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http://www.aljazeerah.info/Opinion%20editorials/2006%20Opinion%20Editorials/August/23%20o/Hizbullah%20Singes%20Samson's%20Locks%20By%20K%20Gajendra%20Singh.htm<br>
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</a></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=5>Hizbullah Singes Samson's
Locks <br><br>
</font><font size=3> <br><br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>By K Gajendra Singh<br><br>
</font> <br><br>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>Al-Jazeerah, August 23,
2006<br><br>
<b> <br><br>
</b>Here is an in depth article on the HIzbullah -Israeli Occupation
Forces (IOF) stand off, with the former winning on points , some actual
fighting ,strengths of Hizbullah and weaknesses of Israeli
military and political leadership .It is difficult to find out the
weaknesses of highly secretive Hizbullah based on Shia tradition of
Taqqiya , which is its strength while Israeli democratic politics
although dominated by military generals and military industry , has a
relatively lively free media, unlike USA ,specially news papers like
Haaretz . <br><br>
<br><br>
I have employed the Biblical story of Samson's defeat when his locks of
hair were cut after being seduced by Philistine bribed Delilah and he was
deprived of the source of his Herculean strength . <br><br>
<br><br>
Hizbullah has succeeded in singing the IOF locks because of almost total
failure of Israeli intelligence "corrupted by the long occupation of
the Palestinian territories. They have got used to relying on the
thousands of collaborators that have been recruited in the course of 39
years by torture, bribery and extortion (junkies needing drugs, someone
begging to be allowed to visit his dying mother, someone desiring a chunk
from the cake of corruption, etc.) Clearly, no collaborators were found
among the Hizbullah, and without them intelligence is blind. "
<br><br>
</font><div align="center">***<br><br>
</div>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>Writing in 'Foreign Policy In Focus'
, Prof Stephen Zunes said " The Bush administration and an
overwhelming bipartisan majority of Congress have gone on record
defending Israel's assault on Lebanon's civilian infrastructure as a
means of attacking Hizbullah resistance fighters. Unlike the major
Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movements of Hamas and Islamic Jihad,
Hizbullah resistance fighters haven't killed any Israeli civilians for
more than a decade. Indeed, a 2002 Congressional Research Service report
noted, in its analysis of Hizbullah, that "no major
"terrorist" attacks have been attributed to it since
1994." The most recent State Department report on international
terrorism also fails to note any acts of terrorism by Hizbullah since
that time except for unsubstantiated claims that a Hizbullah member was a
participant in a June 1996 attack on the U.S. Air Force dormitory at
Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia.<br><br>
When Prof Zunes contacted scores of Congressional offices after the U.S.
House of Representatives passed a resolution in March last year by an
overwhelming 380-3 margin condemning "the continuous terrorist
attacks perpetrated by Hizbullah" , no proof was forthcoming . The
House resolution had cited the testimony of former CIA director George
Tenet (who also insisted that the case for Iraq having weapons of mass
destruction was a "slam dunk"), in which he made the bizarre
accusations that Hizbullah is "an organization with the capability
and worldwide presence [equal to] al-Qaeda, equal if not far more [of a]
capable organization … they're a notch above in many respects … which
puts them in a state sponsored category with a potential for lethality
that's quite great." But then there have been a litany of spins and
lies by top US leaders on Iraq, Iran and you name it. <br><br>
More than a militia or conventional army, Hezbollah is a social and
political movement deeply rooted in its society, with a big constituency
within the Lebanese Shia community that comprises about 40 percent of the
country's 4 million people. Hezbollah organizes a welfare system
providing schools, clinics, daycare centers and jobs to hundreds of
thousands of poor Shias. During the war Hezbollah chief Sheikh
Hassan Nassrullah announced that all those whose houses and property were
damaged by Israeli bombings would be compensated. Soon after the cease
fire there were queues of people being paid compensation , much before
any other Lebanese or foreign organization could muster themselves into
action. <br><br>
Equally important, Hezbollah provides the Shia community, historically
disadvantaged and marginalized in Lebanon, a sense of identity and a
source of pride. Israel's military targeting of Shias will deepen
feelings of victimization among them and turn them – even further –
against Israel and the West. Through out history Shia Imams were harassed
, victimized and even assassinated by their Sunni Caliphs and Muslims
.Such victimization can be still seen in most Sunni majority countries ie
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey , Saudi Arabia and others . <br><br>
A national poll conducted in Lebanon in early August by the Beirut Center
for Research and Information showed a sharp rise in support for Hezbollah
since the Israeli invasion: 87 percent of respondents supported
Hezbollah's military response, including 89 percent of Sunnis and 80
percent of Christians. Five months ago, just 58 percent supported
Hezbollah's right to remain armed. Also, 89 percent of the respondents
said the US was not an honest broker, not responding positively to
Lebanon's needs and concerns. In fact, the bombings and killings of
civilians and destruction of Lebanon's infrastructure , would aid
Hezbollah's recruiting." <br><br>
The Ibn Khaldun Center in Egypt just released the results of a poll of
the Egyptian public. It found that Hassan Nassrullah, the most popular
politician in Egypt. In second place comes Khalid Mashal, the radical
Hamas leader based in Damascus and in third place Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. <br><br>
In spite of all facts to the contrary US leadership led President George
Bush and corporate media keep on referring to Lebanon's national
resistance Hezbollah as terrorists showing their visceral bias against
freedom fighters resisting western occupation and domination. They are
like the Popes in medieval times proclaiming that the earth was flat.
