Nbadan
07-20-2006, 11:51 PM
With a state of emergency prevailing in northern Israel and no news of the two Israeli soldiers snatched by Hizbullah on July 12 - the incident that sparked the war - some Israelis are beginning to doubt the effectiveness of an offensive that has failed to stop Hizbullah's fire or push its fighters back from the border. Ground troops are battling guerrillas as warplanes and navy gunboats pound Hizbullah positions and Lebanese infrastructure - and the UN has warned of impending "catastrophe" from the relentless assault.
In Lebanon, more than 325 civilians have been killed, 1,000 civilians wounded and over 500,000 displaced. Israel's dead counted 29, about half of them soldiers, until Thursday, when nine Israeli soldiers were reported killed in a Hizbullah ambush while advancing into Lebanon.
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"It is undeniable that Israel is in a bind. The army has again been over-confident and underestimated its abilities to break Hizbullah," said Israeli military analyst Reuven Pedatzur.
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Israel's Haaretz daily wrote Thursday: "Despite the media euphoria and the patriotic spin, the aerial war ... is not heading for victory. In the best case, it is heading for a limited military achievement ... The air force's hammer blows are hitting Lebanon harder than they are hitting Hizbullah ... Even in the best-case scenario, Hizbullah will rise from the rubble ... One way or the other, the illusion of a magic solution is about to burst."
Daily Star (http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=74138)
One main reason many people like Manny are doubting the effectiveness for the Israelis in these latest round of skirmishes is because Israel is weary about reoccuppying parts of Lebanon to root out Hezbollah, here's why...
Lesson 5: Contrary to initial Government expectations, Operation Peace for Galilee was neither of short duration nor low cost. The Israeli Cabinet authorized a limited incursion into Lebanon which was suppose to last just three days and produce few casualties. What it got was three months of fighting and a long-running, large-scale occupation. During the three months of fighting and the following year of occupation, the IDF suffered 3,316 casualties. While not large in absolute terms, these losses were staggering for a small country like Israel which was inordinately sensitive to casualty rates. Indeed, if one were to adjust these casualty figures to make them demographically equivalent to the United States, they would have equated to the U.S. taking 195,840 casualties for the same period. A large portion of the Israeli losses came from urban operations; e.g., Israeli casualties for the siege of Beirut equaled or were greater than those taken against the PLO in the entire war in the South. Indeed, losses in besieging Beirut cost the IDF almost 24% of its dead and 32% of its wounded for the entire war.
Geocities (http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6453/pfg.html)
Israel no longer seems to have the fortitude to reoccupy Lebanon, but the UN will not continue to let Israeli troops occupy at 25-mile buffer zone. If Hezbollah really does have longer-range missiles, then all bets are off the table. Israel could attack Iran or Syria.
In Lebanon, more than 325 civilians have been killed, 1,000 civilians wounded and over 500,000 displaced. Israel's dead counted 29, about half of them soldiers, until Thursday, when nine Israeli soldiers were reported killed in a Hizbullah ambush while advancing into Lebanon.
---
"It is undeniable that Israel is in a bind. The army has again been over-confident and underestimated its abilities to break Hizbullah," said Israeli military analyst Reuven Pedatzur.
---
Israel's Haaretz daily wrote Thursday: "Despite the media euphoria and the patriotic spin, the aerial war ... is not heading for victory. In the best case, it is heading for a limited military achievement ... The air force's hammer blows are hitting Lebanon harder than they are hitting Hizbullah ... Even in the best-case scenario, Hizbullah will rise from the rubble ... One way or the other, the illusion of a magic solution is about to burst."
Daily Star (http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=74138)
One main reason many people like Manny are doubting the effectiveness for the Israelis in these latest round of skirmishes is because Israel is weary about reoccuppying parts of Lebanon to root out Hezbollah, here's why...
Lesson 5: Contrary to initial Government expectations, Operation Peace for Galilee was neither of short duration nor low cost. The Israeli Cabinet authorized a limited incursion into Lebanon which was suppose to last just three days and produce few casualties. What it got was three months of fighting and a long-running, large-scale occupation. During the three months of fighting and the following year of occupation, the IDF suffered 3,316 casualties. While not large in absolute terms, these losses were staggering for a small country like Israel which was inordinately sensitive to casualty rates. Indeed, if one were to adjust these casualty figures to make them demographically equivalent to the United States, they would have equated to the U.S. taking 195,840 casualties for the same period. A large portion of the Israeli losses came from urban operations; e.g., Israeli casualties for the siege of Beirut equaled or were greater than those taken against the PLO in the entire war in the South. Indeed, losses in besieging Beirut cost the IDF almost 24% of its dead and 32% of its wounded for the entire war.
Geocities (http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6453/pfg.html)
Israel no longer seems to have the fortitude to reoccupy Lebanon, but the UN will not continue to let Israeli troops occupy at 25-mile buffer zone. If Hezbollah really does have longer-range missiles, then all bets are off the table. Israel could attack Iran or Syria.