Winograd Report II
The essential military failure of the Second Lebanon War is contained in this paragraph from the Winograd press conference.
"Overall, we regard the 2nd Lebanon war as a serious missed opportunity. Israel initiated a long war, which ended without its clear military victory. A semi-military organization of a few thousand men resisted, for a few weeks, the strongest army in the Middle East, which enjoyed full air superiority and size and technology advantages. The barrage of rockets aimed at Israel's civilian population lasted throughout the war, and the IDF did not provide an effective response to it. The fabric of life under fire was seriously disrupted, and many civilians either left their home temporarily or spent their time in shelters. After a long period of using only standoff fire power and limited ground activities, Israel initiated a large scale ground offensive, very close to the Security Council resolution imposing a cease fire. This offensive did not result in military gains and was not completed. These facts had far-reaching implications for us, as well as for our enemies, our neighbors, and our friends in the region and around the world."
This paragraph states the obvious loss of deterrence by the IDF and the apparent lack of concern of the higher echelons for the status of the civilian population in the north. Both of these factors will come back to haunt us. Hizbollah and others will consider this a victory and will certainly try again.
Apart from this comparative military debacle, the political leadership, now exemplified by PM Olmert, failed to accept full responsibility for the failures of the conduct of the war and resign. This too does not bode well for the future of political leadership in Israel. Everyone should send a message to the PM's office and tell him to resign. Here is the address: https://mail1.ekmd.huji.ac.il/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng At present 57% of the public feel that Olmert should resign while 33% think he should not (poll reported today on IBA News). Only by such a campaign can we let Olmert know that he does not have the confidence of the majority of the public as he goes into far-reaching and dangerous negotiations with the PA leadership.
"Overall, we regard the 2nd Lebanon war as a serious missed opportunity. Israel initiated a long war, which ended without its clear military victory. A semi-military organization of a few thousand men resisted, for a few weeks, the strongest army in the Middle East, which enjoyed full air superiority and size and technology advantages. The barrage of rockets aimed at Israel's civilian population lasted throughout the war, and the IDF did not provide an effective response to it. The fabric of life under fire was seriously disrupted, and many civilians either left their home temporarily or spent their time in shelters. After a long period of using only standoff fire power and limited ground activities, Israel initiated a large scale ground offensive, very close to the Security Council resolution imposing a cease fire. This offensive did not result in military gains and was not completed. These facts had far-reaching implications for us, as well as for our enemies, our neighbors, and our friends in the region and around the world."
This paragraph states the obvious loss of deterrence by the IDF and the apparent lack of concern of the higher echelons for the status of the civilian population in the north. Both of these factors will come back to haunt us. Hizbollah and others will consider this a victory and will certainly try again.
Apart from this comparative military debacle, the political leadership, now exemplified by PM Olmert, failed to accept full responsibility for the failures of the conduct of the war and resign. This too does not bode well for the future of political leadership in Israel. Everyone should send a message to the PM's office and tell him to resign. Here is the address: https://mail1.ekmd.huji.ac.il/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng At present 57% of the public feel that Olmert should resign while 33% think he should not (poll reported today on IBA News). Only by such a campaign can we let Olmert know that he does not have the confidence of the majority of the public as he goes into far-reaching and dangerous negotiations with the PA leadership.
posted by Jack Cohen at 7:51 PM
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