smilingassassin

Look...I don't mind people posting articles, its the 10 articles in a row that pisses me off. When the end result is 10 posts in one thread that tell me everything I've already heard on every freaking news station.......

Confed999

I don't watch the news.

__________________
No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

troung

http://today.reuters.com/news/articl...1-ArticlePage1

Rocket strike kills 12 Israeli soldiers
Sun Aug 6, 2006 2:10pm ET

By Nadim Ladki

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hizbollah killed 12 Israeli soldiers on Sunday in its deadliest rocket strike yet and Israeli bombs killed 19 Lebanese civilians as Lebanon rejected a draft U.N. resolution to end the 26-day-old war.

More Hizbollah rockets hit the northern Israeli city of Haifa, killing at least one person and wounding many more, medics said. A police commander told Israel Radio that a rocket slammed into two adjacent houses, causing them to partly collapse. Several people were trapped in the rubble.

In the Israeli village of Kfar Giladi, a rocket hit a group of Israeli reservists called up for the Lebanon offensive. Medics said 12 were killed and dozens were wounded.


Soldiers near the scene held their heads and one wept as a military ambulance pulled away. Helicopters landed nearby to fly the badly wounded to hospitals further from the war front.

"I don't recall so many dead ever. This is terrible," said Ron Valensi, head of the upper Galilee municipal council and a resident of Kfar Giladi, speaking on Channel 2 Television.

Lebanon's parliament speaker Nabih Berri said his country rejected the U.S.-French draft Security Council resolution because it would let Israeli forces stay on Lebanese soil.

Berri, a Shi'ite politician who has been the main channel between Hizbollah and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, said the draft ignored the Beirut government's seven-point plan calling for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the return of all displaced civilians among other things.

"All of Lebanon rejects any resolution that is outside these seven points," Berri told a news conference.

Lebanon submitted an amendment to the Security Council calling for an Israeli withdrawal to be added to the resolution.

SMIRMISHES EXPECTED

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that agreeing on a resolution would not end all fighting.

"I would hope that you would see very early on an end to large-scale violence," she said, but did not rule out "skirmishes for some time to come".


U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said that once a resolution was adopted, Washington wanted a second one establishing a peacekeeping force in days, not weeks.

Hizbollah, backed by Syria and Iran, has killed 58 Israeli soldiers and 34 civilians in the conflict, sparked when its men seized two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12.

The Israeli army said on Sunday it had captured one of the Hizbollah fighters who took part in the seizure of the soldiers.

At least 759 people have been killed in Lebanon during the war, including 16 overnight and on Sunday in the bombing of five southern villages.

Two civilians died when an Israeli air strike hit a pickup truck ahead of a U.N. aid convoy heading for the southern city of Tyre, U.N. sources said. Continued...

__________________
To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

troung

Heavy clashes reported in village of Ras A-Baida
By YAAKOV KATZ AND JPOST.COM STAFF
[Print this Article] [EMail this Article] [Subscribe] [SMS Alerts] [JPost Toolbar] [JPost ePaper]

Talkbacks for this article: 29

Heavy clashes between IDF reservists and Hizbullah guerillas were reported in the southern Lebanese village of Ras A-Baida on Sunday morning as the IDF completed the establishment of a security zone in southern Lebanon.

At least one Hizbullah operative was killed.

Meanwhile, it was released on Sunday that in the past 48 hours, special forces operated south of Tyre. The troops destroyed 3 rocket launchers, a bunker, three weapons warehouses, and three cars used to transport rockets.

Two reserve soldiers were killed in clashes with Hizbullah in southern Lebanon on Saturday. Army forces killed at least 50 Hizbullah guerillas over the weekend, the IDF said.

Cpl. Kiril Kazhsan, 26, from Haifa, a reservist from Brigade Two, was killed when an anti-tank missile hit a building in which he was stationed in the southern Lebanese village of Ita A-Sha'ab Saturday afternoon. At least 19 others were wounded - one seriously - in heavy exchanges of fire in the same village. Kazhsan will be laid to rest at 4 p.m. on Sunday in the military cemetary in Haifa.

Capt. Dr. Igor Rothstein, 34, from Poriya Neve-Oved, also in the reserves, was killed by an anti-tank missile fired at ground forces on Friday during clashes in southern Lebanon. He will be laid to rest at 5 p.m. on Sunday in the military cemetary in Be'ersheba.

The two were the first reservists killed in combat since the fighting in Lebanon began.

