Lebanon Israeli War of 2006: Israel blames the Army but not the Commander in Chief.
January 30th 2008 23:29
Lebanon Israeli War of 2006: Israel blames the Army but not the Commander in Chief.
Enquiries that find no failing with the leaders decisions to take action seem to be the vogue over the last few years. WMD’s not in Iraq was blamed on poor advice; the AWB bribery scandal in Iraq was blamed on someone else other than the minister and now the 2006 failed war on Lebanon is being blamed on the Israeli army rather than Prime Minister Olmert. The fact that he commissioned the war and cheered it on has nothing to do with it. It was the armed forces fault for not succeeding.
This is the gist of the findings of the Israeli internal investigation into the conflict that was sparked by the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers. Olmert the report claims acted in good faith and with the interests of Israel at heart. The report summary lists many of the failing as being based upon the indecision of the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) to either commit to a full scale invasion of Southern Lebanon or to remain as a low scale air attack. It claims that the ground invasion came too late and was done too close to a possible negotiated cease fire. Also damning in the report was it assessment of Israel’s knowledge and understanding of the territory that it was attacking. When the ground invasion did come 33 soldiers were lost in a very short period of time.
Here is a copy of the report summary: Really Long Link
The 41 points in the summary deal with the issue exclusively from an IDF tactical response position and reflect only the mechanics of what military tactics failed. It does mention the need to find peaceful relations with the surrounding but only if Israel maintains military superiority. The scope of the report does not appear to be concerned with how peace would come about. Nor does it delve to the consequences to the Lebanese people. This is after all a report written by Israel for Israeli’s. By far its most damning conclusion was that the war was considered an unmitigated failure that failed to achieve any of its prime objectives or reasons for going to war. The two kidnapped Israeli soldiers were never returned; the rocket attacks on Israel were not stopped and now Hezbollah is in a stronger position than prior to the war.
After reading the report I was left with the impression that its terms of reference were narrowed to prevent too much soul searching. It did not deal with any humanitarian issues beyond mentioning brave dead soldiers.
Yet it is the humanitarian disaster that shocked the world over this conflict. The kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers may have been unwarranted but what followed a form of collective punishment on an unimaginative level. The International Airport in Lebanon was destroyed stranding tourists; a sea blockage was enforced stranding more tourists; nearly every bridge in the south of Lebanon was blown up making evacuation almost impossible and then the bombing began.
Hezbollah was not an innocent bystander in this conflict as they started to launch rockets randomly into Israel. This was the justification that Olmert used for the destruction of much of Southern Lebanon. The humanitarian disaster reached fever pitch when the international community sent chartered boats to Lebanon to evacuate hundreds of thousands of their own citizens. The civilians in the South were not so lucky and had to wait for Israel’s permission to escape the bombing raids.
Common sense should have dictated a ceasefire but despite the effort of other nations nothing was coming forth. Perhaps the most telling sign of inhumanity came with George Bush’s “Yo Blair!” comment where he emphatically insisted that Israel should be allowed to have a go at Hezbollah to teach Iran a lesson. So instead of being a conflict to return 2 soldiers it was being viewed by Bush as part of a conflict with Iran to “get rid of these people.”
Despite the volumes of propaganda pouring out of Israel this was a PR disaster even for its supporters. Israel was given not just a nod and a wink by Bush to do what it wanted in Lebanon but was also being supplied with and resupplied with the weapons to do it. Smart bombs dropped on civilian areas were directly from the USA and passed through a military airport base in England.
The weeks of this war achieved nothing but death, carnage and destruction on a spectacular level. Humanity had reached a level where it could destroy cities but fail to stop missiles from flying into Israel. For weeks the world and the UN was pleading for a ceasefire to stop the humanitarian disaster only to be ignored. Even a cessation of hostilities to allow the evacuation of civilians from area being bombed was faced with intransigence for too long. The final ceasefire came after every effort to win by military force had been exhausted and the IDF was unable to make gains both strategically and politically. That delay achieved nothing except death, destruction and the further strengthening of Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The unrealistic expectation that a massive show of destructive force would turn the Lebanese against Hezbollah backfired. They now parade themselves as the saviours of Lebanon from a second invasion. The simplistic view that Hezbollah could be wiped out by bombs alone also proved wrong as they placed themselves in positions of social services for suffering war victims (a PR coupe handed to them by Israel). The fact that they still hold the 2 Israeli soldiers shows the futility of the destruction to achieve that goal. The fact that the rocket attacks increased rather than decreased as the war went on showed how insecure Israel is to its neighbours. Yet the biggest problem was how close Israel came to creating a larger regional conflict that could easily have dragged other nations to use Lebanon as their battle ground.
Olmert may have survived harsh criticism in this report but he really cannot say that it was not his fault.
Tanks for coming
Enquiries that find no failing with the leaders decisions to take action seem to be the vogue over the last few years. WMD’s not in Iraq was blamed on poor advice; the AWB bribery scandal in Iraq was blamed on someone else other than the minister and now the 2006 failed war on Lebanon is being blamed on the Israeli army rather than Prime Minister Olmert. The fact that he commissioned the war and cheered it on has nothing to do with it. It was the armed forces fault for not succeeding.
This is the gist of the findings of the Israeli internal investigation into the conflict that was sparked by the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers. Olmert the report claims acted in good faith and with the interests of Israel at heart. The report summary lists many of the failing as being based upon the indecision of the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) to either commit to a full scale invasion of Southern Lebanon or to remain as a low scale air attack. It claims that the ground invasion came too late and was done too close to a possible negotiated cease fire. Also damning in the report was it assessment of Israel’s knowledge and understanding of the territory that it was attacking. When the ground invasion did come 33 soldiers were lost in a very short period of time.
