More information on the "Measured Response"

Lt. General Dan "Just Bomb Them" Halutz didn't get his nickname for nothing. As questions are being asked about the Israeli campaign in Lebanon last summer, information coming to the fore indicates that Halutz had no plan for a ground operation.

In other words, he had planned on doing the whole job by bombing, the precision of which was left sorely lacking.

A senior officer in the Israel Defense Forces General Staff said yesterday that during last summer's war, the option of a large-scale ground operation in southern Lebanon was not seriously discussed by the General Staff or by the political establishment until July 27, more than two weeks after the war broke out.

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According to the officer, Deputy Chief of Staff Moshe Kaplinsky and Operations Directorate Head Gadi Eisenkot (who is currently GOC Northern Command) raised the need for the army to prepare for a large-scale ground operation during the discussions held on the day the war broke out, July 12. However, a short time later it became clear that the political leadership and the chief of staff did not consider a ground operation as being a realistic option at that time, and it was removed from the agenda. Only during the war's third week did the army begin to seriously prepare for a large-scale ground operation, which included placing three divisions into action in southern Lebanon.

And then the army, without plans, without preparation and without the appropriate equipment made a mess of it.

One would think a "measured response" would involve something along the line of planning. Anything else is just a guess. Dolphin 56.