Meanwhile, an IDF soldier was seriously wounded after being hit by a mortar shell on the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon. He was evacuated to Nahariya Hospital where he was operated and stabilized. Another soldier sustained light injuries.

OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Udi Adam said on Saturday that he expected to see a decrease in the extent and range of the Hizbullah rocket attacks on Israel, as the terrorists would be pushed further and further northward.

troung

Last update - 15:45 07/08/2006


IDF reservists: Our missions are unclear, our combat equipment is antiquated

By Amiram Barkat and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents

Reserve soldiers are returning from fighting in south Lebanon with harsh criticisms of their operational preparedness and the combat equipment with which they had been supplied.

After three days of combat in south Lebanon, infantry soldiers from the Israel Defense Force's reserve Carmeli Battalion returned Sunday to Israel.

A., a young reservist who spent his mandatory service in the Golani Brigade during the second intifada, said, "For two days, we barely made any progress. The soldiers simply don't really know what the mission is. You are mostly kept busy with protecting yourself."

Interviews with the battalion's soldiers revealed a picture of complicated fighting under heavy Hezbollah fire in which the soldiers know very little of their mission.

Nearly every reserve unit has complained about a lack of emergency equipment over the past several days.

The soldier's in A.'s brigade operated in the villages of Kila and Bnei al-Awad in the central sector. A. says that things he witnessed in recent days in Lebanon bear no resemblance to anything he saw as a recruit in the Palestinian territories. "We seized a few homes in the village under constant bombardment from mortar shells," A. says. "It is nothing like the territories. During daylight hours, you do not see a living soul. You barely see anything at night either. There are apparently people who pass Hezbollah information regarding the location of our forces and they fire mortar shells. The shells fall around you and that is frightening.

"Many soldiers don't have short-barreled M-16 rifles, communications equipment or even tourniquets," "A" said.

Hanan (fictitious name), who serves in an elite reserve unit, said soldiers returning from combat in Lebanon were forced to hand their weapons over to soldiers heading north across the border.

Gili is also a soldier in an elite reserve infantry unit that is supposed to be supplied with the most sophisticated equipment. One week ago, when his unit was deployed to Lebanon, it became clear that most of their wartime equipment was missing from their emergency warehouses.

"We are supposed to enter the fray against guerilla fighters who have been training for six years," Gili said Monday. "And our weapons are the only advantage that we have over them. During all the years that I served in the reserves, we had the best equipment but now that we have reached the moment of truth the equipment has vanished."

Soldiers from the Alexandroni Brigade now serving in Lebanon were shocked to discover they were issued equipment dating from the first Lebanon war in 1982.

"My helmet was manufactured in 1981," said 22-year-old Gal. "It is three years older than me."

The unit's maintenance officer, Eli Altman, said the newest equipment was naturally distributed to combat soldiers in the regular army. Altman added, however, "We could have ensured that the equipment in our warehouses would be useable."

Less deployment, more training
Former chief reserve officer Brigadier General Ariel Heimann said he was troubled by the combat fitness level of reserve soldiers.

It is no secret that the IDF's reserve units were the main victims of budget cuts over the past several years.

"The easiest thing is to cut training hours," Heimann said. "What is clear is that the reserve units have not been trained enough. The extent to which this lack of training is critical can only be measured during combat."

Against the background of budget cuts, Heimann and others led reforms in reserve service in which it was decided to exempt reserve forces from military operations and limit their days of service to training. Heimann maintains that the current war proves the wisdom of this decision.

Contrary to soldiers in the regular army, reservists are not required to maintain their fitness level.

Before their deployment in Lebanon, soldiers from the Alexandroni Brigade trained for three days. During this short period of time, the reservists were meant to prepare themselves long hikes through steep, rocky terrain while carrying equipment weighing up to 40 kilograms.

Reserve deputy battalion commander Major Ziv Rozelman said their extensive combat experience and their earlier periods of deployment in Lebanon give make up for their lower fitness levels.

