Divining Victory: Airpower in the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War

Divining Victory: Airpower in the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War
Author: William M. Arkin
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2011-09-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 1105051471

This is the story of an airpower-dominated campaign, one that was deeply flawed in its design yet impressive in its efficiency. This quick-look study is based upon visits to damaged sites, villages, towns, and cities; discussions with government and military officials; and experience of having evaluated airpower and its effects in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the former Yugoslavia (and previously in Lebanon). Months of follow-up research included exchanges with Israeli, Lebanese, Hezbollah, and US experts. The intent was to develop a timely airpower narrative to enhance professional military education and planning. About the author: William M. Arkin is an independent military analyst, journalist, and author. He writes the ?Early Warning? column for washingtonpost.com (where he previously wrote the ?DOT.MIL? column from 1998 to 2003) and is a longtime NBC News military analyst.(Originally published by Air University Press)

Divine Victory for Whom? Airpower in the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War

Divine Victory for Whom? Airpower in the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 45
Release: 2007
Genre:
ISBN:

Air warfare is inherently a difficult to imagine activity, and images of urban devastation, carpet bombing, and mass civilian casualties dominate public discourse. With the emergence of 24/7 television and the Internet in the 1990s--a period that also coincided with the maturation of precision weapons and airpower as the dominant component of strategic warfare--the challenge of "seeing" airpower ironically magnified even more. Air warfare "statistics" and gun camera video accumulated, but they communicated video game heartlessness and suggested perfection while emphasizing the almost industrial nature of the air warfare enterprise (Airmen even spoke of the "production" of sorties). Habitual operational security and the sensitivity of operating from foreign bases, together with the internal challenges of jointness, further constrained the telling of the airpower story.

Air Operations in Israel's War Against Hezbollah

Air Operations in Israel's War Against Hezbollah
Author: Benjamin S. Lambeth
Publisher: Rand Corporation
Total Pages: 532
Release: 2011
Genre: History
ISBN: 083305841X

In response to a surprise incursion by Hezbollah combatants into northern Israel and their abduction of two Israeli soldiers, Israel launched a campaign that included the most complex air offensive to have taken place in the history of the Israeli Air Force (IAF). Many believe that the inconclusive results of this war represent a "failure of air power." The author demonstrates that this conclusion is an oversimplification of a more complex reality. He assesses the main details associated with the Israeli Defense Forces' (IDF's) campaign against Hezbollah to correct the record regarding what Israeli air power did and did not accomplish (and promise to accomplish) in the course of contributing to that campaign. He considers IAF operations in the larger context of the numerous premises, constraints, and ultimate errors in both military and civilian leadership strategy choice that drove the Israeli government's decisionmaking throughout the counteroffensive. He also examines the IDF's more successful operation against the terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip in December 2008 and January 2009, to provide points of comparison and contrast in the IDF's conduct of the latter campaign based on lessons learned and assimilated from its earlier combat experience in Lebanon.--Publisher description.

We Were Caught Unprepared

We Were Caught Unprepared
Author: Matt M. Matthews
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
Total Pages: 105
Release: 2011
Genre: History
ISBN: 1437923046

This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. The fact that the outcome of the 2006 Hezbollah-Israeli War was, at best, a stalemate for Israel has confounded military analysts. Long considered the most professional and powerful army in the Middle East, with a history of impressive military victories against its enemies, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) emerged from the campaign with its enemies undefeated and its prestige tarnished. This historical analysis of the war includes an examination of IDF and Hezbollah doctrine prior to the war, as well as an overview of the operational and tactical problems encountered by the IDF during the war. The IDF ground forces were tactically unprepared and untrained to fight against a determined Hezbollah force. ¿An insightful, comprehensive examination of the war.¿ Illustrations.

Pathways to Victory

Pathways to Victory
Author: Sanu Kainikara
Publisher:
Total Pages: 125
Release: 2007-01-01
Genre: Deterrence (Strategy)
ISBN: 9781920800222

"The 2006 Israel-Hezbollah conflict was a turning point in the complex political and military relationship that has maintained a precarious balance in the Middle East. It exposed the weakness of a powerful conventional military force when confronted with irregular warfare conducted by an adversary who does not follow the traditional warfighting methods or subscribe to the conventional definition of victory. Although the conflict was essentially military in nature, it brought out a number of larger issues someof which have universal applicability - the interaction between political and military decision makers in a democracy, the accountability of an elected government towards the people and the necessity for a nation-state to ensure its security by using all elements of national power."--Back cover.

