Some Israeli headlines query Lebanon venture

[sabra]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L26674782.htm

Some Israeli headlines query Lebanon venture

JERUSALEM, July 26 (Reuters) - To judge by the headlines in one of Israel's leading newspapers on Wednesday, the campaign against Hizbollah isn't quite going according to plan.

"Has the army failed?", "Was there a proper decision process?" and "No goals attained" were just three of the headlines on the front page of Ha'aretz, a left-of-centre paper that has generally supported the war so far.

The banner across the top of the paper, mirroring that in another leading daily, Yediot Ahronoth, also cast doubt on whether a solution to the crisis could prove effective.

"Proposed multinational force won't disarm Hizbollah of its rockets" the large-point headline read.

[uppityperson]

1. good, kick for sanity

I have no beef with incidivdual people, but with what many country's administrations are doing

[sabra]

2. thank you for the kick and the recognition...

[bemildred]

3. Has the army failed?

Just an example.

Moshe Arens is worried. The man who was defense minister for three terms when Israel controlled southern Lebanon, believes the current campaign there is being badly conducted. Unless there is a swift change, he warns, Hezbollah could come out of the conflict without being trounced. "This will be a disaster for Israel. Nasrallah will be seen in the world as someone who fired thousands of Katyushas on Israeli communities for weeks and came out unscathed."

This criticism is rejected both in the government and the army. The war, they say, is going well, Israel has chalked up several uccesses and has the upper hand. But one thinks that if Israelis had been asked on July 12 whether it was possible that Hezbollah would shell the North for two weeks without the IDF's being able to stop it, most of them would have replied in the negative.

Several issues must be considered: 1. Intelligence. The intelligence assessments and information at the army's disposal have been severely criticized. After the abduction of the two soldiers, the Israel Defense Forces claimed, justifiably, that its hands had been tied by the politicians. The government chose to ignore warnings from senior officers that it was just a matter of time until there would be a kidnapping. The fact that Hezbollah suffered only light blows in previous encounters with the IDF led it to believe incorrectly that it would be the same this time. The line of fortifications it held only meters from the border fence made it much easier to carry out the abduction.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/742740.html