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Israel's Achievements in the War

[Ha'aretz] Yossi Melman - While the war did indeed reveal serious flaws, especially at the tactical level, the war did produce some achievements for Israel too. The air force demonstrated impressive capabilities; the intelligence community provided information about the storage locations of the long-range missiles and their launchers and enabled the air force to destroy them. The razing of Hizballah's headquarters in southern Beirut undermined the organization's command and control capabilities and dented Nasrallah's pride. Commando raids mounted by elite Israel Defense Forces units deep in enemy territory sowed fear among Hizballah. In several cases, Hizballah fighters fled and left their equipment behind, fearing face-to-face combat with IDF soldiers. The Lebanese Army will deploy along the border, a large multinational force will back it up, Hizballah will no longer be encamped along the border, and its members will not bear arms openly. Hizballah's fortifications along the border have been destroyed; about half of its missiles, especially the long-range ones, have been destroyed; support for the organization has diminished; and it is perceived as having brought destruction upon Lebanon. The claim that Iran initiated the crisis with the aim of diverting world public opinion away from its nuclear program has been proved baseless. It is difficult to believe that Tehran gave Hizballah such massive aid, worth several billions of dollars, only for the purpose of spending it on the abduction of Israeli soldiers. It is more reasonable to assume that Hizballah was prepared as a reserve, intended to be brought into the fray if Iran itself were attacked. In the wake of the war, the strength of this reserve has dwindled. A public opinion survey published in Beirut this week showed that two-thirds of the non-Shia public in Lebanon believes that Hizballah was defeated in the war.
2006-08-29 01:00:00
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