The American Spectator

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David Govett br> Davis, California /p> p> Thank YOU. br> -- The Pattons /p> p> SPEAK LOUDLY br> Re: Jed Babbin's Israel as George Bush : /p>

Jed Babbin is almost 100% right. But, alas, he misses a key point when he says that "such media operations are just as important as the combat operations." In this era of the 24 hour news cycle and agenda driven media, there isn't such a thing as just as. A proactive, forward leaning, and positive public information offensive must be an integral part, an integral front, if you will, in the overall war effort. It must begin on or before the military effort and continue without let up until hostilities cease and the battle is truly over. Mark Twain once remarked that a lie can travel twice around the world before the truth can get its pants on. Hezbollah's bravura use of the information weapon in this conflict proves Twain's accuracy and the importance of the media weapon in today's environment.

p>As viewed from these humble precincts, Israel has made two absolutely fatal errors in this conflict. The first was its belief that air power could somehow "surgically" uproot and destroy a fighting force that was dug in (at depths up to 100 feet) with massive amounts of weaponry amidst civilians literally held hostage as human shields. The second was its abject failure to mount a massive public information offensive from the very beginning. If you are facing the equivalent of an Okinawa with a tunneled enemy, you must have boots on the ground and a willingness to accept the necessary casualties to root them out and kill them; it's the only way to win. You must also be willing to use your information weapon as a vaccine against enemy disinformation on your flanks and to reinforce the reasons why you must fight.

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