Today in military history: Yom Kippur War begins
On Oct. 6, 1973, the Yom Kippur War began as Egyptian and Syrian forces attacked Israel on the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Six years earlier, during the Six-Day…
How Israeli armor embarrassed the Arab allies in the Yom Kippur War
In 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 6, 1973 with the goals of recovering the Sinai Peninsula for Egypt and the Golan Heights for…
Shia hits the fan: Understanding Iran’s role in the Middle East
The Islamic Republic of Iran was America’s original nemesis in the Middle East before Saddam’s Iraq stole the spotlight from 1990-2003. (Saddam and the Iranians, by the way, fought a bloody 8-year war against each other in the 1980s.) A casual obs…