Deputy Battalion Commander Major Ziv Rozelman claims that reservists' previous combat experience and the fact that, unlike recruits, they served in Lebanon in the past compensates for their lack of physical fitness. "There is no doubt that enlisted soldiers are stronger but we are like old bulls: We work slowly but surely and take no risks."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/747356.html

===

troung

The TimesAugust 05, 2006


Soldiers collapsed with relief and exhaustion, greeting colleagues and calling home (JACK HILL)
'Hezbollah aren't suckers, they know how to fight. You're scared all the time'

By Stephen Farrell
Israeli soldiers recount stories of a terrifying week facing the snipers and missiles of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon


AT FIRST light they filtered from the undergrowth, camouflaged, laden with captured hunting rifles and crested Lebanese scimitars, and high-fiving with relief at still being alive.
After nearly a week of vicious ditch-to-ditch fighting with Hezbollah fighters in the village of Taibeh, hundreds of exhausted Israeli soldiers slipped back across the border early yesterday after the hardest fighting they had ever experienced.
NI_MPU('middle');As they trudged across the brow of a hill in broken single file they were indistinguishable in their battle fatigues and green face paint — some even black out their teeth in Hezbollahland — and all were drunk on adrenalin. “I was hoping to go in and kill Hezbollonim. I killed three,” one shouted as he embraced colleagues from the Nahal Brigade.
As soon as they reached the outskirts of an Israeli hilltop town, which cannot be named for security reasons, they stopped and cleared their M16 automatic rifles in unison — the last task before they could relax. Some then reached inside their huge battlepacks for their mobile phones to call families and girlfriends. Others collapsed with exhaustion, washing away their fear with bottles of cola and lungfuls of cigarette smoke. A few grabbed newspapers to find out how their war was going. “What is happening in other places? What is happening in Gaza?” one asked The Times.
Down a sidestreet a cluster of Israeli tourist buses waited with drinks and packed lunches. Slowly the soldiers began morphing from death-bringers to nice Jewish boys preparing for the Sabbath, peeling off clothes and cavorting halfnaked with each other beside the bougainvillea.
As they did so, all the rainbow shades of Israeli society began to re-emerge — secular, Orthodox, Ashkenazi, Mizrahi, Sabra, Ethiopian, Russian, Brooklyn. To their matted hair they pinned all types of skullcap — knitted, military-green, Braslav, settler or none at all. But on one thing they were unanimous: the prowess of their foe.
“It was hell. They are really well trained. They’re not suckers, they know how to fight,” said one, slumped on the pavement. “You’re scared the whole time over there. We didn’t get any sleep the whole week.” There was not a voice of dissent.
The soldiers told how they had worked their way through the dry, scrubby hillsides towards Taibeh, facing continual attacks from Hezbollah sniper and anti-tank missile positions concealed in houses, farms, underground bunkers and seemingly deserted streets.
To counter this they called in frequent support from 155mm artillery batteries on the Israeli side of the border, which pounded Taibeh sending huge plumes of smoke into the sky.
“We killed ten, and the artillery must have killed thirty or forty,” said a soldier who, like his colleagues, was not allowed to give his name. He had simply lost count of Hezbollah’s attacks. “Many, many, it was very bad because you don’t know where they are coming from. But we succeeded.”
Another soldier said that serving in the Palestinian militant stronghold of Jenin in the West Bank, as he had, was nothing compared with fighting Hezbollah’s guerrillas. “It was horrible,” he said. “You don’t know what it’s like, with every second a rocket- propelled grenade shooting over your head.”
A third soldier said: “All the time, they fired missiles at us. They never come face to face, just missiles. When we find them we kill them. It’s just not right, the way we are doing it. Our air force can just bomb villages and not risk our lives fighting over there.”
Another, slugging cola as his friends posed for photos, added: “It feels good to do the job. And come out alive.”
More than 40 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the 25 days of fighting.
Watched by bemused Thai immigrants, who, post-intifada, have replaced the cheap Palestinian labour upon which the Israeli economy once relied, one soldier shouted: “I love this country.”
Some of the returned fighters were optimistic. “We will defeat all the Arabs,” said one.
But others, chastened by their experiences north of the border, were less sure. “It’s a lose-lose situation,” said one. “They’re a bunch of terrorists. We are an army. We can never beat them completely because we have to obey certain rules. They operate from within civilian populations, and can do whatever they like. They don’t give a **** about these things. “So it doesn’t matter if we are there for another couple of days or two weeks. But what is very important is that this is a just war on our part. Because they are a bunch of f***ing terrorists.”


Additional reporting by Yonit Farago</I>

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...299682,00.html

troung

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/747978.html

Under fire: Reservists report problems with equipment, shelter.
By Roni Singer

HerutiReserve soldiers called up for duty in the North are reporting a severe lack of equipment and major problems with equipment they have been issued, unsuitable protection during Katyusha fire, and insufficient food.

