The Israelis deny agreeing to letting Annan mediate the release of Goldwasser and Regev. Figures.
The Israelis are also reviewing their battle plans and how their tactics and weapons fared in the conflict. One problem that had deadly consequences? Using Merkava tanks without their smoke generators and training issues that flowed from forces being used in other missions:
At the height of the war, commanders hailed what they were calling the "successful integration" of tanks in the warfare and fighting against Hizbullah. But now that the dust has settled and the tanks have departed Lebanon, the military has been busy investigating the integration of these armored vehicles, with some officers already concluding that the military acted "negligently and irresponsibly" in its use of the tanks during the war.The lessons learned also include the potential purchase of active protection systems against anti-tank weapons, which are responsible for the majority of Israeli casualties in the conflict.
From testimony collected in preparation for the commissions of inquiry set up to investigate the war, the Armored Corps has put together an ominous picture regarding the use of the Merkava tanks. Said to be the "best-protected" tank in the world, the Merkava featured prominently during the war. In total, out of the 400 tanks in Lebanon, close to 50 were hit by the thousands of anti-tank Hizbullah missiles, and 22 were penetrated, leaving close to 30 crew members dead.
According to one of the officers involved in the investigations, the Merkava tanks' protective elements were effective, and had the tanks been used correctly, the number of casualties would have been drastically reduced.
One example the officer gave was the tank's ability to create smokescreens to hide from enemy sights. "There are many different systems on the tank that were just not used," the high-ranking officer told The Jerusalem Post. "The tanks' outer shield proved to be effective in stopping many of the missiles but there were many other systems aboard the tanks that were not used and for no clear reason."
According to the officer, even during the Battle of the Saluki, when 24 tanks from Brigade 401 were stuck in a valley under heavy Hizbullah anti-tank missile fire, the commanders failed to utilize the smokescreen system.
One of the reasons behind the tank crew's failures to properly operate the armored vehicles in Lebanon was their commanders' relatively little amount of hands-on tank training. "All of the brigades have spent the past year operating in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and mostly without tanks," he said. "They were not trained in advance of the war in preparation for the fighting in the Lebanese terrain."
Israel will learn lessons, and so will Hizbullah. Whoever learns the lessons quicker, and is able to integrate those lessons will prevail in the next round.
The Israelis are also noting that the Home Front was not as prepared as it should have been.
Meanwhile, various European nations are prohibiting El Al planes from landing in their countries if they are carrying munitions as part of their cargo shipments from the US.
All the while, Israel continues to uncover Hizbullah weapons caches in South Lebanon. And the UN continues to refuse to disarm Hizbullah by force if necessary.
PM Olmert thinks that the war in Lebanon served as a deterrent to a conflict with Syria. Curious. If anything, it shows that the world will bail out Israel's enemies at the least opportune moment for Israel. That has the effect of encouraging Israel's enemies to fight again and again, knowing that they will never have to live with the full repercussions of a fight with Israel. Israel's enemies cannot be unconditionally defeated because the conditions are thwarted by the international community, leaving the situation in flux.
Technorati: terrorism, fatah, Gilad, Shalit, Olmert, Eliyahu, Asheri, Ashri, Abbas, Regev, Goldwasser, PRC, Hamas, Gaza, palestinian, Israel, hizbullah, hezbullah, hezbollah, lebanon, syria.
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