We Were Caught Unprepared

We Were Caught Unprepared
Author: Matt Matthews
Publisher: Combat Studies Institute Press
Total Pages: 112
Release: 2008
Genre: History
ISBN:

he Combat Studies Institute (CSI) is pleased to present Long War Series Occasional Paper 26, We Were Caught Unprepared: the 2006 Hezbollah-Israeli War by Matt M. Matthews. The outcome of the war that was, at best a stalemate that for Israel has confounded military analysts throughout the world. Long considered the most professional and powerful army in the Middle East, with a history of impressive military victories against its enemies, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) emerged from the campaign with its enemies undefeated and its prestige severely tarnished. Matthews's historical analysis of the war includes an examination of IDF and Hezbollah's doctrine prior to the war, as well as an overview of the operational and tactical problems encountered by the IDF during the war. His research convincingly argues that the Israeli reliance on poorly understood and controversial Effects-Based Operations (EBO) and Systemic Operational Design(SOD) war fighting theories, and a nearly singular dependence on air power, were not causes of Israeli problems. Additionally, after years of counterinsurgency operations in the Gaza Strip and West Bank territories, IDF ground forces were tactically unprepared and untrained to fight against a determined Hezbollah force that conducted what war, in many ways, a conventional, fixed-position defense. In researching his study, Mr. Matthews interviewed several prominent IDF officers and other experts in the field, many of whom had not previously been interviewed. The result is an insightful, comprehensive examination of the war.

Eilam's Arc

Eilam's Arc
Author: Uzi Eilam
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2011
Genre: Generals
ISBN: 9781845194628

Eilam's Arc reveals the inside story on how Israel became a military technology powerhouse within a period of less than two generations. The book blends the broad view of an individual who led the creation of incredibly far-sighted research and development programs with intimate portraits of the main players in a complex strategy that spans continents, corporations, and armies. More than any other account, it explains how a very small country was able to make a concentrated use of its limited assets with astute leverage of international relationships, while at the same time creating the backbone of Israeli civilian technology industries. Brigadier General Uzi Eilam was born and raised in a deeply socialist kibbutz where science and learning were scorned as useless and effete. His is the journey that an entire country, made from devising a better spade to creating an internationally competitive space program. During this journey, Eilam learned step-by-step how to manage the complex relationship with the United States, which he says was willing to supply Israel with high technology only if it knew that Israel was well on its way to developing its own version of the same technology. Eilam's Arc will be of interest not only to military historians, but also to those who have an interest in innovation and innovation policy. Israeli innovation policies, both civilian and military, have a proven track record of success, and Uzi Eilam explains how governments can nurture, stimulate, and lead individuals, corporations, and foreign partners towards a desired goal.

Gaza

Gaza
Author: Norman Finkelstein
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 438
Release: 2021-07-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 0520318331

The Gaza Strip is among the most densely populated places in the world. More than two-thirds of its inhabitants are refugees, and more than half are under eighteen years of age. Since 2004, Israel has launched eight devastating "operations" against Gaza's largely defenseless population. Thousands have perished, and tens of thousands have been left homeless. In the meantime, Israel has subjected Gaza to a merciless illegal blockade. Norman G. Finkelstein presents a meticulously researched inquest into Gaza's martyrdom. He shows that although Israel justified its assaults in the name of self-defense, in fact these actions constituted flagrant violations of international law. He also documents that the guardians of international law -- from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to the UN Human Rights Council -- ultimately failed Gaza.

Wars of Ambition

Wars of Ambition
Author: Afshon Ostovar
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 361
Release: 2024
Genre: History
ISBN: 0190940980

In Wars of Ambition, Afshon Ostovar explores America's decline and Iran's rise in the Middle East since 9/11 and through 2023. It examines America's involvement in the region, Iran's counter to it, and how their clash for a new regional order became entwined in a broader, more complex struggle involving multiple regional and foreign powers. In telling that story, Ostovar shows how the battle for the Middle East reflects the politics and dividing lines of an emergent multipolar world.