"I feel like we've been thrown into the field and told to get along," Ram Dagan, who serves with a combat unit called up to the Lebanese border 10 days ago, said on his first leave.
"I'm not talking about showers, not even about the food that's lacking, but about basic equipment to protect us. The helmets we've been issued are old-fashioned and hardly can be closed, and the body armor is 30 years old. It doesn't close on the sides or on the neck. We don't have a place to take shelter from rocket attack, and we are under fire all the time.
We've been told that when we come under fire we should go into the APCs. But there are too many soldiers and not enough APCs. And anyway, they're not missile-proof," he said.

Dagan said he was near the site of the rocket attack that killed 12 reservists at Kfar GIladi, and the soles of his shoes were burned in the ensuing fire. "I asked for new shoes, and I was told the supply truck left, and nobody knows when it will be back. Since then, I've been walking around wearing shoes with no soles. "

Ilan Sasson, a reservist who serves in the artillery corps, said: "I don't like to talk against the army, but this time it's gone too far. There's hardly water for a shower and drinking water is a problem. There's either not enough food, or there's too much and it gets thrown out. We haven't been issued helmets or body armor. We have nowhere to go when under fire, because the buildings are like cardboard. That's all everybody talks about. I don't even know who to turn to about it," he said.

Dagan said that when he approached his battalion commander, he was told "that's the way it is in war."

"Next to Beit Hillel, we saw a pile of concrete barriers nobody was using. If they had brought those to protect the soldiers at Kfar Giladi, nobody would have been killed," Dagan said. "It angers me to hear criticism of the soldiers, as if they didn't follow procedure. What procedure? We have no protection. Let the commanders who are criticizing come out of their bunkers and see how we look.

troung

Released for publication: 15 soldiers killed, 4 injured in various incidents in southern Lebanon

15 soldiers were killed in four incidents in southern Lebanon. In one incident an anti-tank missile was fired at a tank. Members of the tank crew were killed.

In another incident, a missile was fired at a structure containing soldiers from an elite reserve unit. Military arms were also blown up. Part of the building crashed causing the deaths of nine soldiers. (Hanan Greenberg)

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7...289000,00.html


15 reservists killed in Lebanon battles

Bloody day for Israeli army: Troops killed in series of incidents across southern Lebanon; one reservist killed by friendly fire. IDF helicopters evacuate 34 injured troops to hospitals in north

Hanan Greenberg

Entire country weeping: Fifteen reserve soldiers were killed on Wednesday in four different incidents across south Lebanon. The reservists' families have been notified of their death.

On 8 a.m. a reservist was killed by friendly fire in the eastern sector. Three hours later, an antitank missile was fired at an IDF tank, killing the four crewmen inside. The most difficult incident took place at about noon, when a missile that was fired at a building soldiers were staying in caused the building to collapse, claiming the lives of nine reservists.

In the evening, a reservist was killed by a mortar shell.

Throughout the day, helicopters have evacuated the wounded to hospitals across Israel's north: Rambam in Haifa, Ziv in Safed and the Nahariya hospital.


8 a.m. – Reservist killed by friendly fire

The deadly day began when a reserve soldier was killed Wednesday morning, two of his comrades were seriously injured and another five troops sustained light injuries in a friendly fire incident near the village of al-Taibeh in the eastern sector of south Lebanon.

Nahal Brigade forces entered the eastern sector Tuesday night, along with the 52 Armored Battalion, and moved westward in the direction of the town of Qantara. At the same time, a reserve Paratrooper force was conducting an ambush in the area. As a result of what appears to be a mistaken identification, the Nahal force came to believe that the reserve units were Hizbullah gunmen, and consequently a tank was ordered to fire a missile at their direction, hitting the reservists.

An initial IDF inquiry indicated that the mistake was the result of a failure in coordinating the forces' moves in the sector. However, army officials said that it was still early to draw final conclusions, and that it was possible that fire was also opened at the force from a different direction.

The casualties are members of the 226 Paratrooper Brigade, whose men were hurt in the Katyusha attack on Kfar Giladi on Sunday.


11 a.m. – Tank destroyed by missile

Four soldiers were killed before noon Wednesday after an antitank missile fired by Hizbullah gunmen hit and destroyed an IDF tank in the village of Aita al-Shaab. The soldiers' families have been notified of their death.
The tank that was struck belonged to the 847 reserve brigade, which has been operating in the sector under the command of the Carmeli reserve brigade. IDF sources reported that immediately after the attack the tank caught fire and soldiers were unable to approach it.

