Israel-Invasion of Lebanon-Pro and Con

In my posting of July 26, 2006, I indicated that Robert Malchman of Manhattan, NY was kind enough to send me an article that takes a very different view from mine, Kristoff's and the New Yorker. It can be found here.

However, I wish to post the article in full here with my rebuttal. I am reproducing the article in black and interject my comments in a contrasting color.

MIDDLE EAST CRISIS: BACKGROUNDER
Israel lives with three realities: geographic, demographic and cultural. Geographically, it is at a permanent disadvantage, lacking strategic depth. It does enjoy the advantage of interior lines -- the ability to move forces
rapidly from one front to another.

At one time this may have been relevant. After numerous wars it is evident that whatever geographic disadvantages it may have, it can and has defeated the combined forces of all the Arab countries. The threat to Israel militarily, has if anything diminished greatly. With the Soviet Union gone as a supplier of armaments and with the two largest Arab states, Egypt and Jordan, having signed formal peace treaties with Israel there is no military threat to Israel. The only threat to Israel is from terrorists and while these remain a threat not to be minimized they are not an existential threat.

Demographically, it is on the whole outnumbered, although it can achieve local superiority in numbers by choosing the time and place of war. Its greatest advantage is cultural. It has a far greater mastery of the technology and culture of war than its neighbors.

The demographics too are irrelevant. The demographics have always been heavily against Israel but have had no bearing on its ability to win every war it has fought. This has not changed in any way so as to change the dynamics against Israel.

Two of the realities cannot be changed. Nothing can be done about geography or demography. Culture can be changed. It is not inherently the case that Israel will have a technological or operational advantage over its neighbors. The great inherent fear of Israel is that the Arabs will equal or surpass Israeli prowess culturally and therefore militarily. If that were to happen, then all three realities would turn against Israel and Israel might well be at risk.

It is to be hoped that the culture will change. Rather than increasing the risk to Israel if such a change were to take place it would make possible a final co-existence since a modern culture would focus on creating and keeping prosperity and only peace can assure that.

That is why the capture of Israeli troops, first one in the south, then two in the north, has galvanized Israel. The kidnappings represent a level of Arab tactical prowess that previously was the Israeli domain. They also represent a level of tactical slackness on the Israeli side that was previously the Arab domain. These events hardly represent a fundamental shift in the balance of power. Nevertheless, for a country that depends on its cultural superiority, any tremor in this variable reverberates dramatically. Hamas and Hezbollah have struck the core Israeli nerve. Israel cannot ignore it.

This is utter nonsense. There is no indication that infiltrating a few terrorists into Israel who instead of blowing themselves up, capture two soldiers shows any increased Arab tactical prowess. The rockets being fired are very inaccurate and have caused little damage and few casualties and were not fired from Lebanon until after Israel attacked.

Embedded in Israel's demographic problem is this: Israel has national security requirements that outstrip its manpower base. It can field a sufficient army, but its industrial base cannot supply all of the weapons needed to fight high-intensity conflicts. This means it is always dependent on an outside source for its industrial base and must align its policies with that source. At first this was the Soviets, then France and finally the United States. Israel broke with the Soviets and France when their political demands became too intense. It was after 1967 that it entered into a patron-client relationship with the United States. This relationship is its strength and its weakness. It gives the Israelis the systems they need for national security, but since U.S. and Israeli interests diverge, the relationship constrains Israel's range of action.

The US is a very reliable ally. If anything it is too reliable for Israel’s own good for the blank check given by the bush administration encourages adventurism, rather than restraint which is in Israel’s long range interests.

During the Cold War, the United States relied on Israel for a critical geopolitical function. The fundamental U.S. interest was Turkey, which controlled the Bosporus and kept the Soviet fleet under control in the Mediterranean. The emergence of Soviet influence in Syria and Iraq – which was not driven by U.S. support for Israel since the United States did not provide all that much support compared to France -- threatened Turkey with attack from two directions, north and south. Turkey could not survive this. Israel drew Syrian attention away from Turkey by threatening Damascus and drawing forces and Soviet equipment away from the Turkish frontier. Israel helped secure Turkey and turned a Soviet investment into a dry hole.

It is not at all apparent what bearing, if accurate, has on the present. Turkey has been a member of NATO for a very long time.

Once Egypt signed a treaty with Israel and Sinai became a buffer zone, Israel became safe from a full peripheral war -- everyone attacking at the same time. Jordan was not going to launch an attack and Syria by itself could not strike.

Exactly! See my comments above.

