By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem
(Filed: 22/08/2006)
www.telegraph.co.uk
Israeli
reservists demanded a formal inquiry yesterday into the Lebanon war as
returning combatants re-counted stories of shocking military
incompetence.
One group spoke of how they were
sent to war in the choking summer heat without water. They had to grab
canteens from the bodies of Hizbollah fighters. They staged protests in
several ways. Some signed a petition; others pitched tents outside
government buildings in Jerusalem. But their message was clear.
They
charged that Ehud Olmert, the prime minister, and his security advisers
provided dithering and incoherent leadership and must be held to
account. Many of the protesters simply called for the security elite to
resign.
The military is a potent constituency in a country that regards its soldiers with almost sacred respect.
Hundreds
of members of the Spearhead Brigade, a reserve unit that fought in
south Lebanon during the month-long conflict, signed a petition
published in a newspaper that attacked the "cold feet" of their
commanders.
"There was one thing we were not and
would not be willing to accept," the petition said. "We were unwilling
to accept indecisiveness.
"The war's aim, which
was not defined clearly, was even changed in the course of the
fighting. The indecisiveness manifested itself in inaction, in not
carrying out operational plans, and in cancelling all the missions we
were given during the fighting.
"This led to prolonged stays in hostile territory, without an operational purpose."
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