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Jenin to Baghdad

(Jerusalem Post) - Yigal Henkin As American forces prepare to enter Iraq, U.S. military planners would be wise to learn the lessons of the battle of Jenin. Political scientist Michael Desch called urban battles "the great equalizer." Urban warfare necessitates intense fighting at close range, neutralizing the attacking forces' greater numbers and technological superiority. In Jenin, 23 Israeli soldiers were killed alongside 52 Palestinians (Israelis believe all but seven were combatants). Israeli military strategists knew the battleground was heavily boobytrapped and that its houses were hiding enemy snipers. Initial battle plans called for using combat bulldozers to clear the area. Nonetheless, Israelis refrained from operating bulldozers and tanks in Jenin to try to prevent extensive destruction and to avoid collateral damage and bad publicity. It was only after 13 Israeli soldiers were killed in a single ambush that the Israelis changed tactics and put bulldozers into massive use. Had the IDF gone in, full force, from the beginning, as initially planned, the fight might have ended more quickly and there likely would have been fewer casualties on both sides. In Baghdad, American forces will likely face a similar moral dilemma.
2003-03-21 00:00:00
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