Evaluating lessons of the Israel-Lebanon War

Is the war on? Off? In-between?

IDF officer killed in commando raid in east Lebanon; operation aimed to prevent arms deliveries to Hebzollah [sic] by Amos Harel Ha'aretz 08/20/06. And they were wearing - Lebanese uniforms? What is that about?

Clash Puts Cease Fire at Risk by Bruce Wallace Los Angeles Times 08/19/06.

In a post at Old Hickory's Weblog, I discussed a paper just release by Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on preliminary lessons of the war. Cordesman's paper is here: Preliminary "Lessons" of the Israeli-Hezbollah War 08/17/06.

Helena Cobban has also posted some thoughts on his paper in Cordesman on Iran-Hizbullah 'link' Just World News blog 08/18/06. Her comments focus particular attention on a passage in Cordesman's paper (that also caught my eye as more than an incidental point, even though he doesn't emphasize it). In his interviews with Israeli officials and military analysts, he found that "no serving Israeli official, intelligence officer, or other military officer felt that the Hezbollah acted under the direction of Iran or Syria."

She does call attention to the fact that Cordesman was "invited" on this trip to Israel by the American Jewish Committee, a group that is not a neutral organization in matters relating to Israel. She suggests that the AJC's invitation may have led him to enagage "in some deliberate obfuscation about the degree to which the Israeli military engaged in 'restraint' and 'proportionality' during its actions in Lebanon." That was also something that jumped out at me in Cordesman's paper, that he seemed to be soft-pedalling the very substantial questions (to put it mildly and blandly) about the proportionality of Israel's response to the Hizbullah raid of July 12. Especially since it now looks like Israel had been waiting perhaps as much as a year or more for a provocation to launch this military campaign, and had some specific consultations about it with the Cheney-Bush administration in the weeks prior.

But Cobban praises Cordesman's general objectivity and good sense as a military analyst, which are big parts of what make him one of the best of those around. And she also emphasizes a number of aspects of the paper that provide new insights into the war, especially from the Israeli perspective.

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