re: GMT

We caught a ton of rain from Helene, wish some had gotten to you.

We should send a water pipeline your way we have plenty.

Morning all

Good morning

quote:

---

Israel is taken by surprise when Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Jordan attack on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, beginning the Yom Kippur War.

---

The world dodged a bullet because that war almost got a helluva lot bigger.

Everyone thinks Israel has this massive army, and for their size they kinda do. Kinda. They've got a small professional core and they rotate conscripts in. If you are young and healthy (not an Orthodox Jew, which is big reason why most Israelis despise the Orthodox Jews) you go into the military. Male or female, you are going to do your time. Hence Gal Gadot having been a former fitness/marksmanship instructor in the IAFD.

Unfortunately the Israelis got in the habit of letting large chunks of their conscripts go home for the holidays. They trusted that they would detect any attack in plenty of time to recall them... but as recent events have shown... when the Israelis get caught with their britches down, they really get caught.

The Egyptians had the perfect plan to fight the armor heavy IAFD, and it was pretty much the same plan Rommel was fond of using in North Africa during WWII. Draw an enemy armored attack into prepared anti-tank defenses. Meanwhile the Syrians just went with a mass tank attack and that was worrisome because the Syrians had fairly modern tanks... the Israelis were mostly relying on up gunned Sherman tanks in that area. Yes, the Sherman tank from World War II.

Israel was in all sorts of trouble and it got worse. Nixon and Kissinger made the decision to hold up ammunition supplies, under the assumption that the Israelis would be more pliable if they took massive losses in battle. It took them a couple of days to realize that "oh shite, they could lose and get wiped out." The Soviet Union was flooding the area with resupply missions and there were confirmed reports of "advisors" operating with Arab units.

While no one in the Israeli government ever admitted this, it is widely known that the Israelis were in the process of activating their nuclear arsenal with the plan being to bomb leading elements of the Egyptian and Syrian army, then, if that didn't work, destroying the Arab capitals and major cities. And it would have wound up with the capitals getting bombed because a modern armored division is a piss poor target for a nuke, its too spread out to really get a lot of targets in the kill zone.

The Soviets would have been forced to respond, and, in turn, the United States would have had to respond to that. Let us just say there was a high "pucker" factor at the time. And then the world got some breathing room.

A small, and I do mean small, unit of Israeli tanks, deployed in a natural choke point, absolutely mauled the leading elements of the major Syrian armored division. The entire advance into the Golan Heights was stopped in its tracks while the Syrians brought in reinforcements. Which also allowed the Israelis to get their reservists into action. In turn the Israelis had time to adapt in the Sinai and instead of attacking Egyptian positions they forced Egypt to come out and fight them. Which was not the Egyptians strong point.

So, but for one hideously outnumbered tank unit, the world could have toppled into a nuclear exchange between the Superpowers.

Happy Sunday All. Congrats on the win Hogs.

Today in History: October 7

3761 BC
The epoch (origin) of the modern Hebrew calendar (Proleptic Julian calendar)

1571
In the last great clash of galleys, the Ottoman navy is defeated at Lepanto, Greece, by a Christian naval coalition under the overall command of Spain's Don Juan de Austria.

1765
Delegates from nine of the American colonies meet in New York to discuss the Stamp Act Crisis and colonial response to it.

1849
Edgar Allan Poe, aged 40, dies a tragic death in Baltimore. Never able to overcome his drinking habits, he was found in a delirious condition outside a saloon that was used as a voting place.

1913
In attempting to find ways to lower the cost of the automobile and make it more affordable to ordinary Americans, Henry Ford took note of the work of efficiency experts like Frederick Taylor, the "father of scientific management." The result was the assembly line that reduced the time it took to manufacture a car, from 12 hours to 93 minutes.

1944
Prisoner uprising at Birkenau concentration camp.

1993
The Great Flood of 1993 on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers ends, the worst US flood since 1927.

1996
Fox News Channel begins broadcasting.

2001
US invasion of Afghanistan in reaction to the terrorist attacks of 9/11 begins; it will become the longest war in US history.

2003
California voters remove Democratic governor Gray Davis from office in the state's first successful recall of a sitting governor (only the second successful recall of a governor in US history); a Republican candidate, bodybuilder/actor Arnold Schwarzenegger wins the election to replace Davis 17 days later.

2023
Hamas launches a major air and ground attack on Israel from Gaza, killing over a thousand people and taking hundreds of hostages, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare "We are at war"

Today in History: Born on October 7

1935
Thomas Keneally, novelist, author of Schindler's Ark, the basis for the film Schindler's List.

1952
Vladimir Putin, former prime minister and current (2013) president of Russia.

1955
Yo Yo Ma, cellist.

JOTD
There are two kinds of people in this world...



Avoid both of them.

We all lose to Vandy







Oh wait, we play Vandy next week.