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U.S. concludes Israel's military cannot defeat the Palestinians

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Wednesday, May 15, 2002

WASHINGTON Ñ The Pentagon has concluded Israel will not achieve a military victory in its war against Palestinian insurgents.

Officials said the U.S. Defense Department was struck by the slow pace of Israel's offensive and the failure to deliver a strategic blow to either the Palestinian Authority or the opposition Hamas and Islamic Jihad. They said the Israeli operation reminded them of the Russian war in Chechnya.

U.S. military officials closely monitored the Israeli offensive in the West Bank last month. The Pentagon regards Israeli victories against Palestinian insurgents as tactical.



"This is not a problem that's going to get solved militarily," U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said last week. "I mean sure there are tactical successes."

It was the first time a senior U.S. defense or military official ventured an assessment of Israel's campaign against the Palestinian Authority and its aligned militia groups. But U.S. officials said Wolfowitz's assessment reflects the conclusion of U.S. military and intelligence agencies in the wake of Israel's Operation Defense Shield in which an estimated 30,000 troops overran Palestinian insurgency strongholds in West Bank cities.

"I think my sense from Israelis I talk to from time to time including Israeli military people," Wolfowitz said, "is a recognition that tactical success is only temporary and the strategic success has to come out of something that's a political solution."

Last week, the Bush administration urged Israel to cancel plans to invade the Gaza Strip in what was regarded as a continuation of Operation Defensive Shield. Officials said Israel was warned that the Gaza operation would be even more difficult than the West Bank offensive.

In contrast, Wolfowitz said he believes the United States is winning its war against Islamic insurgents. He pointed to the ouster of the ruling Taliban regime and the destruction of Al Qaida's infrastructure in Afghanistan.

"I think the terrorists are losing," Wolfowitz told the MSNBC network last week. "We've taken out a lot of their key people. We've I think had significant effects not just in Afghanistan but all around the world in disrupting their activities."

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