Israeli General: We Did Not Win Lebanon War
Ryan R. Jones - All Headline News Middle East Correspondent Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) - Just days before retiring, a top Israeli general said Tuesday that the Israeli government's handling of the recent Lebanon war had been characterized by indecision and miscalculation. He countered Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's claim that Israel emerged victorious from the conflict with Hezbollah. In an interview with the religious weekly newspaper Kfar Chabad, Maj.-Gen. Yiftah Ron-Tal stated that "from a military point of view, this war ended in failure." General Ron-Tal noted that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) "had plans for a wide-scale ground operation in southern Lebanon," but that the national leadership did not allow the army to "operate in accordance with those plans and took a hesitant course of action." That indecision, he said, cost Israel the victory over Hezbollah that Olmert had promised the nation in the opening days of the war. Ron-Tal joined those calling for a full independent state commission of inquiry into the handling of the war, insisting it is "the only way to reach a completely clear picture" of what transpired from mid-July to mid-August. Based on his own observations, the former commander of Israel's ground forces said Olmert, the government ministers, and IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz need to draw some "personal conclusions." Senior IDF officials told Ynet that Ron-Tal was merely lashing out in |
