wdm@ecn-pc.UUCP (William D Michael) (10/17/85)
> > 2) Israeli war-jets, with the active assistance of the US (in flight > > refueling in the air) raid a palestininan camp in the suburbs of > > Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, killing 20 tunisians and 40 > > palestinians. > > > Israeli raid on Tunis, by refueling israeli war jets. > Refering to a newspaper article written by a french > military analyst and published in the french newspaper "Le Monde" > (The equivalent of the Washington Post in France) the day after the > raid. > In that article, the author asserts that Israel has indeed refueling > capabilities consisting of 3 air tankers. The raid on Tunis has > been carried out by an escadron of 8 jets. The analyst shows then, > that it is mathematically impossible for those 3 tankers to refuel > the escadron of 8 jets, given the distance, the speed and the tank > capacity of the jets and the refueling tankers. > After eliminating the possibility of Egypt, Italy, Turkey Greece or > France aiding the israeli air force in its mission, he concludes > that the US helped refueling the israeli war jets . This is the kind of "proof" that makes me laugh. Le Monde is a fine newspaper but leans to the left and likes nothing more than to poke at the current Administration. A case in point: After Reagan tested the microphones by announcing that the bombing of Russia was going to start in five minutes (remember that?), Le Monde covered it for days, milking it for all it was worth (and then some). One of my favorites was an article that quoted a psychiatrist as saying that Reagan's statements indicated that he wanted to fight a nuclear war. I am sure that the phychiatrist meant well; I am also sure he was mistaken. My point, then, is this: Articles like the one quoted above are based on very little evidence. Do you really think that magazines like News- week or Time wouldn't cover this angle if there were real proof? Of course they would. Why would they cover it? It sells - the same reason Le Monde covered it. Maybe the Israeli jets were refueled by US tankers, I don't know. And, until real evidence is presented, I will assume that they didn't.
ray@rochester.UUCP (Ray Frank) (10/20/85)
> > > 2) Israeli war-jets, with the active assistance of the US (in flight > > > refueling in the air) raid a palestininan camp in the suburbs of > > > Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, killing 20 tunisians and 40 > > > palestinians. > > > > > Israeli raid on Tunis, by refueling israeli war jets. > > Refering to a newspaper article written by a french > > military analyst and published in the french newspaper "Le Monde" > > (The equivalent of the Washington Post in France) the day after the > > raid. > > In that article, the author asserts that Israel has indeed refueling > > capabilities consisting of 3 air tankers. The raid on Tunis has > > been carried out by an escadron of 8 jets. The analyst shows then, > > that it is mathematically impossible for those 3 tankers to refuel > > the escadron of 8 jets, given the distance, the speed and the tank > > capacity of the jets and the refueling tankers. > > After eliminating the possibility of Egypt, Italy, Turkey Greece or > > France aiding the israeli air force in its mission, he concludes > > that the US helped refueling the israeli war jets . > It would appear that France's counterpart to the US's National Enquirer is the Le Monde. Sensational headlines sell, even at the expense of responsible journalism. In general, being what France's attitude is toward America, I usually dismiss as bias and poor sportsman like conduct these sensationalist revenue generating headlines. They deserve a 15 yard penalty, or better yet they deserve Jack Anderson in their newsroom.