Posted on 04/12/2009 8:06:20 AM PDT by forkinsocket
A war that ended three years ago and involved not a single U.S. soldier has become the subject of an increasingly heated debate inside the Pentagon, one that could alter how the U.S. military fights in the future.
When Israel and Hezbollah battled for more than a month in Lebanon in the summer of 2006, the result was widely seen as a disaster for the Israeli military. Soon after the fighting ended, some military officers began to warn that the short, bloody and relatively conventional battle foreshadowed how future enemies of the United States might fight.
Since then, the Defense Department has dispatched as many as a dozen teams to interview Israeli officers who fought against Hezbollah. The Army and Marine Corps have sponsored a series of multimillion-dollar war games to test how U.S. forces might fare against a similar foe. "I've organized five major games in the last two years, and all of them have focused on Hezbollah," said Frank Hoffman, a research fellow at the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory in Quantico.
A big reason that the 34-day war is drawing such fevered attention is that it highlights a rift among military leaders: Some want to change the U.S. military so that it is better prepared for wars like the ones it is fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, while others worry that such a shift would leave the United States vulnerable to a more conventional foe.
"The Lebanon war has become a bellwether," said Stephen Biddle, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who has advised Gen. David H. Petraeus, head of the U.S. Central Command.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The Lebanon war was a war of rockets, missiles and anti-tank missiles. They are cheap and very effective. The Hezbollah provoked Israel with rockets and missiles then combated Israeli armour with anti tank missiles. Hezbollah used lots of anti-tank missiles and fired at a lot more than tanks
Armour has lost its advantage and so have our armored ships and aircraft carriers that can be taken out by Sunburn and other Chinese missiles. Russians have a few too I think
Armor is slow plodding and expensive and eats up tons of petrol, needs lots of logistical support while rocket and missile positions are much more mobile and easy to hide. Are the choice of the poorer nations and the guerrillas. Are equalizers
I am sorry for the civilians who will die but their life isn't prosperous at this time any way.
WAR IS UGLY but necessary at times.
The Pentagon is the plodding tank and always fighting the last war...what they should be fighting is the next Israel vs Hezbo war without Olmert & Livni to FitU!
Our armor in Iraq has done quite well.
The biggest problem I see is that the US and Israel have failed to forcefully make the point that using civilians as shields the way Hezbollah and Hamas have done is a defined war crime. It has instead allowed those vermin to declare the deaths of said civilians as a war crime by Israel. Ever since Vietnam, the war of information to the public is just as vital as the actual military war. And the left plays that war with no morals or constraint of truth. We have to be much more forceful getting the truth out.
Humvees were death traps for IEDs before they were armored, and Strykers were extremely effective in Iraq.
It has been my understanding that tactics is what must be changed to fight a war such as Israel fought in Lebanon. I vividly remember reading an Israeli soldier’s interview. He was under fire. He had the firepower, but the Terrorists had a little girl in front of them screaming, “Don’t shoot me! Don’t shoot me!” an the Israelis. What would a normal person do?
From my brief readings about warfare, I think that “collateral damage and casualties” have been generated to decrease the effectiveness of our war fighting capabilities.
My opinion on how to fight a war.
1) Blackout all media coverage
2) Kill the enemy
That takes care of it.
MRAPS?
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
..................
Activists picket outside ‘pro-Israel’ McDonalds
The Daily Star | April 08, 2009 | Marc Abizeid
Posted on 04/12/2009 8:19:01 AM PDT by forkinsocket
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2227521/posts
Thanks for the pings.
You have a point. General Sherman regarded all reporters as no better than spies.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.