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."