Idf Merkava

Did the IDF get their butts kicked in Lebanon?

Hezbollah were totally outmatched in hardware and resources, yet the IDF lost manpower, a lot of machinery (including their much vaunted Merkava tanks - see the link below for the "how") for very very little gain. They attempted to crush Hezbollah, but guess who still controls southern Lebanon?

http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2370105

A clue: it ain't the IDF.
For all you lames who don't know squat about military matters: War is real simple - if you don't control the field after a battle, you lost. Period.

Any conventional force does not achieve its objectives 100% against a guerrilla force (insurgents). First, military science teaches us that an invading force must have 3 times the force to invade a defensive force. Ok, lets use a platoon. If a platoon is duged in a defensive position, it would take 3 platoons (or a company) to take that position. The better the defensive position is (defense in depth) you can double the amount of forces to destroy that 1 platoon(meaning now 2 companies or 6 platoons).

Now, Hezbollah works in small teams (5 to 6 men) positioned on the terrain to allow control of all axises to their position. Add trenches, bunkers, etc., you have a very, very strong defense. The use of Armor is ok, but it normally is so fast and quick that it moves past these defenses, which leaves a gap on the battlefield.

The IDF didn't get their butts kicked, but its performance was poor compared to previous military campaigns. The biggest mistake the IDF did was to rely on air-strikes based on drones, etc., and not relying on human intelligence (operatives on the ground) to locate Hezbollah bunkers, trenches, and command posts.

Hezbollah is better trained than Al Queda, better equipped, and has an effective command and control network.

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