For the complete report in the Times Online click on this link
Humbling of the supertroops shatters Israeli army morale
HUNDREDS of feet below ground in the command bunker of the Israeli air force in Tel Aviv, a crowd of officers gathered to monitor the first day of the war against Hezbollah. It was July 12 and air force jets were about to attack Hezbollah’s military nerve centre in southern Beirut.
Over the Mediterranean, west of Beirut, the elite F-15I squadron made its final preparations to strike with precision guided weapons against Hezbollah’s Iranian-made long-range Zelzal rockets, aimed at Tel Aviv.Within moments the first Hezbollah missile and launcher were blown up. Thirty-nine tense minutes later the squadron leader’s voice was heard again: “Fifty-four launchers have been destroyed. Returning to base.”“The air force can only assist ground forces; it can never win a war — any war,” said one veteran Israeli officer last week after serious Israeli setbacks in the field against Hezbollah.
Another critical factor was that Hezbollah seemed so much better prepared. They launched nearly 200 rockets a day at Israel. They used advanced anti-tank missiles with lethal professionalism and stunned their opponents with their coolness under pressure and their willingness to “martyr” themselves in battle. Apparently using techniques learnt from their paymasters in Iran, they were even able to crack the Israeli codes and follow the fast-changing frequencies of Israeli radio communications, intercepting reports of the casualties they had inflicted again and again. This enabled them to dominate the media war by announcing Israeli fatalities first.As the war unfolded the Israeli optimism was brought crashing down to earth — and with it the invincible reputation of the Israeli armed forces.
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