Israel missed its chance in Lebanon, and the Israeli government looks for culprits. Some of its whining is funny.

Israel stated on several occasions that Hezbollah fights with the newest weapons. In fact, their Russian anti-tank RPG-29s are twenty years old. Zelzal-2, Hezbollah’s ultimate weapon, is about the same venerable age. Smaller missiles are also 15-30 years old.

Hezbollah has only basic weapons, not Star Wars equipment. RPG-29s are so simple that Russia left plenty of them to its former satellites when it withdrew from the Eastern bloc. Even Syria parted with its arsenal of PRG-29s and delivered them to Hezbollah.

The Israeli government lies. Hezbollah is not better armed than most armies. Light guns, very simple missiles, and conventional explosives form the core of its arsenal. Ideologically motivated guerillas with primitive weapons often defeat regular armies without strategy.

The RPG-29 became a problem for Israel because she deployed tanks in Lebanon without covering them with helicopters. That was a major tactical flaw. Tanks are unprotected against side attacks, and hovering helicopters watch for ambushes. The Israeli General Staff, bent on pinpoint strikes and urban warfare, deployed helicopters for air attacks but had not enough to protect the tanks. They also feared Hezbollah would use RPGs against our helicopters. Israel had to change tactics to massive air strikes instead of sending troops and tanks without air cover.

Israel accused Great Britain of selling Hezbollah . . . night vision goggles! Next we will demand sanctions against Levi’s for selling jeans to terrorists.

Israel buys plenty of American weapons and cannot blame Russia for selling to Hezbollah. In all likelihood, the Russians did not even sell RPG-29s and other weapons to Hezbollah. Since the start of the Chechen war, the Russians have become considerably estranged from the Islamic terrorist organizations. But even if Russia did sell the RPG, that wasn’t wrong by any standards. Israel supplies weapons to paramilitary groups around the world.

If Russian weapons are so good they give mighty Israel problems, why don’t we buy weapons from Russia? They are way cheaper than the American systems and often better. Russian planes and Ukrainian tanks are cost-effective against Muslim armies. Russian Strela anti-missile systems would have relieved Israeli concerns about Zelzal-2 rockets. Israel does not buy some weapons from Russia because she fears upsetting her American masters. Instead, she absurdly opposes guerillas with top-of-the-line planes, helicopters, and tanks. Swimming in the profusion of US weapons, Israel loses her competitive edge of ingenuous and daring battles with relatively low-tech weapons. Lebanon-2006 showed that the best weapons can’t replace tactics, specialized training, and unorthodox military thinking.

Israel laughed at Palestinian complaints about the disproportional use of force. Israel did not significantly limit her choice of weapons during the operations in Gaza and Lebanon. A country that attacks ramshackle villages with Apache helicopters and Mercava tanks cannot demand that her enemies use only rifles. Actually, Israel would likely object even if Hezbollah used only rifles: Israel criticized Palestinians for throwing stones at our troops. The Israeli left calls the territories “occupied” but scream when Arabs oppose occupation.

Tell the nation the truth. We lost in Lebanon because of the lack of strategy, not because our enemy was armed well.