Thanks for your kind offer, Mirage. Much appreciated.Mirage F1 كتب:Dear Mr.Tom Cooper I Rely enjoy when I read your book but my father who was one of iraqi airforce high rank shocked when he read it because many of information excuse me for that are not correct
Iraqi Pilots approve them self as a heroes by shout down F-14 by mig-21 and achieve air superiority over battle field . so i will very happy if you need any information about iraqi air force
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أخي العزيز حيدر وضع الغرب هالة كبيرة بخصوص الـf-14 و صارروخ الفونيكس في احد الأشتباكات الجوية بين العتيدة الـMig-21 و التومكات استطاع الطيار الأيرانية من الاقفال عن بعد على الميك 21 متجنباً القتال القريب و اطلاق صاروخ الفونيكس الغريب في المسألة ان الصاروخ اصطدم بالميك وحطم اجزاء من الدفة و لم ينفجر و استطاع الطيار العراقي من العودة الى القاعدة بسلامة من دون ان يصدق
اخي العزيز سياسة كذب كذب حتى تصدق نفسك سياسة اتبعها الغرب للترويج عن اسلحتهم و اتبعها الكثير ممن كانوا يشترون هذه الأسلحة لهذا اقنع القادة الأيرانيون طياريهم بالتطور التقني الكبير لطائرات التومكات وهي ستكون الحصان الفائز في اي منازلة حتى استطاعت الميك21 من اسقاط التومكات بعد منازلة جوية استمرت بحدود العشريين دقيقة وذلك لان قابلية الدوران للتومكات اسرع و اكبر بفضل جناحاها المتحركان لكن الطيار العراقي و مسيطر المقاتلات البطلان ضلا يحاولان حتى يأس الطيار الأيراني من الدوران معطيأ الفرصة للميك من ان تسقطه و تسقط معها اسطورة الـF-14
I do not know what book you or your father might have read (sorry, but you're not mentioning the title), so can't say what displeased your father so much. As mentioned above, my co-authors and me always report the information that is made available to us. We do so without any prejudice, predilection or favourising, in decent, honourable and honest fashion. The aim of our research is to compile and present the information as it was seen by our sources and explained by them, not as anybody - regardless if in the West or anywhere else - might want to see it. So, if there is anything like "policy" of ours, this policy is not that of "lie" or "favourising Western weapons", but the one of explaining the story as experienced and as recalled by the people who were there, or as recorded in relevant documentation.
Let me offer you one example: I have only recently completed the work on the Volume 2 of the book-series "Arab MiGs", which is to be published in October this year. This book series is aiming at reconstructing the history of such Arab air forces like the Algerian, Egyptian, Iraqi, Syrian etc., which are next to unknown in the public outside their own countries (you can have a "sneak-preview" at the Volume 1 of this series here). This is a topic grossly neglected not only "at home", i.e. in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq etc, but outright ignored in the West. If you think there is a "policy" or intention to "lie" about Arab air forces in the West, then somebody has to explain me how comes that 99% of publishers in the West do not even want to publish books on Arab air forces? On the contrary, we had to establish our own publisher for this project.
Preparations for this project are going on since something like 25 years, in the course of which we interviewed - between others - the late Air Marshal Tahir Zaki (EAF), the late Air Marshal Mustafa Shalabi el-Hinnawy (EAF), Air Marshal Alaa el-Din Barakat (EAF ret.), Lieutenant-General Arif Abd ar-Razzaq (IrAF ret.), Air Marshal Badr Domair (EAF, ret.), Air Vice Marshal Mohammad Okasha (EAF ret.), Air Vice Marshal Mamdouh Taliba (EAF ret.), Brigadier-General Ahmad Sadik (IrAF ret.), Air Commodore Farouk el-Ghazzawy (EAF, ret.), the late Air Commodore Mustafa Hafez (EAF), Air Commodore Fikry al-Gindy (EAF ret.), Air Commodore Fuad Kamal (EAF ret.), Air Commodore Gabr Ali Gabr (EAF ret.), Air Commodore Abdel Moneim el-Tawil (EAF ret.), Group Captain Kapil Bhargava (Indian AF ret.), Group Captain Saif-ul-Azam (Pakistani- then Bangladesh AF, ret.), Wing Commander Kamal Zaki (EAF ret.), Wing Commander Talaat Louca (EAF ret.), Wing Commander Usama Sidqi (EAF ret.), etc., etc., etc. - including a number of people we can't mention in the public (particularly so in the case of Syrians).
We have got extensive and endlessly-kind help from nearly countless family-members, particularly so from Egypt, who kindly provided so many materials (pilot log-books, photographs, various recollections etc.) from their family-archives. We've had widows, sons, even grand-sons digging for hours and days through boxes with "papers" left behind by their loved ones, in order to help - particularly so in cases of so many completely forgotten pilots and officers.
The provided materials are "installed" into our publications - as far as possible - on "1:1" basis. That means: we practically copy-paste them into the manuscript, with an absolute minimum of editing, nearly as "raw" as they were supplied. Indeed, because some of provided materials are as extensive as not to fit into such books, we're going to publish them separately, in form of separate articles, later on (here another example: what should one do with the story of an Egyptian pilot who flew 8,650 hours on fast jets - from Meteors and Vampires, via MiG-15s, MiG-17s, Su-7s, Mirages etc. - in five wars? His story alone actually belongs into a separate book!).
Sadly, there is also a "negative" side of this. I.e. there are plenty of cases where people express their support for our project, even promise they're going to send this or that, and then not only fail to do so, but also ignore our attempts to re-establish communication. For example, during a recent conference in the USA, I contacted three different ex-IrAF Generals, and at least one of them "promised" we're going to meet again, to talk, to exchange e-mails etc. Eventually, nothing happened at all: he replied to my first e-mail only and then disappeared like a submarine. We located another former IrAF General in Egypt, and asked him for help. However, the same happened there again. And so forth..
(BTW, something similar can be said about a number of bookshop-owners from the Arab world, nearly everywhere, from Cairo, via Riyadh and Baghdad to Sharjah. At first they are optimistic, they like our books, they "promise" (one even swore) they're going to bring our books and thus make them easily available for the Arab people to read. But then they disappear and when contacted (per e-mail, for example), they do not even react.)
Actually, if it was not for one of the administrators of this forum, who shared so much from his private archive, and offered so much help in such a kind and patient fashion, the coverage of the Iraqi AF would be practically impossible. I feel indepted to him for the rest of my life.
So, in summary, I can't prevent you or your father from thinking there is some kind of "negative policy" behind our publications. But, I have no bad conscience, since I know how hard and how sincerely we're approaching our "duty" in this case. Thus, in your place, I would try to have a closer look at the circumstances under which they came into being.
If anybody wants to help us reconstruct the history of any Arab air force - in a fair, respectful, competent and decent fashion - please, feel free to contact me. Do so in the way you prefer: "in public", directly here on this forum, or per "private message" function, or via ACIG.org forum. Once you reached me, I can provide my e-mail address, that's no problem either. Any help is most welcome and much appreciated and everybody doing so can be sure his/her materials are going to be put to good use, and used in fashion that will make them proud.