Israel's Lebanon War

Superbly written account of how Israel became mired in the Lebanese civil war. The Israeli people were essentially mislead and lied to (sound familiar?) by its government, which itself was duped by the Lebanese leadership under Bashir Gemayel. Ariel Sharon was bound and determined to invade Lebanon to drive out the PLO, and any dissenters were quickly dismissed. After Bashir Gemayel was assassinated, everything started to fall apart, starting with the international outcry following the massacre at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. Excellent detail of the underlying politics and the series of missteps, lies, miscalculations and misjudgments committed by Israel before and during the conflict.

There are also more facts that demonstrated scores of pitiful signs of agonising 'stories'. The author did not mention, for example, that Lebanese have witnessed at the bend of roads or at the top of a rise, slow moving procession of civilians travelling along the so called 'green lines' on top of mined sand dunes. It seemed a biblical scene. Many people were marching on foot , parents hugging their children on the verge of tears, cursing a situation perhaps as a means used to mask their fears... The author should have, as an added value, referred more to the other side of the coin: 'The suffering of the Lebanese people' Many had already gone from Beirut to the mountain areas, but many who remained faced the same dilemma: whereto should they leave?? Those who left their love ones behind in Beirut (West) were on the brink of panic largely because nobody really knew what could happen. Most people were expecting fighting would erupt in the city within a few days. But It was difficult to draw conclusions. It was the brave who stayed behind for the most part, hoping against hope that they might be able to help Lebanon. "Radio Isreal" blared warnings that people must prepare for the rigours of a siege, and get ready for the terrors of street fighting. Mentioning this side of the 'story' should make the picuture more balanced

Over 20 years after it was published, the story of the Israeli attempt to eradicate massive and repeated terrorist attacks emanating from the PLO (Bubba's/Jacques/UN's buddy Yasser) in Lebanon is no less important. Interestingly, Lebanon is still struggling to rid itself of Syrian occupation. They have gone from the vegan dictator Hafez Assad murdering opponents and journalists to the Syrian optometrist dictator murdering opponents and journalists (another killed last week 7/2005). In this review, I will attempt to explain the story, the left-wing/doves reporter's views (and on so many levels his mistakes), and most importantly to Americans who love and support Israel, the correlation between Israel's actions and our "War on Terror." First to the journalists, the main one being the left wing newspaper Haraatz Ze'ev Schiff. As the brilliant reviewer givbatam3 points out nearby, Mr. Schiff is a member of the Israeli left/dove/Peace Now group. This "coalition" consists of myopic people (with all due respect) that don't seem to understand good and evil. Just as our great President Bush was criticized for denouncing the "Axis of Evil" (he forgot to mention Syria and the House of Saud), these doves conveniently choose to ignore the problems with cooperating with our/their enemies. This is what lead to the fraudulent Oslo accords and the creation of the terrorist supporting Palestinian Authority. It is this "authority" that unleashed a wave of terror on Israel immediately after Clinton helped the murderer Arafat receive a Nobel Peace Prize. Fittingly, Arafat walked away from the Clinton/Barak plan in 2000, which would have created a Palestinian state, which to this day (7.8.05) does not exist despite the charade of the Road Map. The authors accuse Prime Minister Sharon of illegally leading Israel into the war in Lebanon. Most of the books I've read about Israel seem to have been written by journalists out to discredit Sharon. He seems to be the Donald Rumsfeld of Israel. I don't live there so it is impossible for me to get a read on the situation, but he WAS democratically elected, so most of the voters must disagree with the left's assessment of Mr. Sharon (yes, I know his "disengagement" is an illegal abomination, more on that later. Wear Orange to support the settlers.) On page 39, Mr. Ze'ev describes Sharon as "a cynical, headstrong executor who regarded the IDF as his personal tool for obtaining sweeping achievements-and not necessarily defensive ones-and a minister prepared to stake the national interest on his struggle for power." Those would prove to be the "kindest" words he would have for Mr. Sharon. On page 58, he accuses Sharon of implementing a quasi-coup d'etat. And on and on it goes. The author also accuses Sharon of duping the American government, details forthcoming. Later on, we learn of the "courageous, freedom fighter" (my emphasis) Arafat's decision to deploy all Palestinians including 12 year old boys to kill

This bestseller book serves two purposes. On the one hand, it documents one of the biggest military adventures in the Middle East while on the other hand, it is a lesson for Western leaders who intend to use military might to change political realities in the region. According to the book, this military adventure consumed itself and its engineer then Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, who circumvented Israel's democracy by withholding information about his true plan of invasion from Israeli politicians then unsuccessfully meddling in Lebanese internal politics. The book is a survey of rapidly unfolding military events and a deep analysis into their immediate political consequences. Since the book was published shortly after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the authors should consider publishing an updated version that should cover the period of Israeli occupation thereafter and the consequent withdrawal in 2000. The authors display mastery in understanding the mosaic picture of Lebanese politics. They also succeed in painting an accurate portray of Sharon, the General/politician who always called for a military solution for the Middle East's conflict. This, however, proved to be much more complicated than to be solved in an Israeli blitzkrieg strike against Lebanon in 1982. The book also sheds a light on the determined and shrewd personality of late Syrian dictator Hafez Assad who succeeded, as in most complicated issues that faced him, in prevailing victoriously. Assad simply displayed more skill in understanding Arab politics than his Israeli counter parts, a fact whose end result was the complete Syrian domination of Lebanon, more than two decades after Israel's Lebanon war. American policy makers behind the liberation of Iraq should read this book in order to refresh their memory on Arab politics and remind themselves of the magnitude of regional intervention of neighboring Arab countries in Iraq affairs.

Despite the fact that the two authors are journalists, the book is accurate and credible enough to be used as academic reference. The book covers mainly the Israeli point of view, but its scope is wide and provides insight into the intricate workings and components of the Lebanese-Israeli-Palestinian interactions, as well as the internal aspects of Lebanese and Israeli politics relevant to the issues discussed. The book provides a most interesting and readable coverage of the Israeli military operation, and the behind the scenes planning and intrigue of this operation. Notable is the coverage of the deception used by the Israeli Minister of Defense, Ariel Sharon and Chief of Staff, Rafael Eitan in order to pull the wool over the eyes of the Israeli Prime Minister, Knesset and public. Quite astounding, considering the fact that these events took place in a democratic country. This book is a must for anyone who seeks to understand or research the subject.