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Halutz: IDF has turned into national punching bag
Omri Livne
Published: 10.05.07, 13:28
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8 Talkbacks for this article
1. halutz, mofaz, peretz were sleeping
reuven ,   usa   (05.10.07)
you were all fooled.above all those who chose peretz were METUMTAMIM
2. So what were the recommendation made by the Winograd ?
ben ,   singapore   (05.10.07)
Early Election Please !
3. You punch the IDF you punch my stomach....it is hurting ...
ben ,   singapore   (05.10.07)
it is hurting ! : - (
4. some of the criticisms are justified
za   (05.10.07)
The IDF has become a national punching bag and in some cases with good reason Dan Halutz says himself THERE WERE PREPARTIONS FOR SUCH AN EVENTUALITY BUT THE PREPERATIONS WERE NOT SATISFACTORY. Next time the arabs want to invade how about we ask them time to prepare for a war. The arabs no longer fear the IDF they laugh at it because it looks like Israel ran out of Lebanon tails between its legs and hizbollah humiliated Israel. Now arab armies like Syria have the kind of confidence about taking ono Israel that they havnt had for decades and Iran laughs the mighty Israel runs from a few men with anti tank rockets. There has also been under investment mainly become the IDF has become to reliant on American weapons. Many of the tanks lost could have been saved if the IDF hadnt decided to try and save money and not fit protection systems against anti tank rockeets. Thousands of dollars added to the cost of the whole tank and there would have been protection in place to save tanks worth millions of dollars from anti tank rockets. Today there is to little investment in Made in Israel weaponry now its all when the Americans sell it to us using millitary aid we buy it we dont invest developing our own systems thats one of the reasons there are no systems in place for defending against kytushas the Americans dont have anything to buy yet and its only now we decided we should invest in a system of our own. Succesive governments ( not just Olmert ) have cut the millitary budget time and time again when they need some money for a project they take it from the millitary budget .. the civilians dont notice and dont care where the money came from for the millitary. The millitary themselves they know the state is only going to give them penuts so they become reliant on American which isnt allways the right equipment or avalible at the time needed and the result is go to war and not be properly equiped lacking even some of the basics. Whats happened to the days when the IDF could take on 3 arab armies in 6 days or instead of doing deals with terrorists they sent comandos half way around the world to mount a rescue in Entebbe? Like it or not there needs to be a huge input of funds to get the IDF back up to scratch and there needs to be more investment in Israeli weaponry become over reliant on a single source America or anybody else you cant defend yourself without their backing thats what happened with France after 1967 and allthough unlikley it could still happen with America. Allthough the millitary have their role to play when we are pointing blame the politicians have a large role to play and its mainly because of the stupid politcal system Israel has. As its impossible to form a government without a coalition to get other parties to join the coalition the government will very often have to finance projects of the coalition partner so money that was originaly budgeted for now isnt there because its been used to buy off another party so the national budget is spread molre thinly. This coalition system also means that Israel is a democracy on paper only in reality its nothing of the sort because a party can campaign on one thing but once they get ellected the coalition partners dont like it and threaten to pull out if its put into action so the policy the people voted gets indefaintly put on hold. So there is need for a new politcal systeem, a bigger budget for the IDF which must then use that money to invest in long term projects as well as short term not look to spend it all in 1 year and there must be a shake up in the IDF from the top down there must not be anymore failures like Lebanon
5. Impulsive... and holding Nuclear Weapons too.
Peter Morris ,   New Zealand   (05.10.07)
The most important lesson to come out of the war is that under no way is Israel a fit and proper nation to possess nuclear weapons. If wars can be started on "impulse" then the world really has a worry on its hands. A threat to to the well being of the rest of the world. it is imperative therefore that Israel is stripped of all weapons of mass destruction.
6. to Peter Morris from New Zealand
jackie ,   Florida   (05.10.07)
I wonder at your reasoning. If Israel had used nuclear weapons against Hizbullah, then Lebanon would have become a wasteland, totally incapable of threatening Israel again. However, Israel sent in squadrons of men, with their hands figuratively tied behind their backs to face the terrorists who had invaded Israel, were raining rockets down upon her northern towns, etc. Please explain yoour logic.
7. #5 please learn to read Peter!!
Doc Holliday ,   Detroit   (05.10.07)
If your comment about " Impulsive" refers to this article, then you simply didn't understand. " When Commission member Professor Ruth Gabizon asked whether the air strike on the Dahia neighborhood wasn't an impulsive maneuver in response to the humiliation of a second abduction of IDF soldiers within a month, Halutz denied the suggestion " Last 4 words " Halutz denied the suggestion " So Peter your a mind reader and expert on who should have WMD. Tell us what you base your views on considering it cannot be anything in this article. Since the issue of WMD never came up during the war I'm puzzled by your conclusion that Israel" is not fit to possess WMD " ? An issue you and you alone have come out of left field with.
8. Reuven (nr1)
leon ,   Grand Rapids USA   (05.10.07)
The metumtamim were the idiots who voted Labor (Peretz) while he was instigating nation-wide strikes at a time of nationl peril, and whose votes ultimately put him in a position of political power that resulted in his becoming the incompetent Defense chief.
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