Israel has to Invade South Lebanon to Acheive Goal

If Israel really wants to achieve its stated goal of pushing Hezbollah far enough away from its northern border to avoid rocket attacks, it will have to carry out a full ground invasion in southern Lebanon.

Air power is never effective against guerilla warfare. It can devastate large, massed armies in a conventional war. All it does with guerillas is scatter them. It also kills more innocent civilians than guerillas, no matter how 'precise' the weapon is.

Air and sea power were used by the U.S. against the Japanese in island warfare to 'soften up' the enemy troops. When our troops landed it was found that there were plenty of Japanese soldiers still alive and fighting, guerilla-warfare style.

Massive, indiscriminate, bombing was used before and after D-day to no avail except to destroy enemy infrastructure. The Allies still had to fight a bloody ground war to end it.

The Gulf War and the mess America is in now also show airpower's limitations. The Israelis need to move in on the ground soon to kill Hezbollah guerillas instead of killing Lebanese civilians from the air. Otherwise, they will be stopped by the international community, having accomplished nothing.