Many Israeli combat soldiers take a pretty dim view of their superiors and elected leaders
Their views were freely expressed as the first groups exited Lebanon Monday with great relief after a ceasefire went into force
debkafile summarizes some of their comments:
– The rear command did not know what was going on in the field.
– Some of their orders were suicidal. There were cases of officers and men agreeing to ignore such orders.
– Some of the tanks were ten years old and were confronted with an enemy armed with the most sophisticated, up-to-date equipment.
– Our training prior to being sent into battle was not adapted to the conditions we found in Lebanon.
– Their officers called Hizballah fighters terrorists or even primitive. This was a misleading misnomer. They are highly-trained, professional soldiers.
– Although we were better, Hizballah fought like lions.
– We had no food or water.
– Our entry into battle in Lebanon was belated.
– The troops were short of accurate intelligence.
– We were not prepared for combat against camouflaged bunkers.
– We had no information on the Hizballah’s anti-tank missile techniques.