Israeli Troops - "We fought for nothing."

[kpete]

Aug 18, 2006
Israeli Troops Criticize Army, Equipment

By BENJAMIN HARVEY
Associated Press Writer


METULLA, Israel (AP) -- Israeli soldiers returning from the war in Lebanon say the army was slow to rescue wounded comrades and suffered from a lack of supplies so dire that they had to drink water from the canteens of dead Hezbollah guerrillas.

"We fought for nothing. We cleared houses that will be reoccupied in no time," said Ilia Marshak, a 22-year-old infantryman who spent a week in Lebanon.

Marshak said his unit was hindered by a lack of information, poor training and untested equipment. In one instance, Israeli troops occupying two houses inadvertently fired at each other because of poor communication between their commanders.

"We almost killed each other," he said. "We shot like blind people. ... We shot sheep and goats."

more at:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MIDEAST_ANGRY_SOLDIERS?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL

In a nation mythologized for decisive military victories over Arab foes, the stalemate after a 34-day war in Lebanon has surprised many.

[bridgit]

1. cheers...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1940131&mesg_id=1940131 :toast:

[stepnw1f]

2. Just WOW!

[Truthiness Inspector]

3. They used restraint

and are now subject to a cease-fire.

If the gloves were off, things would have been different.

Damned if they do, damned if they don't. Damned if they "win" and damned if critics claim they "lost."

[leesa]

7. Restraint?

What a stupid slaughter they waged. I guess it's only good for something if they get to grab more land.

[azurnoir]

4. Doesn't at least some

of this sound disturbingly familiar? Some of our soldiers in Iraq have said the same things especially concerning equipment, food, and purpose of the war.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

6. esp. in requards to Fallujah. nt

[gula]

5. So the 1,ooo plus Lebanese were Llamas?

"We shot sheep and goats"

[Roland99]

8. You'd think they'd have learned from watching 3yrs' worth of Whack-a-Mole

in Iraq.

[kentuck]

9. Sounds very much like the American troops when they entered Baghdad...

and they had no water or food and were short on supplies? Remember?

[autorank]

10. K&R oops! :) kpete...

Excellent post. I read the whole article. nite :hi:

[Disturbed]

11. The RW Govt. in Israel wanted to show the world

how tough they are and Busholini spurred them on.

[autorank]

12. Right and now the Israeli press is talking about "losing the war"...

..which was hardly the objective. What a sad interlude and so much violence for no reason.

[Marrak]

13. Wac-mole; slaughter innocents, etc.

When are we gonna figure this out? Do we have to chase our ass in circles for a few more decades, until we run our economy and society completely into the ground as well? Not to mention, the political process is broken! But the point is we can abandon our lockstep support of the zionist state of Israel. We need some even-handedness and objectivity in the ME. We need to put our national interests forward for peace, not war.

[IndianaGreen]

14. Time to make peace, you think?

Withdraw from all of the land taken in June 1967 and retreat behind a repositioned separation wall.

[Marrak]

15. Peace!

The U.S. needs to move forward with the power that we do have - size-up the situation vis-a-vis our frickin national interest - and play it even-handed for once on the world stage :patriot:
There's your shock and awe.