Tel-Chai Nation

Major-General Yaakov Amidror provides answers why the Hezbollah is joining the PLO/Hamas in firing rockets at Jewish targets:

Maj.-Gen. Yaakov Amidror says that for the past six years, the government made a conscious decision to allow Hizbullah to build up its military capabilities on the border with Israel.

Amidror formerly served as Deputy Chief of IDF Intelligence and the head of its Research and Assessment Department.

"The Hizbullah attack was no surprise for the IDF," Amidror told IsraelNationalRadio's Alex Traiman and Baruch Gordon. "It was always understood that Hizbullah is preparing something against us; the only question was exactly what and when."

"Then why didn't the IDF stop it?" Gordon asked. Amidror replied, "This is an important question. Ever since our retreat from Lebanon [in May 2000], Israel's political decision-makers decided that Israel would not take the initiative anywhere on the Lebanese border. We were able to see, hear, and detect what Hizbullah was preparing, but we would not take the initiative against them. Because of the political arrangements with the international community, it was decided to let them shoot first - and the consequences are now very clear. If you don't take the initiative, and you allow the enemy to shoot whenever and wherever he wants, then even if he fails 20 times, at the end he succeeds."

Amidror emphasized the importance of not allowing the army to make the decisions: "In a democracy, the army presents the scenarios and warns of the consequences of various options. The elected representatives are supposed to make the final decisions - hopefully the correct ones...

"For sure, the IDF is unable to fulfill its obligation to stop terrorism if it does not receive orders to do so, no matter what. But if the instructions are to 'stop the terrorism but don't hit Gaza streets,' it cannot be done; the most that can be done is to decrease it. The only way to stop terrorism is by going in to the area and gaining control of the ground. Nothing else can stop the terrorism... I believe that the slogan of 2002 - 'Let the IDF Win!' - was a very good one. It means providing the political environment and decision that gives the army the ability to do the job."

Although Amidror doesn't actually say it, one could say that Ariel Sharon was partly responsible for allowing the Hezbollah to build itself up over the past five years. And Ehud Barak was also responsible, since he was the one who opted to run away from Lebanon to begin with.

This negligence is what's led to the death of one person today in Tzfat, and several other injured. Seven rockets hit the city today. Following this, people in Tzfat have had to go into shelters. Worse still, two soldiers have been kidnapped by the terrorists in Lebanon (via Michelle Malkin, who's got more news here).

The military has reacted to this, but as long as phonies like Ehud Olmert are running the government, it could be incredibly incompetant and unable to operate properly. As Israel Matzav points out, the response being carried out now may not as convincing as one would hope.

Update: here's more news via The Dumb Ox.

Update 2: see also this Ynet article (via Opinipundit) about how Shiite Muslims are celebrating the kidnappings. More here and here.

Others on the subject include Hot Air, Darleen's Place, ConservaJew (plus, another one), Blogs of War, The Dumb Ox, Old War Dogs, Assorted Babble, Protein Wisdom, Kesher Talk (plus, another one), Euphoric Reality (plus, another one), Chris at Home, Cosmic X, Blue Star Chronicles (plus, another one), 4theLittleGuy, Morning Coffee, Macmind, Tech in Black (plus, another one), Boker Tov Boulder, Webloggin, AbbaGav, My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, EL Frederick, Polipundit, Pajamas Media, Conservative Cat, Austin Bay, Strategic Outlook Institute, Israpundit, Okie on the Lam in LA, The Real Ugly American, A Blog for All, Tammy Bruce, Alpaca Burger Forum, Wizbang (plus, another one), Rocket's Brain Trust, Israelly Cool, Winds of Change.

Labels: Israel, Lebanon, military