Posted on 08/20/2006 6:54:04 PM PDT by blam
Israel is 'preparing for more fighting'
By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem
(Filed: 21/08/2006)
Any chance of long-term peace between Lebanon and Israel all but vanished last night after Amir Peretz, the Israeli defence minister, said his country was preparing for another round of fighting.
Mr Peretz spoke only hours after Israeli commandos mounted a raid deep inside Lebanon. Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary general, said it was a violation of the week-old UN ceasefire.
With talks on a beefed-up peacekeeping force for southern Lebanon apparently stalled, Mr Annan's senior envoy for the Middle East, Terje Roed-Larsen, said there was a danger of the situation "sliding out of control". Mr Peretz issued his warning during the weekly cabinet meeting when he promised full transparency in the internal inquiry into his government's handling of the 34-day conflict with Hizbollah.
"We will put everything on the table," he was quoted as saying. "Our duty is to prepare for the next round."
Lt Gen Dan Halutz, the head of the armed forces, admitted that the military had failed to land "a knockout blow" on the Shia militia.
With Israeli reservists returning from south Lebanon with stories of incompetence by commanders, public opinion is hardening against Ehud Olmert, the prime minister.
It ain't over until the fat lady sings. And Nasrallah doesn't count, either.
This is one confused PM.
Lets hope they can get the big M back--momentum is hard to reclaim once it is gone
Or just maybe Bush is realizing that the UN thing was all BS and Israel is getting the word behind the scenes to have at it( well I can hope can't I )
More fighting?
Do ya really think so?
Woulda been so much easier had Israel just won the war the first time around....
For us, the price of peace is eternal vigilence. For Israel, the price of their very existence is eternal vigilance and 100% military preparedness. PM Olmert is an obstacle.
It's a little hard to believe, I know. Hezbollah is now in the welfare business and are handing out teddy bears and fuzzy puppies to everyone in South Lebanon (I read it in the NY Times). Iran is rushing missile shipments through Syria to drop candy on Tel Aviv. And best of all, the border is going to be policed by no fewer than 200 French soldiers. If they ever get there.
With a peace formula like this one I just don't see how anyone would think another fight was coming.
Even with more adequate preparation and training, taking out fixed fortifications with infantry is murderous.
The Israelis could use heavy, precision bombing, which they lack because they don't have the heavy bombers.
Nothing focuses a terrorist's mind like a line of rolling thunder from a B52. I hope we offer them forward air observers and some heavy bomber support.
Bibi has been talking.
Neither one would qualify for Mel Gibson's breast-oriented words of endearment.
they can start with peretz (who wanted to make peace with syria right after the ceasefire, a mindboggling act of *REAL* weakness), livni the clownette next, then halutz who greatly admired the clinton airpower windjob in bosnia, and the chief jellyfish himself, olmert. ehud olmert make ehud barak look like a patriot...
That's saying a lot.
"Any chance of long-term peace between Lebanon and Israel all but vanished last night after Amir Peretz, the Israeli defence minister, said his country was preparing for another round of fighting."
There has been no chance of long-term peace in the Mid-East since 1946. Maybe someday, but not any time soon.
Go IDF.
Even with more adequate preparation and training, taking out fixed fortifications with infantry is murderous.
True, but block by block, house by house fighting in every single Southern Lebanese villiage was probably not necessary. A significant commitment of Israel ground forces early on seizing all territory south of Litani would have allowed Israel to hit Hizbullah positions within that zone from all sides. Couple this with a policy of not separating the remaining Shia population in S.Lebanon whom actively support Hizbullah from Hizbullah itself would have allowed for a much more robust campaign of choking off and razing each and every village which offered resistance to Israel. Basically, the policy of Israel should have been to drive out the vast majority of non combatants and then annhilate everything and everyone whom offered resistance within the South of Litani zone.
The Israelis could use heavy, precision bombing, which they lack because they don't have the heavy bombers.
Im fine with giving them heavy bombers, but I think since we are basically talking about a relatively small space from the Litani south for most of the intense ground combat, concentrated Israeli artillery tied with the bombing capacity the Israel Air Force can bring to bare should be sufficient to accomplish the mission.
The key here is for Israel to get away from all this PC nonsense about avoiding "civilian" casualties (we Americans also need to drop this sillyness). The Shia in South Lebanon ARE Hizbullah. These people support and vote for Hizbullah. Drive those whom want to leave north, then simply destroy everything within the zone until resistance ceases.
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