Here is a copy of the report summary: Really Long Link
The 41 points in the summary deal with the issue exclusively from an IDF tactical response position and reflect only the mechanics of what military tactics failed. It does mention the need to find peaceful relations with the surrounding but only if Israel maintains military superiority. The scope of the report does not appear to be concerned with how peace would come about. Nor does it delve to the consequences to the Lebanese people. This is after all a report written by Israel for Israeli’s. By far its most damning conclusion was that the war was considered an unmitigated failure that failed to achieve any of its prime objectives or reasons for going to war. The two kidnapped Israeli soldiers were never returned; the rocket attacks on Israel were not stopped and now Hezbollah is in a stronger position than prior to the war.
Before and After shots.
After reading the report I was left with the impression that its terms of reference were narrowed to prevent too much soul searching. It did not deal with any humanitarian issues beyond mentioning brave dead soldiers.
Yet it is the humanitarian disaster that shocked the world over this conflict. The kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers may have been unwarranted but what followed a form of collective punishment on an unimaginative level. The International Airport in Lebanon was destroyed stranding tourists; a sea blockage was enforced stranding more tourists; nearly every bridge in the south of Lebanon was blown up making evacuation almost impossible and then the bombing began.
All this with conventional weapons
Hezbollah was not an innocent bystander in this conflict as they started to launch rockets randomly into Israel. This was the justification that Olmert used for the destruction of much of Southern Lebanon. The humanitarian disaster reached fever pitch when the international community sent chartered boats to Lebanon to evacuate hundreds of thousands of their own citizens. The civilians in the South were not so lucky and had to wait for Israel’s permission to escape the bombing raids.
Despite all the killing nothing positive was gained for Israel
Common sense should have dictated a ceasefire but despite the effort of other nations nothing was coming forth. Perhaps the most telling sign of inhumanity came with George Bush’s “Yo Blair!” comment where he emphatically insisted that Israel should be allowed to have a go at Hezbollah to teach Iran a lesson. So instead of being a conflict to return 2 soldiers it was being viewed by Bush as part of a conflict with Iran to “get rid of these people.”
Despite the volumes of propaganda pouring out of Israel this was a PR disaster even for its supporters. Israel was given not just a nod and a wink by Bush to do what it wanted in Lebanon but was also being supplied with and resupplied with the weapons to do it. Smart bombs dropped on civilian areas were directly from the USA and passed through a military airport base in England.
The weeks of this war achieved nothing but death, carnage and destruction on a spectacular level. Humanity had reached a level where it could destroy cities but fail to stop missiles from flying into Israel. For weeks the world and the UN was pleading for a ceasefire to stop the humanitarian disaster only to be ignored. Even a cessation of hostilities to allow the evacuation of civilians from area being bombed was faced with intransigence for too long. The final ceasefire came after every effort to win by military force had been exhausted and the IDF was unable to make gains both strategically and politically. That delay achieved nothing except death, destruction and the further strengthening of Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The unrealistic expectation that a massive show of destructive force would turn the Lebanese against Hezbollah backfired. They now parade themselves as the saviours of Lebanon from a second invasion. The simplistic view that Hezbollah could be wiped out by bombs alone also proved wrong as they placed themselves in positions of social services for suffering war victims (a PR coupe handed to them by Israel). The fact that they still hold the 2 Israeli soldiers shows the futility of the destruction to achieve that goal. The fact that the rocket attacks increased rather than decreased as the war went on showed how insecure Israel is to its neighbours. Yet the biggest problem was how close Israel came to creating a larger regional conflict that could easily have dragged other nations to use Lebanon as their battle ground.
Olmert may have survived harsh criticism in this report but he really cannot say that it was not his fault.
Cluster Bombs in built up areas. How humane.
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Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
Thanks for your comments.
That image says a lot about how people think.
There were much worse photos but I decided not to use them.
Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
Thanks for your comments.
Pointless show of force that only showed Israel to be a weaker nation.
There are plenty of war photos with much more inflammatory sentiment than I have used here. Yet I think the before and after shot says a lot.
I expect Olmert to be out at the next election.
Comment by Mountain Fog
Infognito
However, it is becoming more apparent, as time goes on, that the 'hawks' in Israel have no intention of reaching a peace, until they gain all the lands they desire, which does not include room for Palestinians, I suspect. This in turn allows the Arab extremist side to garner more support, in the end their militancy only ensures they remain internationally marginalised.
I fear we are seeing only the tip of the nightmare to come. Western nations and the UN have to hold themselves accountable for not enforcing UN military presence, creating a permanent ceasefire and secure area/country for the disposessed Palestinians, and protecting Lebanon and Israel from each other. It is a terrible shame and so sad for all involved.
fog
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
Thanks for your comments.
Possibly a little difficult for me to address all the issues in the region in one post.
I do think that Israel has had a series of leaders trying to look tough and talk tough. The Lebanon conflict looked exactly like an iron fist policy where negotiation would have a achieved much more. Yet negotiation was deemed as looking weak. So the whole of Lebanon suffered for the sake of a few egos.
Comment by Howard
Real Crash
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
Thanks for your comments.
Personally I am convinced that until Bush and the NeoCons are gone there will no pressure put upon any peace deals.