An Analysis of the Second Lebanon War and its Impact on United States Military Strategy

Abstract

Although Israel possessed the military superiority and destroyed parts of Hezbollah and Southern Lebanon, the Israeli leaders had trouble understanding how to defeat the new conventional fighting force because they expected and irregular fight. In today's evolving conflicts around the world and current on-going operations, many adversaries will mimic Hezbollah tactics. The incorporation of these lessons in future training, exercises, and doctrinal development will ensure success in future operations. The assistance Hezbollah received came from countries the United States may be involved in future conflicts with in the near future (North Korea, Iran, China and Syria). Although Israel possessed the military superiority and destroyed parts of Hezbollah and Southern Lebanon, the Israeli leaders had trouble understanding how to defeat the new conventional fighting force because they expected an irregular fight. The cumulative impact of six years of reduced defense spending, lack of large-scale training events and an overall lack of support for their forces were contributory factors to Hezbollah's success and Israel's struggles on the battlefield.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 14, 2010
Accession Number
ADA603003

Entities

People

  • Anthony A. Kerch

Organizations

  • Marine Corps University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Power
  • Combat Areas
  • Defense Systems
  • Doctrine
  • Governments
  • Information Operations
  • Marine Corps
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Strategy
  • North Korea
  • Personnel Management
  • Terrorists
  • Training
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.