the people think quietly for some time, they were to rebel and
probably kill him because he had ruined their country.
Saddam's investment in military power included a lot of scientific
progress, and the development of non-conventional weapons and missiles.
He paid European and American companies for knowledge, scientist, trained
personnel and materials.  Although Israel warned many times, no
government paid any attention to Iraq's progress.  Usually, the Europeans
were happy with the money they got, and the U.S.A. did not interfere
in order to maintain "friendly" relationships.
(German companies stand out with their good will to serve Iraq.  Maybe
once again Jews will die of German gas).
Iraq also tried to develop an atomic ability, but Israel did a great
favor to the world, and bombed his nuclear labs (With endless criticism
about it from the American government and European countries. Ha!).
So, when Iraq came out of the war with Iran, the situation was this:
Poor country, defeated but experienced army, and smart leader.
Saddam continued to feed the people with false pride (and hard, cruel
government), but he knew that this cannot last for ever.
.
The solution was simple.  Once again he started his propaganda about the
greatness of the Iraqi people (=himself).  He announced himself to be
the follower of ancient kings, and prepared his people to "make justice
with the world, and claim what belongs to the Iraqi".  He did not hide
his intentions, and declared that parts of Kuwait used to belong to
Iraq, and that he himself was going to restore them.  Quietly, he
continued his progress in military research, and prepared his army for
another war.  The facts were there, but the world refused to see.
.
When Saddam felt powerful enough, he invaded Kuwait.
The invasion could solve all his problems.  He could have a good portion
of the world's oil production, in order to establish Iraq's economy, and
he could make the Iraqi people forget the disaster he brought before.
What happened since Saddam invaded Kuwait is well known, so I can skip
most of the details.  However, there is one thing to say about it.
A quick American response, attacking Iraq the day after the invasion,
could put an end to Saddam's terror.  Now we are facing a much more complex
problem, and no one can be sure as to its end.
.
Now, back to the Israeli point.  When Saddam realized that he is facing
an international coalition against him, including other Arab countries,
he started looking for a way out.  But he could not afford an escape, he
wanted to win something.  Then he thought of getting Israel into it.
He tried to compare the Israel/Palestinian problem with the Iraq/Kuwait
situation, in an attempt to turn attention to Israel.  When this did not
work, he threatened to drag Israel to a war with Iraq, with very bold
threats to use chemical weapons against Israel.   This is a "very good
thinking" on his side.  Arab countries will not oppose him in such a case,
thus breaking the international coalition against him, and Kuwait will be
forgotten until it is too late.  But Israel is far from being afraid.
.
Now, Israel is prepared to anything that might happen.  The people are
calm, cool, even making jokes about it all.  But, don't be mistaken,
Israeli people and army are well prepared.  Most of the time Israel is
busy with lots of problems, mostly within Israel (not with the Arabs).
Now, everything is put aside, and we are preparing for Iraqi attack.
Gas masks were given to most of the people (those who live in the south
of Israel, or those who live near Arab villages, did not get gas masks yet,
because they are less likely to be hit).
Instructions were given as to how to be protected during a gas attack.
Each family prepared one of its rooms, for case of gas attack.  The chosen
room was hermetically sealed with nylon sheets and adhesive tape over the
windows, with some extra ready for sealing the door if the time comes.
The gas masks were stored in this room with some bottled water and food,
a radio receiver, a telephone, etc.
We are all feeling pretty safe, with a slight tension.  We trust our army,
and especially our air-force.
The army is prepared of course.  Pilots are sitting 24 hours in their
fighter planes, and anti-aircraft artillery is waiting with hands ready
on the trigger.
It may seem strange to non-Israeli, but everything is normal.  No one
is making any special plans.  You must remember that Iraq has always
been our enemy, and we are not surprised by any of their moves, or by any
of their weapons.  More than 40 years of constant war, immunized us.
We even hope that there will be a war, because Saddam Houssain must be
killed, and Iraq's weapons must be destroyed.  For us, the worst can
happen if Saddam gives up now and get out of Kuwait.  This means that
he will continue to gain more power and develop atomic weapons.
During this time, Israel will be busy with its own problems, including
an increasing pressure from U.S.A. government about the Palestinian matter.
In 2-3 years Saddam will have the most deadly arsenal in the middle-east,
and then real troubles will start.  He will be able to take over several
oil-producing countries, and control most of the world's oil production.
And of course he will try to hit Israel, but with deadly power.
(Israel is so small, that 3 atomic bombs will be enough to wipe out
2-3 million people out 4.5!).
But if there is war now, the American army will simply terminate the
era of Saddam Houssain.  If he tries to attack Israel, we will not wait
and respond with power, and that will not leave him a chance.
.
By the time you read this, you may know if a war is going on or not.
Anyway, I hope this was interesting for you to read.  If there is war
and Israel is involved, I promise to write how it feels here.
I would like to have responses to what I wrote.  Please feel free even
to correct my English - it is very helpful to me.
Notice, that in order to explain today's situation, I had to give some
description of the past.  This description skips many important facts,
and I could hardly allow myself to make it that short.
What I would really like to do, is to explain in several articles the
history of the Jewish people and how it leads to Israel.  After that,
many things will seem different about Israel, and it will be possible
to understand the sometimes strange behavior of Israel.
Please tell me if you wish me to continue writing.
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Yours,
.
Eitan Vazani,
Tel-Aviv, Israel.


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