Israel Failed in Gaza Just Like in Lebanon

Almanar

Hanan Awarekeh



03/02/2009 Yehuda Wgman, an Israeli instructor and expert on military doctrines and the Israeli occupation army history, wrote an article on Tuesday in the Israeli electronic site Ynet in which he said that the latest Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip was only a show of force in a bid to create to do the impossible – create deterrence without the risk of casualties. He also compared the Gaza defeat to the Second Lebanon War where Israel again faced almost all the failures of that war in 2006.

Wagman said that the renewed fire in the south marks the manifestation of what he warned of at the end of “Operation Cast Lead”. “At the time I wrote that only an absolute victory will create absolute victory photos, and that the Israeli army must complete the operation to the point of a media-covered expulsion of Hamas leaders from the Strip.”

In retrospect and unsurprisingly, the serving government chose to order the Israeli occupation army not to complete the mission. Now, this government or its replacement will have to carry out the same mission, yet not under the ideal conditions that emerged in the first days of ‘Cast Lead’.

The report added, “As time passes, we can also see that the operation in Gaza was not meant to be something beyond a show of force aimed at Hamas and its partners. It appears that those who managed the operation wanted, again, to do the impossible – create deterrence without the risk of casualties.”

However, it continued, “shows are just shows, and because of it they cannot convince the enemy to change its ways. Changing the enemy's ways can only take place if an immediate and tangible threat is created against the decision-makers on the other side. An examination of Cast Lead's objective and the way it was managed shows that even before it started, it was destined to not only fail to secure the objectives that could have been reached had it been managed properly, but also to miss its original goal – "changing security realities." What does that mean exactly?”

“Those who thought that any kind of substantive achievement could be secured by merely demonstrating military capabilities show identical thinking to those who attempted to defeat Hezbollah via "effects" alone. With the exception of the highly improved performance of Israeli army ground forces, ‘Cast Lead’ suffered from the exact same flaws of "Lebanon Two." In both cases we saw blatant disregard to the basic rules of the military profession that prompted an inability to meet any reasonable target.”

Wagman said that just like in Lebanon, “in Gaza too those who managed the war attempted to achieve victory by declaring victory, instead of securing a tangible win; they attempted to win without casualties and to fight as though Israel had all the time in the world. Such fundamental strategic mistakes cannot be counterbalanced by proper utilization of tactical forces, as superb as it may be.”

“A war is not managed in the realm of public relations and imagery, but rather, in the theater of tangible achievements. Therefore, one cannot compensate for the absence of tangible achievements by creating imagery of success. The factor that determines the success of the campaign is the enemy's conduct at the end of it and in its wake for the long run. As immediately after the end of fighting we saw the enemy continue to operate just as it did before, we are talking about a failure that no verbal virtuosity could turn to success.”

He added, “Operation Cast Lead demonstrated that the tactical military echelon indeed drew the lessons of the Second Lebanon War, yet it is difficult to say the same about the strategic political echelon. At this level, we again saw almost all the failures of the previous war. Again, an abstract objective was set for the operation, allowing us to end the fighting at any moment and not in line with meeting a tangible and clear target. Again we saw disregard to the element of time, which always works against any military force and particularly against the IDF. Again, the achievements of the initial surprise were not exploited. Again, we saw the attempt to create an imagery of success instead of genuine success, and again we saw the failure of an attempt to create deterrence without creating direct contact with the enemy.”

From Hamas' point of view, he concluded “the picture is positive, regardless of the reasons why this is the case. For three weeks the IDF was unable to reach central Gaza City and either banish the organization's leaders or arrange a meeting for them with their "martyr" colleagues. Therefore, Hamas can justifiably boast a strategic success. The shorter this success story is, the better it would be for Israel. The decision is in her hands.”

Turkish writer: Palestinian resistance restored glory of Ummah

[ 03/02/2009 - 08:58 AM ]





ANKARA, (PIC)-- The Ankara Gathering for Friends of Palestine has organized a pro-Gaza forum in the Turkish capital Ankara where Turkish speakers highlighted the role of the Palestinian resistance in restoring the glory of the Muslim Ummah (Nation).

Zeyyad Abu Zaid, of Hamas Movement, who was present in the forum held on Sunday night, pointed out that Hamas is a resistance Movement that aims at liberating the occupied Palestinian lands, stressing that three main factors were behind the victory in Gaza namely: the Islamic ideology of the resistance, the support and steadfastness of the Palestinian people to the resistance, and the overwhelming support across the Arab, Muslim, and international arenas to the resistance.

However, Abu Zaid stressed, "The support for Gaza should continue, and it shouldn’t be limited to breaking into the streets for few hours and then returning home".

For his part, Turkish writer Ali Katchar underlined that the resistance forces won't recognize the "Zionist entity", and they would continue the "Jihad" against Israel till the Palestinian land is liberated of the Israeli occupation.

Jawad Uzcaya, another Turkish intellectual, pointed out that the Israelis thought that the new Palestinian generation would forget their national issue; but, he added, the Palestinian resistance, which is steered by the new Palestinian generation, proved them wrong.

Linking the Palestinian issue to the issue of the Muslim Ummah as a whole, the famous Turkish writer Mohammed Bamak underscored that the strength of the Muslim Ummah would lead to strong support to the Palestinian issue, saying, "The Muslim Ummah had gone faraway from its roots and became weak".

He stressed that it is about time for the Muslim Ummah to restore its shining glory once again, which, he stressed, the Palestinian resistance succeeded to do.


Israel: Hamas Playing with Fire by Launching Rockets into Negev



03/02/2009 Israel warned on Tuesday that Hamas was "playing with fire" shortly after Gaza resistance fighters fired a Grad rocket into the coastal city of Ashkelon.

"Hamas is playing with fire, and if there is going to be an escalation now, Hamas has no one to blame but itself," said Mark Regev, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's spokesman.

The Grad that struck Ashkelon on Tuesday morning was the first such rocket to be fired at the city from Gaza since a cease-fire ended Israel's 22-day offensive in the coastal strip last month and killed over 1400 Palestinians, including 420 children. An air raid siren sounded in the city of Ashkelon shortly after 7 am Tuesday, followed by an explosion.

Three settlers in Ashkelon were treated for shock after the attack. Damage to property was also reported. The rocket strike came after a Hamas delegation met with senior Egyptian officials in Cairo on Monday in an effort to reach agreement on a truce with Israel.

On Monday evening, a Qassam rocket struck an open area in Sha'ar Hanegev. Three mortar shells also hit the Eshkol region earlier Monday.

In response to the mortar attack, the Israeli occupation Air Force bombed a car in the southern Gaza Strip. Palestinian medical workers reported that one person had been killed in the bombing, and three others were wounded.

Former Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose term ended on January 9, warned Monday that the ceasefire in Gaza remains fragile and he backed Egypt-led efforts to bring calm amid continuing scattered violence.

IOF gunboats fire at Palestinian fishermen