<br><br>
Israeli terrorist movements against the British occupation of Palestine
were led by Begin and Shamir , who later became Prime Ministers<br><br>
Prof .Robert A. Pape, of the University of Chicago and author of
"Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism, "
wrote recently that "Evidence of the broad nature of Hezbollah's
resistance to Israeli occupation can be seen in the identity of its
suicide attackers. Hezbollah conducted a broad campaign of suicide
bombings against American, French and Israeli targets from 1982 to 1986.
Altogether, these attacks - which included the bombing of the Marine
barracks in 1983 - involved 41 suicide terrorists. <br><br>
" In writing my book on suicide attackers, I had researchers scour
Lebanese sources to collect martyr videos, pictures and testimonials and
the biographies of the Hezbollah bombers. Of the 41, we identified the
names, birth places and other personal data for 38. Shockingly, only
eight were Islamic fundamentalists. Twenty-seven were from leftist
political groups like the Lebanese Communist Party and the Arab Socialist
Union. Three were Christians, including a female high-school teacher with
a college degree. All were born in Lebanon. <br><br>
" What these suicide attackers - and their heirs today - shared was
not a religious or political ideology but simply a commitment to
resisting a foreign occupation. Nearly two decades of Israeli military
presence did not root out Hezbollah. The only thing that has proven to
end suicide attacks, in Lebanon and elsewhere, is withdrawal by the
occupying force. <br>
<br><br>
Most Lebanese acknowledge Hezbollah's leading role in fighting Israel,
but what many Lebanese consistently refer to as the "national
resistance" is a broad coalition that includes virtually all of
Lebanon's most important political forces, including Amal, the other main
Shi'i movement, the Lebanese Communist Party (LCP), other left groups and
liberal democrats - and even the right-wing Free Patriotic Movement of
General Michel Aoun. <br><br>
"We have a joke that, in the average Lebanese family with seven
children, four will be with Hezbollah, two will be with the communists
and one will be with Amal - all of them with the resistance," says
Khaled Hadadeh, secretary general of the LCP. According to Hadadeh, at
least 12 LCP members and supporters died in the fighting. <br><br>
Like many resistance movements fighting against colonialism and foreign
occupation , the evolution of Lebanese Hezbollah movement from a
terrorist group to a legal political party has been a positive
development in the region. "Like many radical Islamic parties
elsewhere, Hezbollah (meaning "Party of God") combines populist
rhetoric, important social service networks for the needy, and a
decidedly reactionary and chauvinistic interpretation of Islam in its
approach to contemporary social and political issues. In Lebanese
parliamentary elections earlier last year, Hezbollah ended up with
fourteen seats outright in the 128-member national assembly, and a slate
shared with the more moderate Shiite party Amal gained an additional
twenty-three seats. Hezbollah controls one ministry in the 24-member
cabinet," said Prof Zunes. <br><br>
As required under UN Security Council resolution 1559, Hezbollah was
negotiating with the Lebanese government and other interested Lebanese
parties, to disband the party's military wing Before the Israeli assault,
Hezbollah could probably count on no more than a thousand active-duty
militiamen , but the numbers would now mount up. <br><br>
And what about 1967 UN Resolution 242 and many others which Israel
refuses to implement since decades and others against it which USA keeps
on vetoing. Even EU polls rate Israel and US as the top nations against
peace and for violence around the world, as seen daily on TV screens.
