Posted on 07/20/2006 10:33:33 PM PDT by BurbankKarl
An Israeli soldier scouts the area near the Israel-Lebanon border, July 20, 2006.
News Corp. Saudi Prince bin al-Talal owns a voting share.
Shep is a freakin SHMUCK!
good grief!
Hezzbolah blew up the UNIFIL post? haha. Guess it is no longer manned eh?
well of course not b/c Hizbullah is not going to allow a set piece battle, they will organize in squad and platoon sized kill units so there will be no need to send in a division to over run a position. But the IDF is going to need to cover every square inch of southern lebanon and root all these guys out thus giving the peacekeeping force time to move in and set up shop.
Thanks for the note about Thune...do you know if there is a transcript of his speech..
NOT that I don't trust him...I don't trust the media..BUT, I know of 2 cases where Thune has already come out AGAINST something that Bush has wanted..and he did it "on the media record"..
So..with his track record, here in his FIRST term...I would like to read exactly what he did say.
How much force does the Lebanese army represent? And how many of them have come in from Syria to suit up?
As I said earlier...what the US Army and Marines had to do in April-June 1945 against the IJA would be instructive.
If they throw their lot in with the terrorists, so be it. They made their choice. They live with the consequence..
Perhaps the panel was trying to say they anticipated a lot of RAT attacks on Iraq in the election season. Frankly, I didn't understand their solidarity on this issue at all including Fred and Charles. Puzzling.
21 July 2006 – The United Nations force that monitors the line of withdrawal between Israel and Lebanon reported today that it has maintained its positions and humanitarian activities despite continuing heavy exchanges of fire between Israeli and Hizbollah forces in the area.
There were seven incidents of firing during the past 24 hours near installations of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), with three positions suffering direct hits from the Israeli side, the mission said. No casualties were reported in the incidents.
Because of the fighting and extensive destruction of roads and bridges in the area, all personnel near the so-called Blue Line that separates the countries are facing shortages of basic supplies, the mission said, although it added that it was able to re-supply a number of positions yesterday and planned to service more today.
Among humanitarian activities it is carrying out, UNIFIL said it has provided an escort for civilians from Naqoura in the south to the safer city of Tyre, including the medical evacuation of a child who had received treatment at the mission’s hospital.
Some humanitarian convoys are planned for today, but the ability to move will depend on the situation on the ground, the mission said.
OTOH, modern anti-insurgency (and other anti-terrorism) warfare must -- if it is to have any chance of success -- must be full of "surprises" and new ways of doing old things, and the news in breaking situations like this one can make a lot of us scratch our heads until the last moves are made.
As part of its current counterinsurgency training, our army -- and probably the IDF -- uses John A. Nagl's book, Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam. It's an amazing study, one that gives you, on almost every page, an "I knew that, I just hadn't seen it that way!" revelation.
"And Harry's choice: The Madeline"...
Are you speculating..or did you hear this?
and let me add these "incursions" shouldn't be hit and run b/c it will just give Hizbullah the opportunity to reconsitute, they need to go in and stay in until resistance is destroyed then get out
Didn't see this part but may check out the transcript.
"Israel is caught between three strategic imperatives. First, it must end the threat to Israeli cities, which must involve the destruction of Hezbollah's launch capabilities south of the Litani River. Second, it must try to destroy Hezbollah's infrastructure, which means it must move into the Bekaa Valley and as far as the southern suburbs of Beirut. Third, it must do so in such a way that it is not dragged into a long-term, unsustainable occupation against a capable insurgency."
Hezbollah has implemented its strategy by turning southern Lebanon into a military stronghold, consisting of well-designed bunkers that serve both as fire bases and launch facilities for rockets. The militants appear to be armed with anti-tank weapons and probably anti-aircraft weapons, some of which appear to be of American origin, raising the question of how they were acquired. Hezbollah wants to draw Israel into protracted fighting in this area in order to inflict maximum casualties and to change the psychological equation for both military and political reasons.
Israelis historically do not like to fight positional warfare. Their tendency has been to bypass fortified areas, pushing the fight to the rear in order to disrupt logistics, isolate fortifications and wait for capitulation. This has worked in the past. It is not clear that it will work here. The great unknown is the resilience of Hezbollah's fighters. To this point, there is no reason to doubt it. Israel could be fighting the most resilient and well-motivated opposition force in its history. But the truth is that neither Israel nor Hezbollah really knows what performance will be like under pressure.
Simply occupying the border-Litani area will not achieve any of Israel's strategic goals. Hezbollah still would be able to use rockets against Israel. And even if, for Hezbollah, this area is lost, its capabilities in the Bekaa Valley and southern Beirut will remain intact. Therefore, a battle that focuses solely on the south is not an option for Israel, unless the Israelis feel a defeat here will sap Hezbollah's will to resist. We doubt this to be the case." - Stratfor
http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/072006/thune.html
This is an article from The Hill. Seems to be an accurate record of what Thune said.
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