The failure of the IDF due to corrupt Govt good article

[mord]

http://www.windsofchange.net/archives/008956.php 

August 22, 2006
The Israeli Defense Force -- A Hollow Military?
by Trent Telenko at August 22, 2006 6:19 PM

Real Clear Politics carried a Aug. 19, 2006 Jerusalem Post op-ed by Lenny Ben-Davis that has me thinking that today's Israeli Defense Force (IDF) may be a "Hollow Military" just like America's was in the late 1970's. The implications of that for the War on Terrorism and the continued existence of the state of Israel are profound.

I come to this conclusion via three routes. My day job is as a Defense Department Quality Specialist. Patterns of Defense corruption are part of my professional training. I have also been a serious military wargamer for more than 25 years. Last, being a military history buff, I have James Dunnigan's How to Make War and Dirty Little Secrets books, Shooting Blanks: War Making That Doesn't Work, and most importantly Getting It Right: American Military Reforms After Vietnam and into the 21st Century, as references for the symptoms of "Hollow" militaries.

You would expect to see the following things in a "Hollow" draft-based military.

1) Shortages of reservist training and reservist stocks and equipment. Check "yes" for the IDF.
2) Poor leadership not only at the senior leadership, but all the way down to the battlefield level. Poor leadership that has political cronyism at its heart. The Hezbollah missile strike on the INS Al-Hanit, Ben-David's piece plus multiple posts over on "Yonitheblogger.com" makes that another check "yes" for the IDF.

3) Draft dodging by the political elites and their children. Again, this is another check mark "yes" for the IDF.
Israel could clearly still beat Syria in a stand up conventional military fight as the latter�s armed forces have deteriorated faster for the same reasons than Israel�s, but the majority of IDF reservists - who make up between 70 and 80% of the IDF's ground forces - seem to have lost much of their combat effectiveness edge over Arab opponents

The unnecessary casualties Israel would take from such a regional war, in particular among its neglected reserves all of whom plus their relatives are voters, may not be demographically or politicallly sustainable. Israeli political elites fearing this result may be why the Olmert government bailed on the opportunity provided by the Bush Administration to eliminate Hezbollah and possibly widen the conflict to Syria.

The road back from this sort of problem takes years. This road back started in America in the late 1970s via a series of wargames that seriously looked at how the USA would fight a global conventional war with the Soviet Union.

The result was America and NATO lost, repeatedly. It is from those wargames where the institutional outline for which the Reagan Defense build up was created. What followed was an American military renaissance that also included purging the American military of poorly performing officers and soldiers via innovations like American's US Army National Training Centers, US Air Force Red Flag exercises and US Navy Top Gun training.

For Israel to survive, a similar IDF military renaissance must be started and it needs to begin with a systemic audit of the real state of the IDF's reserve formations and, in particular, the reserve stocks so vulnerable to corruption, plus a purge of the IDF officers and bureaucrats involved with that poor troop equipping and preparation.
If this does not happen - if Israel's politicians block it - it, we will know that the Israeli Defense Forces are likely hollow while reform is unlikely until further disasters occur. Israel cannot survive many military disasters. Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu�s silence on these points, plus his past service as Prime Minister of Israel 1996-99, indicate that the blame here might be shared by all of Israel�s political elites.

American policy-makers should pay close heed to these matters. Corruption by Israeli political elites might be such that the effectiveness of Israel�s armed forces, and the continued existence of Israel, should no longer be considered as givens.

[newman]

Just what Chaim and JTF has been saying for .....how long??

[mord]

Just what Chaim and JTF has been saying for .....how long??

Good question

[newman]

The good thing is that the whole IDF don't need replacing. I firmly believe the average soldier is still good as can be.......they just need to replace the gutless brass.

[mord]

maybe train harder with more discipline

[newman]

maybe train harder with more discipline

The Jews of 1947/48 had little training and many were malnourished, but they had CHUTZPAH! That's all a Jew needs.

[mord]

maybe train harder with more discipline

The Jews of 1947/48 had little training and many were malnourished, but they had CHUTZPAH! That's all a Jew needs.

But thats not the case now

[newman]

maybe train harder with more discipline

The Jews of 1947/48 had little training and many were malnourished, but they had CHUTZPAH! That's all a Jew needs.

But thats not the case now

There are still plenty with Ahavat Yisrael. Look at this 'disengagement' pic.