<br><br>
Fawaz Trabulsi, a Lebanese professor who helped lead Palestinian-allied
militia forces against the Israeli army in 1982, said , "They
[Hezbollah] have a military and intelligence organization totally
separated from the political organization." A dramatic example of
the secrecy and careful preparations for conflict with Israel was
Hezbollah's al-Manar television. The station kept broadcasting from
hidden studios throughout the fighting, despite repeated Israeli air
strikes against relay towers and antennas across the country. Many
believed that some of the broadcasts seemed to include coded messages to
Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon. <br><br>
Nassrullah was able to use al-Manar to make a number of speeches rallying
his followers and explaining his strategy. With his cleric's turban and
youthful appearance , appearing on the screen in pre-taped broadcasts, he
was perhaps the biggest secret of all, hunted by Israeli warplanes and
hiding in a location about which Lebanese could only guess. <br><br>
It was clear that Hezbollah has not been penetrated at all ."
I think it's no secret that the Israeli military didn't have the
intelligence on this," said Richard Straus, who publishes the Middle
East Policy Survey newsletter in Washington. "They didn't know what
Hezbollah had, how it had built up, what it was capable of."
<br><br>
Milt Bearden who serves on the board of directors of Conflicts Forum, a
U.K. based NGO which fosters dialogue between Islamic groups and
the West and has talked with Hezbollah officials about the group's
transition to a more politically-focused party, both before and after the
2005 Lebanese elections , dismisses the idea of knocking out Hezbollah
through military activity. "The concept of dismantling or
eliminating Hezbollah is fatally flawed from the very start. Hezbollah is
an organic part of that 40 percent of the Lebanese population that is
Shia." <br><br>
And with Hezbollah still standing, he says, a new power dynamic has
emerged. "There's nothing to compare with the Israeli Defense Force
in the Mideast," he says, but Hezbollah's persistence through weeks
of air strikes has shown the limits of Israel's strength. "We talk
about 20 Hezbollah fighters killed today, or whatever the new numbers
are. That's nothing. There are 500 that will pick up the weapons behind
them now." <br><br>
Asked about Hezbollah's possible role at the bargaining table Bearden
said . "They've got a lot of very smart people. These are not a
bunch of wild-eyed fanatics." "But they've always been willing
to try to broaden the dialogue quietly. In the last year I've been in
many hours of meetings with some of them, to where I can guarantee you
that they would have welcomed a quiet dialogue with the United States,
and they have repeatedly said they have no great quarrel with the United
States," he added. <br><br>
Bearden continued ,"I think we ( West ) have probably given up any
possible role as honest broker, even though there's no one to replace us
... The concept of a tsunami of democracy (in the Middle East) is done
for. I think that's ended, particularly when the world realizes that the
first two democratically elected entities Hamas and Hezbollah that we
have been providing the weaponry [to Israel ] to take them down."
<br><br>
If a movement has US blessings does it become legitimate and even moral!
