Now that the war in Lebanon is officially over (who knows for how long), Israeli society is engaging in a rigorous post-mortem of the conflict. The preliminary conclusions are not particularly flattering for Prime Minister Olmert and his government.
The pages of Israel newspapers are now awash with criticism of how this war was conducted. The most telling is a petition signed by IDF reservists who served in the Spearhead Brigade in Lebanon.
The soldiers write
| As we were signing on the battle equipment and weapons, we knew that we were signing for much more. We left behind wives and children, girlfriends and families. We put aside our jobs and livelihoods; we were prepared to carry out our mission under the most difficult of conditions, in heat, thirst or hunger. At the back of his mind, each and every one of us knew, that for the just cause of protecting the citizens of Israel, we would even put our lives on the line. |
But the determination of these brave defenders of Israel was unfortunately not shared by the elected political leaders in Jerusalem.
The heavy feeling that in the echelons above us there is nothing but under-preparation, insincerity, lack of foresight and inability to make rational decisions, leads to the question - were we called up for nothing? We paid a heavy price in order to fight and come out of the battle victorious, and we feel this has been denied of us.’ The "cold feet" of the decision-makers were evident everywhere. The war's aim, which was not defined clearly, was even changed in the course of the fighting. This indecisiveness manifested itself in inaction, in not carrying out operational plans, and in canceling all the missions we were given during the fighting. This led to prolonged stays in hostile territory, without an operational purpose and out of unprofessional considerations, without seeking to engage in combat with the enemy. |
While Prime Minister Olmert and members of his government continue to spin the line that we were victorious, the evidence seems to indicate the contrary. After hundreds of lost lives and millions of dollars of destroyed infrastructure, what did Israel really achieve? Hezbollah has agreed for the moment not to display their weapons in public and there will be an enlarged U.N. force in Lebanon. I hardly call that a victory. Besides for Hezbollah, Iran and Syria, the biggest winner in all of this is going to be the bars and prostitutes of southern Lebanon who will do a roaring trade with all the new U.N. recruits.
After the disastrous Yom Kippur war, Golda Meir did the admirable thing and resigned. I doubt the current leadership has that much integrity. Olmert will no doubt soldier on. Withdrawal from the Golan … convergence from Judea and Samaria. Who knows what he has in store for us next.
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