IDF sources assessed that a Kornet-type missile hit the tank, probably from close range. The fire that had erupted in the tank led officials to believe that the tanks' fire extinguisher system had failed to function.

"Hizbullah's gunmen are using modern missiles. Unfortunately, in this case, the missile hit the tank and caused the death of the four crewmen," an official explained.


1:30 p.m. – Soldiers trapped underneath building

Nine elite IDF unit soldiers were killed, seven troops have been seriously injured, and 10 sustained light to moderate wounds after a building they were staying in collapsed as a result of a missile strike in the Lebanese village of Dibel.

Shortly after 1 p.m. Hizbullah gunmen fired several missiles at a structure in which the soldiers were staying. One missile hit the building, causing an arms cache to explode. Several soldiers were hurt as a result. A short while later, the structure partially collapsed, and a few other troops were hurt as well.

The forces on the ground reported of difficulties in rescuing the soldiers that have been buried underneath the rubble. Home Front Command units stationed in northern Israel have also been placed on high alert in case they need to enter Lebanon and assist with the rescue efforts.


8 p.m. – deadly mortar shell in eastern sector

In the evening hours, a reserve soldier was killed by a mortar shell in the village of Kalia near Marj Ayoun in the eastern sector. Two other troops were moderately injured.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7...288870,00.html

troung

Hizbollah tactics put Israelis on closer footing By Dan Williams
Wed Aug 9, 9:05 PM ET

YAROUN, Lebanon (Reuters) - They move on foot by moonlight. They set up hilltop sniper nests and lookouts. They hit enemy forces at vulnerable points and then quietly retreat.

Such are the tactics increasingly used by Israeli troops in south Lebanon -- adopted, in some part, from the very Hizbollah guerrillas they have been trying to beat back for over a month.

The shift on the ground is the result of Israel's painful realization that the massive technological superiority of its air force, navy and armor is of little use against a motivated militia deeply dug in around several Lebanese strongholds.

And it promises a guerrilla-style campaign on a grand scale, especially after Israel approved expanding the war this week.

"We are learning as we go, and very, very quickly," an Israeli army officer, Lieutenant Eyal Yossinger, said during an advance on suspected Hizbollah hideouts near Yaroun village.

The most striking development is Israel's growing preference for moving its troops on foot rather than in armored personnel carriers (APCs) or inside capacious Merkava battle tanks.

Hizbollah squads using various anti-tank rockets have turned many of those vehicles into fiery death-traps, and the belief among Israel's top brass is that guerrillas are less likely to waste valuable arms on infantrymen dispersed in the field.

The battlegrounds are criss-crossed with thick white fibers that troops wade through without concern. These are the guidance wires left behind by spent Sagger anti-tank missiles.

While regular troops maneuver en masse under cover of dark, conducting house-to-house searches in villages with Hizbollah hold-outs, there has been a growing number of Israeli special forces' missions designed to surprise the guerrillas.

Israeli sharpshooters, with spotters in tow, now deploy at strategic hilltops with .50 caliber rifles capable of hitting their would-be Hizbollah ambushers at long ranges.

Commandos have struck at suspected Hizbollah leaders deep in Lebanon, raids that cost Israel relatively little in terms of military casualties but offered morale boosts for a Jewish state rattled by hundreds of cross-border missile salvoes.

"Fighting on the enemy's homefront, in a place where Hizbollah feels immune and protected, has profound operational significance," said Yochanan Locker, an Israeli air force brigadier-general in charge of special operations.

FACE-OFF

The south Lebanon face-off appears for now to be a reversal of Israel's 22-year occupation of the area, which ended in 2000.

Then, it was Israeli forces that hunkered down in fortified positions, awaiting attack by roaming Hizbollah teams. Now Hizbollah has to fend off Israeli ground assaults, with the added disadvantage of lacking good supply lines to the north.

Israeli military officials say around 20 Hizbollah men have been captured, some having surrendered and others taken asleep.

"This lack of vigilance is an indication of the extent to which Hizbollah has been exhausted, and could signify a ***** in the armor of their famous resolve," said army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Olivier Rafowicz, adding that the captives had provided "key intelligence" on guerrilla deployments.

In Beirut, Hizbollah sources disputed Israel's account of the number of captives. One veteran foreign observer said the guerrilla group's morale also appeared not have been impaired.

"The fighters I have seen remain in good spirits and believe the war is going well for them," said Nicholas Blanford, a Beirut-based analyst for Jane's Defense Weekly.