Many such groups which US-led West, Saudi Arabia and other Sheikhdoms in
the Gulf and even the Chinese , together financed ,trained and provided
arms directly and indirectly with Pakistani military intelligence ,
against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan , became Jihadis and just
terrorists. It is another matter that the blowback climaxed in 911
attacks on USA and other attacks against western interests. Left behind
to fester in Afghanistan and Pakistan , they continue to create mayhem in
Pakistan , Afghanistan , India and elsewhere. <br><br>
What about the various Kurdish militias/guerillas in areas under US
protection since 1991 and even the PKK ,fighting against Turkey since
1984 and now ensconced in north Iraq under US control .In spite of
promises US has done little to disarm or inhibit PKK activities inside
south eastern Turkey. And then of course there are US allies in Iraq with
their Dawa and other militias led by Moqtda-As Sadr , which unlike the
militias or Jihadis in Afghanistan are Shias like Hezbollah .Some double
standards .Loose talk of ' spreading liberty and democracy'
by western leaders have thoroughly prostituted these words. George Bush
even had the gall to recommend democracy as in Iraq ( where in a raging
civil war , in Baghdad alone a hundred Iraqis a day were killed in July )
as a model to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a press conference in
St Petersburg .It only aroused mirth and cynical laughter . Americans
deserve better leadership.<br><br>
<b>The Hezbollah –IOF stand off ;<br><br>
</b> <br><br>
Israeli ministers recalled that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's aides joked
about the possibility that he would make a victory speech in Bint Jubail,
the site of Nassrullah's speech after Israeli withdrawal in May 2000. It
was at Bint Jubail on 26 July ,2006 that the Hezbollah repulsed the best
of Israeli commandos with dozens dead and tanks destroyed . But the
mere fact that it was discussed is an indication of how surrealistic the
conversations in Israel became among decision makers ie the belief in
their Biblical Samson like powers .<br><br>
<b> <br><br>
</b>Said an expert ,"Apparently Hezbollah had done its homework and
read the Israeli handbookin Hebrew and was well-prepared for such a
predictable approach[ an all out attack against abduction of Israeli
soldiers ]. Indeed, the failure to disrupt Hezbollah's field
communications and authority arguably delayed Israeli ground operations
and later led to their relative ineffectiveness. " <br><br>
Hezbollah fighters fought off the modern Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF
), the most well equipped in the region, for a month in the hills of
southern Lebanon because of its resilience based on extraordinary zeal
and secrecy, rigorous military training and discipline, and a steady flow
of effective weaponry. <br><br>
"They are the best guerrilla force in the world," said a
Lebanese specialist who has sifted through intelligence on Hezbollah for
more than two decades and strongly opposes the movement. They fight like
fish in water. "We are not a regular army and we will not fight like
a regular army," says Hezbollah. <br><br>
Based in their own villages Hezbollah protects its own people and land in
south Lebanon .The underground bunkers constructed in secret since
Israeli withdrawal in 2000 , withstood a withering Israeli air campaign
and tank-led ground assaults could not establish control over a border
strip or sweep it clear of Hezbollah resistance fighters -- one of
Israel's main declared war aims. In fact IDF attempts to conquer Bint
Jubail , were repeatedly repulsed with stunning loss of the best of IDF
commandos .Other attempts to take land from Hezbollah were beaten
back too . <br><br>
Their Islamic faith and intense indoctrination reduces their fear of
death, giving Hezbollah an advantage in close-quarters combat. Hezbollah
leaders also enhanced fighters' willingness to risk death by establishing
the Martyr's Institute, that guarantees living stipends and
education fees for the families of fighters who die on the
front.<br><br>
"If you are waiting for a white flag coming out of the Hezbollah
bunker, I can assure you it won't come," Brig. Gen. Ido Nehushtan, a
member of the Israeli army's General staff, said in a briefing for
reporters in the northern Israeli village of Gosherim. "They are
extremists, they will go all the way." <br><br>
Hezbollah's military leadership have carefully studied military history,
including the Vietnam War, a Lebanese expert said, and set up a training
program with help from Iranian intelligence and Revolutionary Guards with
years of experience in the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. The training was
matched with weapons that proved effective against Israeli tanks,
including the famed Merkava main battle tank with advanced armor plating.
