War's a tough business.

1. Complacency kills. It's hard to maintain the edge. And it is really hard for junior leaders to impose discipline when it seems mindless and mundane. Until after the rocket lands. How many of *you* guys, as junior leaders, would have allowed this situation? I know it would have been hard on me not to have allowed it.

"We had already been there a week and there had been a siren almost every hour, and it had already started to become routine. We joked among ourselves that wherever we were was a safer place to be than Kiryat Shmona. In any case, for soldiers in the field, there is no hiding place."

Hence that seemingly mindless anal obsession with helmets, body armor, etc. Read the rest of the story here.

2. Playing by the rules. The fighting in Lebanon has been a textbook example of how bias creeps into reportage. Not many western journalists embedded with Hezbollah, and those that may be aren't necessarily going to report what they see accurately. That whole "hack off the head thing" don't ya know. But they'll report whatever Hezbollah wants them to see. The Israelis are more security conscious than we are, I think - but they still give journalists a comparatively free rein.

So - just what *are* the Israelis supposed to do when the enemy fights like this, hiding their stuff in and amongst the civilians? Just sit back and take it, I suppose. Withdraw to the original, arbitrarily set boundaries (which would then allow rockets free reign through all of Israel) and wait for the knife? Sigh. There are no easy answers, but the main counterargument to what Israel is doing seems to be - "Would you all just quit that and let them kill you, please?"

This *is* Europe's fault. Oh, sure, the US is Israel's greatest and most reliable ally - but the whole region in it's current configuration is the result of European diplomats standing around maps, ignorant of the region except as it related to Imperial interests (that includes German and French and Italians, not just Brits).

But their response to it isn't as impressive as their weak, do-nothing-until-they-forced-the-US-to-respond response to the Balkans, and *that* was in their own backyard.

Anyway, in the spirit of providing the other side not often seen on TV (or ignored by editors because it's poorly written [that's for you, Owen]) - here's some Israeli-provided footage of Hezbollah rocket launchers and their employment.

No doubt created by teenagers with movie-making software. Sigh. Just inoculating against that particular snark.

Right click and save as, please. Do my hosting service a favor and don't stream it.

Katyusha launcher being destroyed. This is missile/bomb footage. Note the location of the launcher.

Launchers, reputedly in Qana (*that* I can't verify). Qana or no, they're launching from near populated areas. Remember - the response to this *used* to be artillery bombardment or strings of 250, 500, or 1000 pound bombs. Now it's generally a single guided weapon. Which is, of course, insufficient restraint. Apparently delivering pizza and flowers is the proper response. Meanwhile, the system being attacked is... an area fire weapon fired without regard to serious targeting of military targets. Mainly because Hezbollah feels anything they aim at is a legitimate target. But no fingers get wagged in their faces. Except seemingly as an afterthought.