Polls in Israel show public support for the war is similarly robust, and superior firepower could help Israeli forces prevail unless a diplomatic solution is found first.

But few on either side dispute that the slow and bloody pace of the conflict has been a blow to Israel's military prestige, especially to an armored corps that, in the past, bested enemy tank divisions and is now vexed by lightly armed guerrillas.

A half-dozen Israeli tanks, including locally made Merkavas, have been destroyed or disabled during the offensive launched after Hizbollah killed eight soldiers and abducted two in a July 12 border raid. There have been some 20 tank crew casualties, a rate unmatched in the past quarter-century of Israeli campaigns.

"It makes sense for the Israelis to adapt their tactics on the ground to suit the guerrilla-style warfare they are facing," Blanford said. "Tanks have traditionally been the Israeli army's most valued offensive weapon on the ground, but this time around they are proving to be an Achilles' heel."

Two Israeli weapons firms have developed electro-magnetic defense systems for armored vehicles that destroy rockets in mid-air before they strike, but these are still at the prototype stage. Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said production had been stepped up in order to supply tanks stationed in Lebanon.

(Additional reporting by Nadim Ladki in Beirut)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060810/...kxBHNlYwN0bQ--

troung

30 Tanks Wiped Out in Lebanon
12:01 Aug 11, '06 / 17 Av 5766


(IsraelNN.com) IDF officials admit that the biggest surprise of the ongoing war against Hizbullah is the ease by which terrorists have destroyed IDF tanks.

At least 30 tanks have been totally destroyed or seriously damaged in bomb and anti-tank rocket attacks involving state-of-the-art Russian anti-tank rockets.

About one-half of the military personnel killed in southern Lebanon were inside tanks.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=109793

troung

Tactics that have kept the Middle East’s most powerful army at bay

August 10, 2006

From Nicholas Blanford in Tyre, Daniel McGrory in Beirut and Stephen Farrell in Haifa

FOR four weeks Hezbollah’s fighters have defied the might of the Israeli military.
A guerrilla force that was supposed to be crushed in days has prevented Israeli troops capturing more than a handful of villages in southern Lebanon, killed more than 100 Israeli soldiers and civilians and is still raining missiles on northern Israel. In the eyes of Arabs and Muslims Hezbollah has already “won” the month-long war simply because it has not been defeated by the Middle East’s most powerful army.

Hezbollah has made good use of the six years since Israel withdrew its troops from southern Lebanon. With help from Syria and Iran it has amassed large arsenals, laid traps, built an intricate system of bunkers and tunnels, studied Israeli military tactics and developed a well-trained force of highly motivated fighters.
Israeli soldiers have been shaken by the fighters’ skill and commitment, describing them as an army, not a rabble. “Even I have been surprised at the tenacity of these groups fighting in the villages,” Timur Goksel, who served with UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon from 1979 to 2003, said. “They have fought far beyond my expectations and they haven’t even committed all their fully experienced troops yet.”

Here are the keys to Hezbollah’s success:

ANTI-TANK MISSILES

Small teams of trained fighters have used advanced missiles to knock out the formidable Merkava tank, and older versions to punch through the walls of houses sheltering Israeli soldiers.

Most are Saggers, an outdated Soviet wire-guided missile first used in the 1960s. In the late 1990s Hezbollah began firing more accurate wire-guided TOW anti-tank missiles. In this war, Hezbollah has for the first time used the Russian Metis-M, which has a range of a mile and can be fitted with an anti-armour warhead or a fuel-air explosive warhead to use against troops or bunkers. Hezbollah may also be using the laser-guided Kornet-E anti-tank missile, which has a range of about 3½ miles.

Individual Hezbollah fighters carry the shoulder-fired RPG29, a more advanced version of the RPG7 beloved of guerrilla groups since the 1960s. It has a dual-purpose warhead. “The first punches through the armour and the second is aimed at the personnel,” Elias Hanna, a retired Lebanese general, said.
Hezbollah’s ability to knock out Merkava tanks has frustrated the traditional Israeli military doctrine of rapid armoured thrusts deep into enemy territory.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

Hezbollah is thought to have no more than 1,000 elite frontline fighters, with perhaps 3,000 in reserve. They will be drawn from the villages where they are fighting, using their intimate knowledge of the local terrain. They communicate by walkie-talkie, constantly changing the frequency and using a code that draws on their personal knowledge of each other and the surrounding area. Some reportedly used souped-up off-road motorbikes to launch hit-and-run attacks then escape along obscure tracks. Hezbollah also has drones to spy on Israeli movements.