The majority of Israeli combat deaths resulted from missile hits on
armored vehicles -- or on buildings where Israeli soldiers set up
observation posts or conducted searches. <br><br>
The antitank missiles could be dragged easily out of caches and quickly
fired with two- or three-man launching teams at distances of 3,200 yards
or more from their targets. One of the most effective was the
Russian-designed Sagger 2, a wire-guided missile with a range of 550 to
3,200 yards. In one hidden bunker, Israeli soldiers discovered
night-vision camera equipment connected to computers that fed coordinates
of targets to the Sagger 2 missile, according to Israeli military
officials <br><br>
As antitank missiles could also be used to attack helicopters, it limited
IDF's use of choppers in rescues and other operations.. Hezbollah shot
down a CH-53 Sikorsky helicopter, killing all five crew members as
admitted by IDF . But Hezbollah claimed more hits. <br><br>
It is some irony that the Iraq- Iran war of 1980s trained the Iraqis who
are leading the resistance against US led occupation and Iranians forged
in that same war , the Iranian revolutionary guards were instrumental in
establishing and training Hezbollah. Tehran's assistance to Hamas today
follows a similar pattern. <br><br>
To give a taste of their own medicine Hezbollah continued to fire rockets
against north Israeli towns and villages, specially its port and holiday
resort of Haifa , its third largest city until the ceasefire . In spite
of usual lies by western media , Hezbollah started sending rockets and
missiles into north Israel only after Israel began its attack on Lebanese
cities and villages including on civilians and infrastructure .Nassrullah
offered to stop if IDF did like wise. <br><br>
Hezbollah arsenal included thousands of missiles and rockets fired (
estimated to be up to 15, 000 but none is sure ) was paid for by
relentless fundraising among Shias around the world and funds provided by
Iran. For the 1980s 'Jihad' against Russians in Afghanistan ,not only
Sunni Saudi Arabia and other Kingdoms and Muslim countries and
individuals , but most western countries led by USA , even China
contributed up to whopping sum of US $ 6-10 billions. <br><br>
Shia Islam , which evolved and blossomed in Persia was ruled by Arabs,
Turks, Mongols and Tartars for eight-and-half centuries, before the
emergence of the Sufi-origin Persian Safavids, who became finally
masters of their own land, Iran. During the period of foreign occupation
and domination , mostly by Sunni rulers , to preserve their sect and
survive, Iranians and Shias have developed an uncanny ability not to
bring to their lips what is on their minds, and have institutionalized it
as <b><i>takiyya</i></b>, ie dissimulation. <br><br>
In earlier Muslim period ,most of Shia Imams were harassed ,
tormented and even assassinated .Imam Hussein who died for the righteous
cause at Karbala remains the martyr par excellence and a shining example.
In Lebanon , a sense of solidarity against others among Shias
has been there since their beginning as a political force in the
mid-1970s, when their first organization was called the 'Movement of the
Deprived'. They are like '<i>Dalits</i>' (Untouchables ) in Hindu
apartheid like caste system ..Calls by other Lebanese to disarm Hezbollah
were motivated more by a desire to prevent it from becoming powerful
political party than bringing more ruin from Israeli attacks, or to
prevent it from aligning it with Syria and Iran. Hezbollah took birth and
was nurtured during the brutal Israeli occupation of south Lebanon for
two decades. <br><br>
One story about Syria's ruling Shia Alawaites ( 12% of population ) , who
were also poor and deprived , is that only the looked down upon military
career as foot soldiers was open to them in 1940s and 1950s ,
when politics, trade and industry were cornered by majority Sunni
population .Soon the Alawaites progressed to sergeants level and when
there were enough of them as generals they took over in 1960s and
continue to rule , with power sharing with other Muslims in a secular set
up .Similarly in neighbouring Iraq , when it became independent after the
collapse of the Sunni Ottoman empire after the first world war, the
former Iraqi Sunni Ottoman elite took over . but the Ba'athists were
secular . Ignorant and arrogant Neo-cons have created living hell in Iraq
, but the main beneficiary of the ouster of Saddam Hussein is Iran,
providing Tehran with inroads into the heart of Iraqi politics at the
social, military, and religious levels. Today's Iran policy is to
tolerate 'controlled chaos' as long as the US appears to favor regime
change in Iran. <br><br>
Of course US had invaded Iraq against the UN Charter and against the
wishes of the world community for oil as I have written in my essay
;'Mother of all battles , for oil .A battle by Anglo-Saxons to control
oil for their benefit continues its blood strewn path. <br><br>
<b>Dissensions in Israel;<br><br>
</b>Unlike western media specially in USA , which like its politicians
across the political spectrum , are dead scared of criticising Israel or
its policies and are openly controlled by the Israeli lobby in USA,
Israeli media is relatively free , specially newspapers like Haaretz .
