So we now have a cease-fire which ended a month of fighting. It might be nice if we could hold up clear military goals achieved in that month, but I’m not sure that’s the case.
On top of that, I’m hearing a lot in the press and from friends who spent the entire month in Lebanon fighting that there were huge problems with supply lines. There was a lack of basic needs: food, water & ammunition. The press is having a field day with the story of the Chief of Staff selling his shares in the hours after the kidnapping. Those who didn’t fight think this is a huge scandal. Most I’ve heard from who did fight think that it’s not great, but that it’s incidental compared to the other problems they encountered.
I finally was able to speak yesterday with the last of my friends who was in Lebanon. They are all out, safe & healthy. I’m sure that we’ll be hearing more and more stories of what occured in Lebanon as more and more soldiers return home. Some will be good, but I expect unfortunately to hear of more problems, too.
Maybe I’m just being pessimistic. I have the utmost respect for our soldiers who fought, and for those who gave their lives. Soldiers depend on a certain level of trust with their command, both civilian and military. They need to trust that the command will give them the tools necesary to do the job, and that the request to give of themselves will be for a reason. We got into this for a purpose. I, like most Israelis fully stood behind the PM when all of this began in July. However, I think that something happened along the way and the government lost sight of the goal. We’ve lost over 120 soldiers, yet we have not disarmed Hezbollah, and our 2 soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah terrorists are not freed. Yes, there are some very interesting things happening. The Lebanese army is now about to deploy South of the Litani. That’s important, and perhaps even good for us. But that wasn’t one of the stated goals when we went to battle. So is this a case of post-war spin? Are new goals being developed because we didn’t achieve what we set out for, and the politicians wanted to dial back the war?
I don’t have answers yet, and until there is an enquiry, nobody will. I do think that we’re most likely in a temporary situation, and that if something doesn’t change in a significant way, we’ll be back on the other side of the border within the year. I hope we can find a way to avoid what seems today to be inevitable.
Update: Here is a brief article on Debka listing some of the serious complaints coming from soldiers who were in Lebanon.
[tags]Israel, Lebanon, war, MidEast, Middle-East[/tags]
