United States during his career, which qualified him for higher pay and the attendant prestige. However, he seemed unaffected by his elevated status, remaining wholly mission-oriented. He was, Bennett thought, a true warrior.
'Gentlemen,' Maila began in British-accented English, 'I am here to answer some of the questions you must be asking. And I want to set a brief picture of what you may expect in the coming days.
'As you know, His Majesty has made good his commitment to see Jordan returned to its rightful owners and to the Arab alliance goal of securing the West Bank for permanent Palestinian settlement. By stating these limited goals at the beginning of hostilities, we hope to ease global concern and strengthen our case.
'The Saudi government does not seek the destruction of Israel. It has been made plain that our armed forces will not participate in activities aimed at occupying Israeli soil, and that was a precondition of His Majesty's commitment to the alliance. Under these carefully defined circumstances, our goal is beyond question.'
Turning to the map behind him, the general said, 'The Egyptians are moving armored and mechanized infantry forces eastward in the Sinai. At present this is to force the Israelis to commit troops to defend this front, thus preventing their employment elsewhere.
'We have a similar role here in Arabia. The difference is, we shall use our air arm to accomplish the same purpose. Colonel Bennett and his staff devised a contingency plan long ago, when the F-20 force was being organized. Colonel, please proceed.'
Bennett walked to the front of the room. Without consulting the notes in his pocket, he began his presentation. It had been imprinted in his mind for three years.
'Many of you have heard us discuss portions of what we call the fadeaway plan. It is based upon two principles: goading the opposition and economy of force.
''The Israelis have run recon flights over several of our forward fields, and they attacked four of them, as you well know. Two bases were badly damaged but now are back to a limited operational status. The timing of the raids indicated that the Israelis were confident that hostilities would very soon occur. They didn't want to have to deal with their southern flank at the same time as the main threat out of Syria and Lebanon.
'So the object is to give them a reason to come after us. Just running counter-air operations against our northern fields is well within their current capacity, and all we would accomplish is about a one-to-one exchange rate. That means attrition warfare, grinding them down a bit at a time. It could work over a prolonged period- assuming they had little or no resupply. But to accomplish
Bennett moistened his lips. He was coming to the crucial part of his plan. ''The Syrian Air Force, and to a lesser extent the Iraqis, are involved in supporting their ground forces. Riyadh indicates that the Egyptians will conduct offensive sweeps over Sinai, requiring Israeli attention on their western flank. This leaves us to play the main role in drawing the bulk of their air force into battle-on our terms.
'A bit of philosophy, gentlemen. I believe that the air weapon is the most fragile of all. Tiger Force is a prime example. It's taken us nearly four years to bring the F-20 squadrons to their current combat-ready status, and we've done it faster than anybody else ever has. It's been a combination of streamlined training, rigid pilot selection, and a relatively inexpensive, easily maintained aircraft. But even the few losses we've sustained have not been replaced in kind.
'The same applies to the Israelis. They cannot put an equally competent, experienced pilot in the next available cockpit after losing one of their first-line aviators. Thus, the experience level is degraded with each loss.
'If we can force the Israelis to come out and fight us over our own territory, we gain a double advantage. We're fighting close to our bases, and we keep anybody who ejects. The Israelis will lose not only their KIAs, but most of those who bailout.'
Bennett thought back to the long-ago War College class and the treatise he had written-the paper which had brought him to the attention of Safad Fatah.
Looking around the room, Bennett was confident his air arm could do the job. He saw Ahnas Menaf, skipper of Green Squadron, stylishly sporting a green scarf. He noted Rajid Hamir had sent his exec, preferring to remain with Orange Squadron. The acts were typical of each young Saudi. Ahnas leading from the most visible position, confident and assured; Rajid accomplishing the same results in the opposite manner.
Bennett briefly thought of Ed Lawrence, moving tonight with Black Squadron to a second-line base for two days.
The U.S. Air Force Boeing E-3 made a gentle turn, taking a heading west-northwest toward its base on Crete. The huge radar disk mounted atop the fuselage, capable of detecting targets almost 500 miles away, was secured, its mission completed. The vast array of monitors remained in operation, however, to detect electronic emissions of any kind.
Previously the U. S. Air Force had kept the sophisticated airborne warning and control systems aircraft in Saudi Arabia. In fact, it had been a political sore point for two U.S. administrations, since the Israeli lobby protested loudly. But with Arabia's declaration of war on Israel, in support of regaining Jordan and the West Bank, it was not feasible to keep the AWACS planes in Arabia.
Normally, constant monitoring flights were made by the converted Boeing 707s, collecting valuable intelligence from almost every nation in the region. But this October evening six fast, low-flying jets temporarily went undetected by any radar. Their mission plan had taken into consideration the E-3's routine schedule, noted several days before.
The Six British-built Panavia Tornadoes, each bearing the green and white cockade insignia of Arabia, penetrated Israeli airspace from three directions. Flying at low level, in the dark, their navigation had to be precise if the plan was to succeed. And it very nearly did.
Mission planners had timed each two-plane section's approach to coincide exactly for weapons release: one section from seaward into Tel Aviv, two more from east and northeast over Jerusalem. But the wide-ranging western section had missed a turning point by fifty seconds and was late popping up to identify its target.
The nature of the three targets could not be ignored in Tel Aviv.
In less than three hours the picture was clear to the Israeli leadership, and orders were hastily transmitted to air force headquarters:
Destroy Saudi bases earliest time possible. Highest priority. Prepare contingency plan for air raids on Mecca and Riyadh.
Avrim Ran stepped down from the rostrum amid a scattered chorus of shouts and catcalls. The Israeli ambassador to the United Nations had cut short his prepared speech to the General Assembly, for clearly the mood of the international body was against him. His face flushed, fists clenched, he crumpled his text, stared straight ahead, and walked from the hall.
Ran had intended to cite the Arab assault upon occupied Jordan when he prepared his speech the day before. But the news from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem during the night had changed the complexion of his address.
Avrim Ran went straight to his office, locked the door, and sat by himself. He felt humiliated, embarrassed, and angry. But most of all, he imagined the grim smile he knew must cross his younger brother's face. David Ran had never believed in the power of diplomacy. Avrim had set his life and his career to the pursuit of peace through negotiation. Now, it appeared David had been proven right. Only military force could retrieve the situation. The thought galled the ambassador.
Pulling the telex from his file once more, Ran reread the starkly objective report which still was less than twelve hours old. The Wailing Wall destroyed and the Knesset damaged. How were such things possible?
Despite the emotions seething within him, Ran knew that the Arab outrage was calculated in its objective. The television news early this morning contained vivid images: the crumbled stones of the Wailing Wall open to Israeli cameramen anxious to show the world what the Jewish State now faced. No scenes were permitted of the
