The 2006 Hezbollah-Israeli War (catch all)

[Tom Odom]

From Israeli Dissident Yitzhak Laor:

The truth behind this is that Israel must always be allowed to do as it likes even if this involves scorching its supremacy into Arab bodies. This supremacy is beyond discussion and it is simple to the point of madness. We have the right to abduct. You don’t. We have the right to arrest. You don’t. You are terrorists. We are virtuous. We have sovereignty. You don’t. We can ruin you. You cannot ruin us, even when you retaliate, because we are tied to the most powerful nation on earth. We are angels of death.

The Lebanese will not remember everything about this war. How many atrocities can a person keep in mind, how much helplessness can he or she admit, how many massacres can people tell their children about, how many terrorised escapes from burning houses, without becoming a slave to memory? Should a child keep a leaflet written by the IDF in Arabic, in which he is told to leave his home before it’s bombed? I cannot urge my Lebanese friends to remember the crimes my state and its army have committed in Lebanon.

See: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n16/laor01_.html

Before anyone (everyone) howls for my stoning, let me say 2 things.

A. Laor is a dissident and as such he will state (overstate) his arguments to achieve his goals. I don't agree with his overstatements on the IDF; members of the IDF have on occasion stood against certain actions. As for a semi-miltaristic culture inside Israel, that is--for many reasons both regional and imported--quite a reality.

B. But look at it as a glimpse inside internal Israeli angst over Lebanon and the situation as a whole.

Best
Tom

[Uboat509]

I keep seeing this same thing over and over. The IDF wasn't "allowed" to destroy Hizbullah but no one ever seems to have an answer as to how you destroy an insurgency by pure force of arms. The IDF wanted to move forward and take some more villages and clear out the bad guys. Then what? As we have proven in Iraq you can clear all the bad guys out of a village but if you don't A) occupy it and/or B) win the hearts and minds of the local populace then the bad guys will be back as soon as you leave. Israel clearly wants no part of another occupation of Lebenon and maybe I am a cynic but I just don't see them trying to win the hearts and minds of the local populace either, not that they could anyway. I think the military was stuck, they had to do something to stop the rockets of course but I think that destroy Hizbullah, however attractive, was an unreasonable goal. How far did they expect to go? Beruit? Demascus? Teheran?
It seems to me that the main purpose of this ground war was to stop the rockets unitl another solution could be found. Anything past that is just wasted resources taking ground that you don't intend to hold. Denied victory? The rockets have been stopped, a buffer zone has been created, the Lebonese Army has been forced to occupy southern Lebenon and the defense of Israel's border with Lebenon will be undertaken by a force which Israel will not have to pay for (not fully at least, perhaps they will have to contribute some funding, I don't know). It may not be VJ Day but it's a far cry from a loss.

SFC W

[Bill Moore]

I concur with Uboat and would add that Clausewitz's argument that war is an extension of politics is clearly beyond the comprehension of the Israeli officers lamenting to the press about how the politicians prevented their victory. First, a military victory was not possible, the best that could be hoped for was too pressure all sides into a political agreement (you could argue that was achieved, even if it is temporary, with the UN cease fire agreement). Second, a number of other articles clearly indicated that the Israeli Army wasn't prepared for a major battle due to equipment and other logistical shortfalls, and training shortfalls. There is wisdom in Tom's reply above, and unless Israel comes up with a feasible political strategy (much easier said than done), then a military victory will remain elusive.