BUNKERS

From 2000, Hezbollah developed a secret military infrastructure in southern Lebanon, consisting of tunnels, expanded natural caves and underground bunkers where weapons were stored and fighters could live. Much of this construction work was carried out at night in remote stretches of the border.
Israeli troops have talked of finding bunkers housing command-and-control centres and advanced eavesdropping and surveillance equipment and monitoring cameras. The Israelis speak of battle-hardened Hezbollah fighters constantly popping up from unknown hiding places, firing, and then vanishing again.

MOTIVATION

Israeli officers regard Hezbollah fighters, many trained in Iran, as highly motivated but not careless of their lives in the manner of Palestinian militants often intent on glory through death. Mr Goksel said: “Hezbollah is not afraid of the Israelis. After 18 years fighting Israeli troops, they see them as vulnerable human beings who make mistakes and are afraid like anyone else.”

SNIPERS

Hezbollah marksmen equipped with high-powered rifles lie undercover for days at a time, picking off Israeli soldiers when the opportunity arises. Their marksmanship is impressive. In July 2004 a Hezbollah sniper shot dead two Israeli soldiers from a range of 500 yards.

ROCKETS

Israeli commanders claim to have destroyed many of Hezbollah’s long-range rocket launchers, including the 600mm Zelzal that can reach Tel Aviv. But the standard 122mm Katyushas can be fired more easily by mobile teams without the need for launchers visible to spotter drones or surveillance planes. These rockets are generally fired from multibarrelled launchers on the back of flat-bed trucks, but they can also be fired singly, even from a simple mounting of crossed sticks that is all but invisible to Israeli drones when hidden inside an olive grove. Last week Israeli commandos staged a pre-dawn raid on an apartment block in Tyre housing Hezbollah militants who had been firing long-range rockets into Israel. Two Hezbollah militants were killed, but rockets were being fired from the same location hours later.

ROADSIDE BOMBS

These killed more Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon in the 1990s than any other weapon, and the technology is now much more sophisticated. Early versions consisted of home-made claymore-style explosive charges that spray hundreds of ball bearings, and were detonated by a command wire or remote radio control.
Hezbollah bombs today include shaped-charge warheads that concentrate the blast in a single direction to punch through the walls of armoured vehicles. They are detonated by infra-red beam.

Military observers believe that Hezbollah long ago planted huge mines under all the roads crossing the border. Israeli tanks have therefore avoided the border roads.

WEAPONS DISPERSAL

Instead of stockpiling its munitions in a handful of arsenals, Hezbollah dispersed them in private homes, garages, basements, bunkers and caves, giving ready access to small Hezbollah units. The group is also thought to have night-vision goggles and a stash of Israeli military fatigues for ambushes.

Link to Article:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...6510_1,00.html

troung

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/749479.html

Last update - 16:39 12/08/2006
IDF troops operating deep in Lebanese territory

By Amos Harel, Yoav Stern and Eli Ashkenazi, Haaretz Correspondents, and AgenciesIsrael Defense Forces troops were engaged in heavy exchanges of fire with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon on Saturday, as troops pushed northward to the Litani River under cover of intense artillery fire.

A large number of IDF troops landed deep in Lebanese territory on Saturday, participating in the largest operation of its kind since 1973.

Israel has nearly tripled the number of forces in Lebanon as part of its expanded ground war in Lebanon, and expects to fight for another week, despite a United Nations cease-fire resolution, IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz on Saturday.
Halutz said IDF troops would stay in Lebanon until an international force arrives.

"We have almost tripled our forces that are operating in Lebanon," Halutz told reporters.

UN special envoy for the Middle East said Saturday that the UN expected the IDF assault to wind down in one to two days and an expanded international force to begin deploying in a week to 10 days.

Some 23 soldiers were hurt in the fighting Saturday, five of them moderately and the rest lightly, and were taken to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa for treatment.

After the unanimous United Nations Security Council vote Friday on the cease-fire resolution, Israel launched an expanded ground offensive in south Lebanon. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will present the cease-fire resolution to the cabinet Sunday.

With the expansion of the ground offensive in Lebanon, four divisions were operating in south Lebanon and most of the activity was focused in areas from where Hezbollah has been firing short-range rockets into Israel. Sources in the IDF General Staff said 4-7 days would be needed to complete the occupation of the area, though it is unclear whether the operation will be completed, as the cabinet is scheduled to vote Sunday.