The danger to Israel became Palestinian operations inside of Israel and the occupied territories and the threat posed from Lebanon by the Syrian-sponsored group Hezbollah.
In 1982, Israel responded to this threat by invading Lebanon. It moved as far north as Beirut and the mountains east and northeast of it. Israel did not invade Beirut proper, since Israeli forces do not like urban warfare as it imposes too high a rate of attrition. But what the Israelis found was low-rate attrition. Throughout their occupation of Lebanon, they were constantly experiencing guerrilla attacks, particularly from Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has two patrons: Syria and Iran.

Correct!

The Syrians have used Hezbollah to pursue their political and business interests in Lebanon. Iran has used Hezbollah for business and ideological reasons. Business interests were the overlapping element. In the interest of business, it became important to Hezbollah, Syria and Iran that an accommodation be reached with Israel. Israel wanted to withdraw from Lebanon in order to end the constant low-level combat and losses. Israel withdrew in 1988, having reached quiet understandings with Syria that Damascus would take responsibility for Hezbollah, in return for which Israel would not object to Syrian domination of Lebanon.

If this is true driving Syria out of Lebanon may have been a mistake.

Iran, deep in its war with Iraq, was not in a position to object if it had wanted to. Israel returned to its borders in the north, maintaining a security presence in the south of Lebanon that lasted for several years. As Lebanon blossomed and Syria's hold on it loosened, Iran also began to increase its regional influence. Its hold on some elements of Hezbollah strengthened, and in recent months, Hezbollah -- aligning itself with Iranian Shiite ideology -- has become more aggressive. Iranian weapons were provided to Hezbollah, and tensions grew along the frontier. This culminated in the capture of two soldiers in the north and the current crisis. It is difficult to overestimate the impact of the soldier kidnappings on the Israeli psyche.

In the past when an Israeli soldier was captured Israel was willing to negotiate an exchange. Apparently Hezbollah depended on this precedence and was not expecting or desiring a major confrontation but felt if one came it was to its advantage because it would further weaken Lebanon’s central government and cause chaos which always benefits it and helps it’s recruitment.

First, while the Israeli military is extremely highly trained, Israel is also a country with mass conscription. Having a soldier kidnapped by Arabs hits every family in the country. The older generation is shocked and outraged that members of the younger generation have been captured and worried that they allowed themselves to be captured; therefore, the younger generation needs to prove it too can defeat the Arabs. This is not a primary driver, but it is a dimension.

The willingness to wage war because two soldiers were captured is irrational. It has led to many more Israeli soldiers being killed without the captured soldiers being returned.

The more fundamental issue is this: Israel withdrew from Lebanon in order to escape low-intensity conflict. If Hezbollah is now going to impose low-intensity conflict on Israel's border, the rationale for withdrawal disappears. It is better for Israel to fight deep in Lebanon than inside Israel. If the rockets are going to fall in Israel proper, then moving into a forward posture has no cost to Israel.

From an international standpoint, the Israelis expect to be condemned. These international condemnations, however, are now having the opposite effect of what is intended. The Israeli view is that they will be condemned regardless of what they do. The differential between the condemnation of reprisal attacks and condemnation of a full invasion is not enough to deter more extreme action. If Israel is going to be attacked anyway, it might as well achieve its goals.

Moreover, an invasion of Hezbollah-held territory aligns Israel with the United States. U.S. intelligence has been extremely concerned about the growing activity of Hezbollah, and U.S. relations with Iran are not good.

Lebanon is the center of gravity of Hezbollah, and the destruction of Hezbollah capabilities in Lebanon, particularly the command structure, would cripple Hezbollah operations globally in the near future.

This is more nonsense! Hezbollah has never had global operations.

The United States would very much like to see that happen, but cannot do it itself. Moreover, an Israeli action would enrage the Islamic world, but it would also drive home the limits of Iranian power. Once again, Iran would have dropped Lebanon in the grease, and not been hurt itself. The lesson of Hezbollah would not be lost on the Iraqi Shia -- or so the Bush administration would hope.

This may be the crux of the matter. It may be that the bush administration is hoping that Israel will get it’s chestnuts out of the fire and is not only not restraining Israel but is using Israel to try to gain political points in the upcoming us elections. It is totally unrealistic to believe that what Israel does will have any effect on Iraqi Shia. The bush administration has blown Iraq and nothing – nothing will save the situation there. Iraq will be chaotic and an ally of Iran no matter what. If Iraq is part of the equation than Bush and Co. are using Israel for their own purposes.

Therefore, this is one Israeli action that benefits the United States, and thus helps the immediate situation as well as long-term geopolitical alignments. It realigns the United States and Israel. This also argues that any invasion must be devastating to Hezbollah. It must go deep. It must occupy temporarily. It must shatter Hezbollah.

It is not at all clear that this is possible but bush and co. Have constantly tried the impossible only to fail miserably. Israelis need to hope for a more responsible administration in Washington.