<br><br>
Reporter Nahum Barnea, who traveled with an Israeli military unit in
south Lebanon, compared the battle to "the famous Tom and Jerry
cartoons" with the powerful Israeli military playing the role of the
cat Tom and the resourceful Hezbollah resistance fighters playing the
mouse Jerry. "In every conflict between them, Jerry wins,"
Barnea wrote. One Israeli plan to use llamas to deliver supplies in the
rugged terrain of south Lebanon turned into an embarrassment when the
animals simply sat down. <br><br>
Israeli newspapers and people, led to believe in quick decimation of
Hezbollah and a victory faster than the 6 day war of 1967 ,have been
stunned at the failure and are full of complaints against
their political and military leaders asking them to resign
and be punished .<br><br>
Soldiers say that some reservists weren't even issued body armor while
other soldiers found their equipment either inferior or inappropriate for
the battlefield conditions. One of the petitions circulated and signed by
the reserve Spearhead Brigade IDF , just back from the fighting in
Lebanon said , "The 'cold feet' of the decision-makers were evident
everywhere . " "To us the indecisiveness expressed deep
disrespect for our willingness to join the ranks and fight and made us
feel as though we had been spat at, since it contradicts the principles
and values of warfare upon which we were trained at the Israel Defense
Forces. <br><br>
"The heavy feeling is that in the echelons above us there is nothing
but under-preparation, insincerity, lack of foresight and inability to
make rational decisions leads to the question [we] were we called up for
nothing?" <br><br>
Channel 2 in Israel disclosed that several top military commanders wrote
a letter to Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, the chief of staff, criticizing the war
planning as chaotic and out of line with the combat training of the
soldiers and officers. The outgoing Chief Infantry and Paratroopers
Officer of the Israel Defense Forces, Brigadier General Yossi Heiman,
became the first senior officer to concede a degree of failure in the
Lebanon war. "We were guilty of the sin of arrogance."
<br><br>
Wrote Uri Avnery , an Israeli writer and peace activist that the
strategic and tactical command of Hezbollah was decidedly better than
that of Israeli occupation army (IOF). All along, IOF strategy was
primitive, brutal and unsophisticated. <br><br>
" Clearly, Hezbollah has prepared well for this war - while the
Israeli command has prepared for a quite different war. On the
level of individual fighters, the Hezbollah are not inferior to our
soldiers, neither in bravery nor in initiative. Halutz with the bluster
of an Air-Force officer believed that it was possible to crush Hezbollah
by aerial bombardment, supplemented by artillery shelling from land and
sea. He believed that if he destroyed the towns, neighborhoods, roads and
ports of Lebanon, the Lebanese people would rise and compel their
government to remove Hezbollah. For a week he killed and devastated,
until it became clear to everybody that this method achieves the opposite
- strengthens Hezbollah, weakens its opponents within Lebanon and
throughout the Arab world and destroys the world-wide sympathy Israel
enjoyed at the beginning of the war. <br><br>
"When he reached this point, Halutz did not know what to do next.
For three weeks he sent his soldiers into Lebanon on senseless and
hopeless missions, gaining nothing. Even in the battles that were fought
in villages right on the border, no significant victories were achieved.
After the fourth week, when he was requested to submit a plan to the
government, it was unbelievably primitive. <br><br>
"If the "enemy" had been a regular army, it would have
been a bad plan. Just pushing the enemy back is hardly a strategy at all.
But when the other side is a guerilla force, this is simply foolish. It
may cause the death of many soldiers, for no practical result. <br><br>
Written at the time of the UN ceasefire ( which Bush and Tony Blair
inhumanly delayed to give IOF time to inflict damage on Lebanon , mostly
by killing civilians and destruction of Lebanon's infrastructure on which
the debts incurred on re-construction after the long civil war ignited by
Israel have still not been paid , Avnery writes; <br><br>
"Now he [Halutz] is trying to achieve a token victory, occupying
empty space as far from the border as possible, after the UN has already
called for an end to the hostilities. (As in almost all previous Israeli
wars, this call is being ignored, in the hope of snatching some gains at
the last moment.) Behind this line, Hezbollah remains intact in their
bunkers. There were some talented officers, but the general picture is of
a senior officers corps that is mediocre or worse, grey and unoriginal.
