Put away the long knives, and move forward--knives for the next war have already been sharpened.

Jerusalem Post ^ | 8-20-06 | DAVID KIMCHE

[syriacus]

Interesting essay. Thanks for posting it.

[SJackson]

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[redgolum]

Very interesting essay. But the problem is that the war has emboldened Syria and Hezbolah, and Israel did not achieve any of its strategic goals. To say that Israel "won" the war is a misnomer. The kidnapped soldiers are still gone, and hezbolah can still attack northern Israel.

But hezbolah was bloodied. If it was a victory for them, it was a Phyric one indeed.

[Modok]

When you have to scratch your head and hold a forum, make a speech, and debate on whether on not you have been victorious you haven't done squat.

[ThanhPhero]

Conferences. That will fix it all right up. Just as it has always been.

[SusaninOhio]

They should not have stopped until they had completely undone the Hezzies in a manner that no right-thinking person could disagree with.

Then fly over and drop hammers and nails from Home Depot so the people could rebuild. Now the Hezzies look like heroes, helping out the poor homeless people of south Lebanon.

Someone in the Israeli government needs to say what will happen when the next missile lands on Israeli soil, and mean it.

[alecqss]

It was a defeat. Both for Israel and the civilized world overall. Not to hezballah, though, and not a military defeat.

We created one more unfinished business for electorate to be frustrated about and we continue to be plagued by political correctness, appeasement, internal strife and a political stalemate.

All of this while axis are getting closer to acquiring the means of be on offensive militarily. We lost because we seem to be unable to prevent sliding to just another multimillion casualties world war. Even more, by emboldening axis we've made this war more probable.

[goldstategop]

David Kimche is an Oslo Lefty. He tries to excuse Olmert and Peretz for their failure as wartime leaders and says Israel's response should be one of continued capitulation. Its his kind of defeatist attitude and that of the Israeli elite of he is a part, that has brought Israel to its current predicament.

(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo!)

[bert]

This is a good piece that cuts through all the obfuscation and bravado.

I would be interested in the referenced article

''an article in The Times entitled "If this was a defeat, the Israelis must be praying for a lot more of them"

There is an adage "Generals allways prepare for the last war" was proven true by the IDF armour. It was not up to the Russian antitank weapons.

We have two more weeks before all hell breaks lose when Iran tells the UN to screw itsself.

[MinuteGal]

When this writer promotes a "Madrid II" liberal-technique "sit-down" he loses me.

The inane in Spain will mainly cause more pain.

Leni

[Alas Babylon!]

... two more weeks ...???

Days, not weeks. August 22 is when the Iranians give their answer.

[goldstategop]

What makes him think Israel's enemies want peace? No - as the villain often tells James Bond in the movies: "What I want from you [Jews] is to die." Kimche after all that has happened in the past 20 years is still stuck in the ideological fantasyland the Arabs want peace, if only the Jews stopped being so stiff-necked. Fortunately, his countrymen have woken up.

(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo!)

[bert]

I Thought it was 1 September. Days is correct.

[bert]

We need ti differentiate between actual enemies and opposition.

The GCC states should be classified as opposition rather tan enemies. The remaining enemies are Hamas, Syria and Iran. (Hezzies are defacto iran.)

The other Arab states want to get down to business of business not cluttered up with this constant disruption.

[razzle]

If this war was a victory for Hezbolah, then Gettysburg was a victory for the Confederates.

[redgolum]

Our armor is barely enough for the new generation of Russian Anti tank weapons. The crew will survive intact, but the missiles can take out the engine.

[redgolum]

I didn't say it was a victory for hezbolah, but they did achieve their strategic goals. The South in Gettysburg did not.

[TheBattman]

EXACTLY - in what way can Israel claim a victory?

They lost an awful lot of soldiers in such a short fight

They did not get the kidnapped soldiers back

Hezbullies are STILL armed and receiving more on a dialy basis.

Hezbullies are STILL in southern Lebanon

The Lebaneese military is afraid of the Hezbullies - thus are doing nothing about the problem.

Hezbullies are at least 10% of the Leb. government - and control nearly a 3rd.

Syria is feeling more bold because they were not shut down.

Hezbullies feeling more bold because they were not disarmed.

Israel took a major (though not deserved) hit in PR because of the supposed civilian casualties.


So - after a few weeks of war - what does Israel have to show for their efforts and dead soldiers? 15K Lebaneese soldiers who are peeing themselves just being in the same part of the country as Hezzies. Same number of defenseless UN "peacekeepers" who cannot do anything (and are under orders to just "observe"). A PR opportunity for the HEzzies who are pumping millions of $$ into Lebanon, giving it directly to civilians ($15K at least per family, with more promised to help rebuild).

Hezballah shure is looking like the big winner in this war. And that's hard for me to say, as I really am praying for Israel...

[familyop]

It was a lot to do in four weeks against a well trained enemy armed by Iran and Syria.