We should commit our air-power to this battle. Cruze missles with cluster
bomb or bunker buster warheads should be employed along with orbiting
B52's and AC-130's.

As soon as our AWACS or other radar aircraft detect missle launches, this
firepower could be instantly directed groundward.

---

Israeli troops battle an unbending foe
Hezbollah stiffens, and casualties rise

By Charles A. Radin and Alon Tuval, Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent |
July 27, 2006

AVIVIM, Israel -- In the bloodiest day for Israeli forces since the war
against Hezbollah erupted July 12, nine soldiers were killed and 25
wounded yesterday as they attempted to clear the Islamist militia from two
Lebanese border towns.

Eight of the soldiers died in Bint Jbail, known among Hezbollah supporters
as the capital of the resistance against Israel, when they entered the
town to destroy Hezbollah facilities and were hit with explosives and
gunfire, an army spokeswoman said. Fighting inside the town, which has
been surrounded since Monday, continued last night.

Another soldier was killed and three were injured in the nearby town of
Maroun al-Ras. Yesterday's deaths increased the number of Israeli soldiers
killed in the conflict to 32.

The stiff resistance demonstrated how formidable a foe Hezbollah --
which is dedicated to Israel's destruction -- has become for the Jewish
state. Bolstered by modern weapons and thousands of rockets from Iran,
logistic support from Syria, guerrilla fighting skills honed during the
1982-2000 Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, and fortified bunkers
and staging areas built over the last six years, the militia is mounting
the most serious military challenge Israel has faced in decades.

Hezbollah rocket fire also continued unabated yesterday, with about 150
rockets from Lebanon exploding in northern Israel, wounding 31 people.

Israeli officials, ordinary soldiers, and analysts said yesterday that
because of the experience of the guerrilla war of the '80s and '90s, they
are not surprised at Hezbollah's stiff resistance. But many are critical
of Israel's strategy so far, saying Israeli leaders wrongly believed they
could batter Hezbollah so badly with airstrikes that only limited ground
combat would be needed.

They say Israel now must reassess what it will take to win the conflict,
and believe there must be an all-out assault on Bint Jbail and a major
ground offensive to drive the militiamen from its northern border.

Israeli soldiers described the Hezbollah fighters as deeply dug-in,
well-trained, and disciplined.

``In my opinion the Hezbollah fighter is much tougher than the Israeli
one," said a member of the Israeli special forces who was hitchhiking
yesterday from his post on the northern border to his home in the Galilee.
``I've seen them face to face, they shot at me and I at them, and I killed
more than one.

``They wait for you, they ambush you on every occasion. . . . Compared to
them, the Palestinians are nothing," said the soldier, who like other
soldiers interviewed yesterday spoke on condition of anonymity because he
was commenting without the permission of his commanders.

A reservist from an elite unit of airborne foot soldiers, who was
preparing to enter combat along the northern border, said that in addition
to being good shots and skillful guerrillas, Hezbollah fighters have the
power of religious fervor behind them.

``Death is almost welcomed by them," he said. ``A soldier that is trained
well and has religious zeal, even if his capabilities are mediocre, is a
serious fighter. They are not at the level of the Israeli special forces,
but their zealousness is a very important factor."

This soldier -- and most others interviewed -- said that Israel's ground
troops are fully capable of dealing with Hezbollah, but that defeating the
group will require house-to-house warfare, of which there has been little
so far. ``We have been training for years for a scenario like this one,
but we have not been deployed yet," the soldier said.

Former senior officials and analysts said that Israel's initial approach
to the conflict was overly influenced by the desire to minimize casualties
in the Israeli ranks, and that this approach is failing.

Ephraim Halevy , who headed the Mossad, the Israeli secret service, from
1998 to 2002, said two brigades of Israel's most-seasoned troops, both
with veteran commanders, are in position to take Bint Jbail.

But he said that political and military leaders have not wanted to commit
them fully because of uncertainty over whether the public would support a
ground campaign likely to produce heavy casualties.

``It didn't work out," Halevy said, referring to the attempt to use
limited ground forces.

Ephraim Inbar , director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies
at Bar-Ilan University , said Israel's leaders tried to model their
strategy after the NATO war against Serbia in Kosovo ``and they were
wrong. You can't do it with airplanes, especially against an enemy that
has been preparing for this for years.

``It is a serious situation, and no one is going to take care of it for
us," Inbar said. ``The ground operation is inevitable. The longer we wait,
the higher the price we'll pay."

Behind the increasing calls for a major ground offensive, analysts say, is
a spreading recognition among Israeli citizens that this is a conflict
Israel must win decisively, or find itself in mortal peril.

Asher Susser , director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle East and
African Studies at Tel Aviv University, said there was a strong sense even
before the current crisis erupted that Israel's deterrent capacity was
eroding, with Hamas, another Islamist foe, regularly launching Qassam
rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip, and Hezbollah stockpiling an
estimated 12,000 rockets in the north.

Susser said a strong response ``was absolutely necessary to restore the
credibility of Israeli deterrence" after Hezbollah staged an attack on
Israeli territory and took two solders hostage.

``This war is turning out to be more difficult than we thought . . . but
three or four years ago, had we started a preventive war against the
Hezbollah buildup, no one would have understood" the justification for
Israel's objectives ``at home or abroad," he said.

In addition to the peril Israel would be exposed to from other countries
in the region if it fails to deal effectively with Hezbollah, Susser said,
failing to dispatch Iran's protégés could call into question Israel's
value as a strategic asset of the United States.

At the beginning of the conflict, ``We had to weigh the costs of waging a
big ground campaign. Now, we are weighing the costs of not waging it. We
are very close to the moment of deciding that the costs of not doing it
outweigh the costs of doing it."

Hezbollah's tenacity and organization have forced that reevaluation, and
also have caused Israel to change its view of this enemy that, more than
any other in decades, has been able to back up with military might its vow
to destroy the Jewish state.

``We no longer call them terrorists," Daniel Seaman , the director of
Israel's Government Press Office, said yesterday. ``They are well-trained,
and disciplined. Now we call them a terrorist army."

Charles A. Radin can be reached at