Almost all the many officers that have appeared on TV are unimpressive,
uninspiring professionals, experts on covering their behinds, repeating
empty clichés like parrots. <br><br>
"The ex-generals, who have been crowding out everybody else in the
TV and radio studios, have also mostly surprised us with their
mediocrity, limited intelligence and general ignorance. One gets the
impression that they have not read books on military history, and fill
the void with empty phrases.<br><br>
"The intelligence was completely unaware of the defense system built
by Hezbollah in South Lebanon. The complex infrastructure of hidden
bunkers, stocked with modern equipment and stockpiles of food and weapons
was a complete surprise for the army. It was not ready for these bunkers,
including those built two or three kilometers from the border. They are
reminiscent of the tunnels in Vietnam." <br><br>
<b>Samson seduced by Philistine [Palestinian] softness ;<br><br>
<br><br>
</b>As for Israeli intelligence "it has also been corrupted by the
long occupation of the Palestinian territories. They have got used to
relying on the thousands of collaborators that have been recruited in the
course of 39 years by torture, bribery and extortion (junkies needing
drugs, someone begging to be allowed to visit his dying mother, someone
desiring a chunk from the cake of corruption, etc.) Clearly, no
collaborators were found among the Hezbollah, and without them
intelligence is blind. <br><br>
" The Merkava ("carriage") tank is the pride of the army.
Its father, General Israel Tal, a victorious tank general, did not want
only to build the world's most advanced tank, but also a tank that
provided its crew with the best possible protection. Now it appears that
an anti-tank weapon from the late 1980s that is available in large
quantities, can disable the tank, killing or grievously wounding the
soldiers inside," <br><br>
After the ceasefire was concluded ( but broken by IDF commando raids in
Beka'a valley on 20 August ) Uri Avney said that the results of the war
were obvious:<br><br>
* The prisoners, who served as casus belli (or pretext) for the war, have
not been released. They will come back only as a result of an exchange of
prisoners, exactly as Hassan Nassrullah proposed before the war.
<br><br>
* Hezbollah has remained as it was. It has not been destroyed, nor
disarmed, nor even removed from where it was. Its fighters have proved
themselves in battle and have even garnered compliments from Israeli
soldiers. Its command and communication structure has continued to
function to the end. Its TV station is still broadcasting. <br><br>
* Hassan Nassrullah is alive and kicking. Persistent attempts to kill him
failed. His prestige is sky-high. Everywhere in the Arab world, from
Morocco to Iraq, songs are being composed in his honor and his picture
adorns the walls. <br><br>
* The Lebanese army will be deployed along the border, side by side with
a large international force. That is the only material change that has
been achieved.<br><br>
<b>Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in
Washington; <br><br>
</b> <br><br>
Helena Cobban commented on 18 August in her website on a study titled
'Preliminary Lessons of Israeli-Hezbollah War' by Anthony Cordesman, of
the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, a well
known Middle East strategic affairs strategic analyst for US media who
was invited by the American Jewish Committee on a "insider"
trip to Israel (Who paid ?) to meet senior Israeli officers . His most
notable finding appears to be that <u>no serving Israeli official,
intelligence officer, or other military officer felt that the Hezbollah
acted under the direction of Iran or Syria</u>.<br><br>
<br><br>
Cordesman stated that Israel had five objectives in going to
war:<br><br>
• Destroy the "Iranian Western Command" [I guess this is a
reference to Hezbollah's military capabilities?] before Iran could go
nuclear. <br><br>
• Restore the credibility of Israeli deterrence after the unilateral
withdrawals from Lebanon in 2000 and Gaza in 2005, and countering the
image that Israel was weak and forced to leave. <br><br>
• Force Lebanon to become and act as an accountable state, and end the
status of Hezbollah as a state within a state. <br><br>
• Damage or cripple Hezbollah, with the understanding that it could not
be destroyed as a military force and would continue to be a major
political actor in Lebanon. [Yes, well, that was fallback position for
them, wasn't it. In the first few days, there was lots of rhetoric about
"destroying" Hezbollah's military capability.] <br><br>
• Bring the two soldiers the Hezbollah had captured back alive without
major trades in prisoners held by Israelnot the thousands demanded by
Nassrullah and the Hezbollah. <br><br>
Cordesman then goes on to make cleverly obfuscating judgments about what
Israel actually "achieved" in each of these five areas...
