“Thanks to the lobbying of Prince Bandar [of Saudi Arabia] and the support of Vice President George H.W. Bush, the U.S. Senate narrowly approves the $5.5-billion sale of AWACS aircraft to Saudi Arabia on October 28 [1981]. It is the birth of a policy that eventually sends approximately $200 billion in U.S. weapons to Saudi […]
10/15/1981
“In October 1981, fundamentalists assassinated President Anwar Sadat of Egypt because of his support for Israel and the United States.” [The 15th of the month for date sorting purpose only] – Andrew Langley, Bush, Blair, and Iraq :Days of Decision, Page 13 […]
10/6/1981
“The defining moment in [militant Islamist] Ayman al-Zawahiri’s life occurred on October 6, 1981, with the assassination of [Egyptian President] Anwar Sadat. …It transformed him from an agitator and critic of the Egyptian government to a spokesman for revolutionary violence, even if it meant the murder of a head of state.” – Bruce Riedel, The […]
10/6/1981
Egyptian President Anwar “Sadat’s death [on October 6, 1981] marked the beginning of the modern jihadist challenge to U.S. interests in the Islamic world and the birth of the ideology that would generate al Qaeda. Sadat’s assassination was the work of Egyptians violently opposed to his peace treaty with Israel.” – Bruce Riedel, The Search […]
10/6/1981
On October 6, 1981, Egyptian President Anwar “Sadat had been celebrating the eighth anniversary of the 1973 war [against Israel]… Sadat was saluting the passing troops when a military vehicle veered toward the reviewing stand. Lieutenant Islambouli and three other conspirators leaped out and tossed grenades into the stand. ‘I have killed the Pharaoh!’ Islambouli […]
10/6/1981
Sheik Omar “Abdel-Rahman had been little known to most of his countrymen before [Egyptian President Anwar] Sadat was torn apart by machine-gun fire during an October 6 [1981] military parade. But several days after the assassination, the blind and bearded 43-year-old preacher had been hauled off in a tank and publicly accused of issuing the […]
6/19/1981
Following Israel’s bombing of the Osirak nuclear reactor in June 7, 1981, “The United States…joined in the [UN Security Council] vote condemning Israel. Ambassador Jean Kirkpatrick explained the U.S. vote [on June 19, 1981] by saying that ‘Israel failed to exhaust peaceful means for the resolution of this dispute.’ At the same time, Kirkpatrick’s long […]
6/19/1981
Following Israel’s bombing of the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq on June 7, 1981, “Israel was condemned by the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency], and in a resolution unanimously adopted on June 19, 1981, the [UN] Security Council described the action as ‘a serious threat to the entire [Non-Proliferation Treaty] safeguards system.’ “ – Hans […]
6/8/1981
“On June 8, 1981, the Israeli Air Force used American-made F-15 and F-16 fighter planes to launch preemptive strikes on the Osirak nuclear reactor outside Baghdad, Iraq. Israel had gathered intelligence indicating that the Iraqis were using secret underground bunkers attached to the facility to build nuclear bombs, weapons it was certain were meant for […]
6/7/1981
“Had Israel not destroyed the [Osirak nuclear] reactor [in Iraq on June 7, 1981], Saddam would have had a nuclear capability well before the Gulf War–a fact recognized by, among others, Vice President Dick Cheney, who thanked Israel in the aftermath of that war, and today hails the strikes as a template for American action.” […]