Ted Deutch Quotes
From the preemptive strike that destroyed Egypt's air force during the Six-Day War, to the daring raid on Entebbe, to using all available means to slow the Iranian nuclear program, Israelis have combined strength with ingenuity to keep the country's enemies at bay.
Deutch, Ted. Op-Ed. The Times of Israel, Times of Israel.
The Egyptians had received the latest Russian planes and weapons and outnumbered the Israeli Air Force 3 to 1. Within a year, the entire Egyptian Air Force was virtually destroyed. See {606125} for his equally unrealistic assessment of Egyptian air defenses.
Most Americans believed that only the President could authorize a nuclear strike. However, that was not so. This secret memorandum gave many military officers the right to strike if they thought it was an “emergency”. So for example, the Commanding general of the Strategic Air Command could order a nuclear attack if he thought that it was an emergency. The scenario of the film Dr. Strangelove was therefore much more plausible than most people assumed. Individual general officers had a such authority and they could have a mental breakdown or a hyperaggressive personality and philosophy. It is not know how long this non-Presidential nuclear use authority lasted or was expanded or what the secret current status might be.
Chamberlain’s military assessment of Russia’s military ability was yet another example of his faulty judgment. He was not alone however in that many British military experts and American as well, thought that Stalin and Russia could not hold out against Hitler and any military aid given to Russia would just fall into German hands. It was FDR assistant Harry Hopkins who went to Russia, toured the front, met with Stalin and other Russian leaders and observed the Russian people and then recommended to FDR that we send arms to Russia. It was a critical judgment. In the end, the Germans suffered more casualties on their Russian front than any other part of the war and it was the Russians who took Berlin though they suffered large casualties themselves.
At the time Iran was claiming that its nuclear program was for atomic energy only.
This was written when the United States was not a dominant military power. At the beginning of the 20th century, the U. S. had the same size military as Argentina. It was France, German, Turkey and England who had the military superiority and it was they who tended to find excuses for war. After WWII, the U. S. was dominant and was involved with a number of wars and military incursions, often with nations that had not attacked the U.S. Korns’ principle was most dramatic when the George W. Bush administration invaded Iraq on the excuse that the Iraqis were developing weapons of mass destructions and then might attack the United States. After the successful invasion, the excuse was shown to be hollow as there were no signs of sophisticated weapons development.
Israel started it nuclear weapons program under Perez’s leadership. They do not admit that it is even in existence. Yet all their potential enemies in the Middle East realize that they have enough nuclear weapons capacity that if they are in danger of being overrun, they can literally destroy the attacking nation and all the countries that might be assisting that nation. Before Israel had developed this capability, some in the Middle East had as their objective to destroy the state of Israel and “drive the Jews into the sea”. No one believes that it is now possible to militarily defeat Israel without the attacking nations also being destroyed. For years, Israel has had the military might to conquer any nation in the Middle East and use their nuclear shield to protect them from any interference, but they have not done so demonstrating that the Israeli governments will not use nuclear weapons for any other purpose.
He was exactly right. See {642079} for a perfect example of this prediction.
Theodore Eliot Deutch is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Florida's 22nd congressional district since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he first entered Congress in 2010 after a special election following the resignation of Robert Wexler. Deutch represented Florida's 19th congressional district until 2013 and Florida's 21st congressional district from 2013 to 2017.
