Military Tactic

Make War As Make Nice; Israel’s Commendable But Costly Military Tactic
By Tom Attea

Has a nation every conducted a war like the one Israel waged against Hezbollah? Instead of the usual “war is hell,” it was more like an attempt to conduct war as make nice.

Now that a cease fire is in place, fragile as it may be, let's review the tactic and how it weathered the war.

Did we hear announcements from Israel anywhere remotely near “We will destroy you to the last man”?

No, instead we heard niceties like:

"… terrorist elements ... are using you as human shields by launching rockets toward the state of Israel from your homes."

"All cars and vehicles of any type will be shelled if seen moving south of the Litani River because they will be considered suspect of transferring rockets, military ammunitions and those causing destruction.”

“You need to know that anyone moving in any type of car will put their life in danger."

Leaflets have warned of a "painful and strong" response to attacks by Hezbollah and warned the residents of three suburbs in the south of Lebanon to evacuate.

And, to make nice even more, Israel granted the Red Cross "freedom of movement" for its convoys, which have been providing aid to people in Lebanon.

Yes, many Lebanese civilians were killed – 689 at last count. But there was also a toll among the Israelis: at last, count, 36 civilians and 67 soldiers were dead. Each death is a heartrending tragedy. Yet even a make-nice war does come with some unavoidable loss of life.

During the conduct of this unprecedented war with warnings, numerous Israeli soldiers confessed that they felt the army should have hit Hezbollah harder but was held back by the government’s concern for civilian casualties.

Finally, just as the UN reached agreement on a cease-fire plan, Israel moved ahead with force.

Now the fighting seems all but over, at least, for as long as it's all but over.

Yet the initial tardiness rankled many.

Just days before the cease fire, Lt. Col. Svika Nezer, the commander of an artillery battery a few miles outside Kiryat Shemona, said his unit was only using about 20 percent of its firepower. "We could do much, much more. But the orders we get are limited."