though the bottom line in each case was still "not very much, at
all." <br><br>
In the end Israel was left facing 20 questions posed by Aluf Benn in
Haaretz <br><br>
1. How and why did Prime Minister Ehud Olmert decide to go to war in
response to the Hezbollah attack and the abduction of two soldiers on
July 12th? Who participated in the decision-making and which criteria
were taken into account? <br><br>
2. Did anyone consider the possibility of holding negotiations with
Hezbollah over a prisoner exchange? Was the assessment that the IOF
operation would pressure Hezbollah to release the abducted soldiers, with
nothing in return? <br><br>
3. Why wasn't the event where Hassan Nassrullah spoke bombed the same
day? Was the possibility considered? <br><br>
<br><br>
4. Why was the Vice Premier mocked at the cabinet meeting when he asked
about the stages following the military operation? <br><br>
5. Did Chief of Staff Dan Halutz give political leaders the impression
that an air offensive would suffice to achieve the goals of the war
(releasing the prisoners, deploying Lebanese forces in the south and
disarming Hezbollah)? <br><br>
<br>
6. What did Olmert and Amir Peretz know about the levels of IOF
preparedness for a confrontation with Hezbollah before they decided on
war? Were they warned of the shortcomings of the army and the home front?
<br><br>
7. Why was the state of alert lifted at the Northern Command on the eve
of the Hezbollah attack? What was wrong with the way in which the force
reacted to an attack by Hezbollah on July 12th? <br><br>
8. Why did intelligence fail to locate the hide-out of Hezbollah's
leadership? <br><br>
9. Why was the IOF surprised by Hezbollah's anti-ship cruise missiles?
And why were the defense systems of its advanced warship turned off
during a mission off the Lebanese coast? <br><br>
10. What intelligence was there on Hezbollah's advanced anti-tank
missiles and were tactics developed to counter them? <br><br>
11. What intelligence was there on the Hezbollah order of battle and was
this passed on to the Northern Command? <br><br>
12. Was the air force ordered to target homes near rocket-launching sites
and, as a result, struck civilians in Qana on July 30th? <br><br>
13. Were restrictions lifted on air force targeting, and did this cause
further civilian casualties? <br><br>
14. How was Israel dragged into a halting ground offensive in Lebanon,
who ordered it and what were political leadership's aims and
considerations? <br><br>
15. Why was Bint Jubail targeted? Was it a PR exercise? What did we know
about Hezbollah forces there? <br><br>
16. Prior to the decision to go to war, did anyone raise the possibility
that Hezbollah would be able to fire 100-200 rockets on a daily basis
into the North, for a month? <br><br>
17. Who was responsible for taking care of the population in the North
prior to and during the war? Why was no orderly evacuation prepared?
<br><br>
18. How were reservist units deployed with insufficient logistical
support? <br><br>
19. What did the Prime Minister mean in his speech on August 1st that the
achievements in the war were "unprecedented"? <br><br>
20. Why did Olmert and Peretz decide to expand the ground offensive on
Friday - a decision that cost the lives of many and damaged Israel's
image abroad - just as the Security
Council</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>approved the cease-fire
resolution? <br><br>
<br><br>
Israelis , and all their leaders have time to ponder till the next war
.It will come . But first the elections and the return of Bibi Netanyahu
, the new Likud leader ,unless there are birth pangs of a new Israeli
internal churning . <br><br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2> <br><br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><b>World Council of Churches
accuses Israel of premeditated attack ;<br><br>
</b> <br><br>
Israel's assault on Lebanon was planned even before Hezbollah abducted
the soldiers and was aimed at driving a wedge between the different
faiths that have been living in harmony in the country, a delegation from
the World Council of Churches (WCC) said on their return from a visit to
Beirut and Jerusalem ( but not received by the Israeli government ). The
WCC represents 348 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches and
works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church.<br><br>
<br><br>
As for the abduction of Israeli soldiers, the first media reports
suggested that the incident took place in the Lebanese territory .It was
later changed to Israeli territory by full support from corporate news
networks and print media of the west. Lies and spins is a hoary western
tradition. <br><br>
<br><br>
<i>(K Gajendra Singh, served as Indian Ambassador to Turkey and
Azerbaijan in1992 -96. Prior to that, he served as ambassador to Jordan
(during the1990 - 91Gulf war), Romania and Senegal. He is currently
chairman of the Foundation for Indo-Turkic Studies. The views
expressed here are his own.- Email-
<a href="mailto:Gajendrak@hotmail.com)">Gajendrak@hotmail.com)</a></i>
<br><br>
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