At this point, the Israelis appear to be unrolling a war plan in this direction. They have blockaded the Lebanese coast. Israeli aircraft are attacking what air power there is in Lebanon, and have attacked Hezbollah and other key command-and-control infrastructure. It would follow that the Israelis will now concentrate on destroying Hezbollah -- and Lebanese -- communications capabilities and attacking munitions dumps, vehicle sites, rocket-storage areas and so forth.

Most important, Israel is calling up its reserves. This is never a symbolic gesture in Israel. All Israelis below middle age are in the reserves and mobilization is costly in every sense of the word. If the Israelis were planning a routine reprisal, they would not be mobilizing. But they are, which means they are planning to do substantially more than retributive airstrikes. The question is what their plan is.

Given the blockade and what appears to be the shape of the airstrikes, it seems to us at the moment the Israelis are planning to go fairly deep into Lebanon. The logical first step is a move to the Litani River in southern Lebanon. But given the missile attacks on Haifa, they will go farther, not only to attack launcher sites, but to get rid of weapons caches. This means a move deep into the Bekaa Valley, the seat of Hezbollah power and the location of plants and facilities. Such a penetration would leave Israeli forces' left flank open, so a move into Bekaa would likely be accompanied by attacks to the west. It would bring the Israelis close to Beirut again.

This leaves Israel's right flank exposed, and that exposure is to Syria. The Israeli doctrine is that leaving Syrian airpower intact while operating in Lebanon is dangerous. Therefore, Israel must at least be considering using its air force to attack Syrian facilities, unless it gets ironclad assurances the Syrians will not intervene in any way. Conversations are going on between Egypt and Syria, and we suspect this is the subject. But Israel would not necessarily object to the opportunity of eliminating Syrian air power as part of its operation, or if Syria chooses, going even further.

At the same time, Israel does not intend to get bogged down in Lebanon again. It will want to go in, wreak havoc, withdraw. That means it will go deeper and faster, and be more devastating, than if it were planning a long-term
occupation. It will go in to liquidate Hezbollah and then leave. True, this is no final solution, but for the Israelis, there are no final solutions.

A peace treaty with a Palestinian state is the final and only final solution. It is not true that there is no negotiating partner. Abu Mazen wants negotiations and even Hamas has indicated a willingness to negotiate if the ’67 borders are not ruled out of the negotiations.

Israeli forces are already in Lebanon. Its special forces are inside identifying targets for airstrikes. We expect numerous air attacks over the next 48 hours, as well as reports of firefights in southern Lebanon. We also expect more rocket attacks on Israel. It will take several days to mount a full invasion of Lebanon. We would not expect major operations before the weekend at the earliest. If the rocket attacks are taking place, however, Israel might send several brigades to the Litani River almost immediately in order to move the rockets out of range of Haifa. Therefore, we would expect a rapid operation in the next 24-48 hours followed by a larger force later.

At this point, the only thing that can prevent this would be a major intervention by Syria with real guarantees that it would restrain Hezbollah and indications such operations are under way. Syria is the key to a peaceful resolution. Syria must calculate the relative risks, and we expect them to be unwilling to act decisively.

If Israel was being seriously threatened and I don’t believe they were, pressure on Syria and if necessary an attack in that direction would have made more sense than a strike at Lebanon with its huge toll in civilian casualties, the creation of hundreds of thousands of refugees and the destruction of the infrastructure in a state which wants peace with Israel and until Israel’s invasion wanted to disarm Hezbollah but lacked the power.

What we are seeing both in Lebanon as well as in Iraq is an attitude that American and Israeli lives are valuable but the lives of others, whether in Iraq, Lebanon or Darfur have no value. It is a morality and an equation I am not willing to countenance.

Therefore:
1. Israel cannot tolerate an insurgency on its northern frontier; if there is one, it wants it farther north.
2. It cannot tolerate attacks on Haifa.
3. It cannot endure a crisis of confidence in its military
4. Hezbollah cannot back off of its engagement with Israel.
5. Syria can stop this, but the cost to it stopping it is higher than the cost of letting it go on. It would appear Israel will invade Lebanon.

True.

The global response will be noisy. There will be no substantial international action against Israel.

True, but recruitment for Hezbollah and Al Quaeda will be enhanced, a major victory for those forces.

Beirut's tourism and transportation industry, as well as its financial sectors, are very much at risk.

Lebanon, which had begun to thrive again is being destroyed with enormous civilian casualties, hundreds of thousands of refugees and the total destruction of its infrastructure which is not to the advantage of Israel or the U.S. and morality is the ultimate casualty. If we lose that sense of morality all else is worthless.