An IDF soldier was killed in clashes with Hezbollah in the village of Rashef in south Lebanon on Friday and another sustained moderate wounds. According to the IDF, at least ten Hezbollah militants were killed overnight.

IAF strikes and ground assaults kill at least 19 across Lebanon
Israel Air Force air strike and IDF ground attacks continued on Saturday, with missiles and artillery killing at least 19 people across Lebanon, mostly in the south.

The deadliest attack was on homes in the village of Rashef, some 7 kilometers (4 miles) from the Israeli border, where at least 15 civilians were killed, security officials said.

Israeli missiles also hit a vehicle in Kharayeb, a village in the Zahrani region about halfway between Beirut and the Israeli border, killing three people and wounding five, officials said.

A Lebanese soldier was killed overnight in an air raid near an army base in the western Bekaa Valley, the army said.

An IAF strike destroyed a road leading to the only remaining border crossing to Syria - Arida, on the northern coast - severing the last escape route for besieged Lebanese and for humanitarian aid entering the country.

AIF jets targeted the highway linking Arida with the northern city of Tripoli, at a point about 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the border, officials said. The crossing remained open, but the road leading to it was impassable, and vehicles were spotted driving off-road through ditches early Saturday.

A separate raid destroyed a bridge linking the southern cities of Tyre and Nabatiyeh with Sidon.

Shrapnel from missiles fired on the village of Insariyeh, halfway between Sidon and Tyre, hit a vehicle carrying Lebanese journalists working for a Swedish television channel, and one of them was wounded, security officials said.

IAF jets struck an apartment buildings that house a Hezbollah charity organization in the heart of the eastern city of Baalbek, wounding three people. Another four people were injured in an airstrike on a house west of Baalbek, officials said.

Electricity was out in Tyre and Sidon, after IAF jets struck transformers at power plants in both coastal cities. An official at the power plan in Sidon, George Makhoul, said it could be 10 days before power was restored.

Security officials reported several air strikes in Akkar province, located about 97 kilometers (60 miles) north of Beirut.

troung

Yaakov Katz, THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 15, 2006

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With 40 damaged tanks and 30 tank crew members killed in fighting in Lebanon, the Armored Corps began Monday to gear up for its next battle - this coming October when it tries convincing high-school graduates to enlist in its ranks.

Thousands of antitank missiles were fired over the days of fighting at tanks and infantry forces in southern Lebanon. But while soldiers told stories of deadly missile attacks on tanks, OC Armored Corps Brig.-Gen.
Halutsi Rudoy revealed Tuesday that out of the almost 400 tanks that operated in Lebanon, only a few dozen were hit by antitank missiles and only 20 were actually penetrated.
"The fighting was fierce and they fired hundreds and possibly thousands of missiles," he told The Jerusalem Post in his first interview since a cease-fire went into effect. "But if I compare the number of casualties in this war to the first Lebanon War in 1982 and the Yom Kippur War in 1973; then there were thousands killed in tanks and here only 30."

Rudoy said the antitank missiles soldiers confronted in Lebanon were some of the most advanced in the world. He said Hizbullah had thousands of Soviet-built Sagger, Cornet and Fagot antitank missiles, the French MILAN and the US-built TOW, all supplied by Iran and Syria. These missiles are usually fired by a two- or three-man team, the IDF has said.

But the missiles are not only used against tanks, despite their official title. Aware that in close-range combat the IDF has an advantage, Hizbullah fighters set up positions kilometers away from Israeli forces and also used antitank missiles against infantry forces. More than 70 infantry soldiers were killed in antitank missile attacks on the homes they had commandeered in Lebanese villages and as they moved throughout the hilly terrain.

Rudoy said it was possible new recruits might be scared to enlist in the Armored Corps, but he believed that when they were told the real numbers and how tanks were responsible for killing dozens of Hizbullah fighters they would come and serve.

"We were at war, and in war the soldiers and the tanks at the front are the ones that get hit the most," Rudoy said. "It could have been worse, and thanks to the high professional level of the tank crews, the damage was far less than what was expected in the beginning."

Referring to the Trophy, a Rafael-developed active protection system that creates a hemispheric protected zone around armored vehicles such as the Merkava 4 tank, Rudoy said he would demand that his tanks be fitted with the defense system once it was deemed operational.

Anon

I hate to say i told you so, but...they should've used slat armor.

As far as recruiting, mandatory service for all is the law of the land in Israel.

ZFBoxcar