The June 1981 Israeli air strike against the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq completely surprised the US Department of Defense. Files released Thursday by Britain’s National Archives showed that both the US and Britain had now foreknowledge when Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin ordered the attack to prevent Saddam Hussein from building a nuclear weapon. Britain's ambassador to Washington, Sir Nicholas Henderson, was with US Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger when news of the attack arrived. He cabled …More