Word: halutz
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According to a top Israeli intelligence official, the Pentagon in 2002 offered to supply Israel with bunker-buster bombs capable of punching deep into an enemy's underground defenses, but Israel's air force chief, Lieut. General Dan Halutz, rejected Washington's offer, noting that his country had its own superb weaponry, thank you very much. Four years later, Halutz is now Israel's chief of staff in charge of this summer's air, sea and land strikes against Lebanon. Early on in the monthlong conflict, Israeli intelligence determined that most of Hizballah's rockets were being fired from launchers...
...more than 20,000 troops advancing into Lebanon, Olmert had good reason to be cautious about a long-lasting ground invasion. By Saturday, the war had cost 131 Israeli lives, 91 of them soldiers. And a major thrust 14 miles north to the Litani river--as envisioned by Halutz and the other generals--could drag on for another six weeks. Hence Olmert's decision last week to wait for a U.N. resolution, despite his generals' urging to roll the tanks...
...chief of staff, Halutz, 58, may end up taking most of the blame. Dismissing that initial offer of U.S. bunker busters is only one example of his famous hubris. On July 17, five days into the Lebanese conflict, Halutz told Knesset members, "With all the technology we have, there is no reason to start sending ground troops in." A month later, he was pushing to send thousands of soldiers as the only way to defeat Hizballah...
...nonsense fighter pilot who had been a favorite of--and, some insiders say, a possible successor to--former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Halutz at first impressed Israelis with his aviator glasses and Top Gun swagger. Once asked how it felt to drop a bomb on people, he replied, "I feel a light bump to the plane as a result of the bomb's release. A second later it's gone, and that's all. That is what I feel." Such myopia may have worked for him in the cockpit, but may be a liability in politics...
...Friday, the war has cost 124 Israeli lives, 84 of them soldiers. The 1982 Lebanon war bogged Israeli forces down in Lebanon for 18 years and was a disaster. Olmert was told that a major thrust 14 miles north to the Litani river and beyond, as envisioned by Halutz and the other generals, could drag on for another six weeks and leave hundreds of Israeli soldiers dead. Worst of all, the generals told Olmert that they could only guarantee taking out "70%" of Hizballah's rocket capacity. A cease-fire suddenly started looking good. On Thursday Olmert had decided...