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48 Hours of Midnight
By John
Why did Israel agree to strip themselves of their most decisive strategic advantage --their control of the Lebanese airspace-- for 2 days?
1) Bone toss to Secretary Rice: It was important that Secretary Rice's trip produce tangible results. This is the tightrope that the US has to walk. On one hand, we want Hezbollah destroyed just as badly as Israel does, on the other we have spent the last few years weaving a complex tapestry of relationships and alliances in the Middle East in support of our own war on terror. Coming out too strongly in support of Israel jeopardizes our ability to fight wars elsewhere. It's unfortunate, but the nature of this beast we call the war on terror.
2) Qana: Critical that the incident in Qana appear isolated and accidental, despite the fact that the Law of Armed Conflict and Geneva Convention place blame for the incident squarely on Hezbollah's shoulders. This move on Israel's part is as much of a language as it is a strategy, and the message to the Lebanese people is: "if you see Hezbollah fighters in your backyard, get out of Dodge. You've got two days."
3) The Israeli Democracy: Israel the Democracy faces the same warfighting challenges as America the Democracy. Politicians think about winning the public, Generals think about winning the battle. Both want to win the war. The airstrike pause was a political decision, whether or not it had the support of the Israel high command is subject to speculation.
Final thought: It's unlikely that Israel denies their ground troops the air support that they need. It's likely that Israel will refrain from hitting the dense civilian areas where Hezbollah cowers for the next day and a half or so, but that doesn't mean that they will deny their ground pounders close air support. Expect thunder and lightning when the IAF gets their greenlight to resume combat operations.
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» MidEast War: 61 from Pajamas Media
July 31, 2006 12:00 PDT Frequent updates. Scroll. Previous coverage @ right. Links to Lebanese and Israeli bloggers covering the conflict are @ Truth Laid Bear, plus a map view of bloggers in war zone. Map of war zone here.... [Read More]
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