Israeli soldiers want probe of Lebanon fighting

updated 8:06 p.m. ET Aug. 21, 2006

JERUSALEM - Hundreds of Israeli reservists pushed Monday for an investigation of how the government and army handled 34 days of fighting with Hezbollah guerrillas, saying they were rushed into battle without enough food, water and equipment.

President Bush, meanwhile, urged the world to move quickly in deploying an international military force in southern Lebanon to police the cease-fire. “The need is urgent,” he said.

Prime Minister Romano Prodi said Monday he had told U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan that Italy is willing to command the U.N. force in Lebanon, news agencies reported.

Underscoring the fragility of the week-old truce, Israeli troops shot two Hezbollah guerrillas Monday during a clash in southern Lebanon, the army said.

The army said the soldiers opened fire after guerrillas approached the force in a “threatening manner.” It identified hitting two of the three militants in the group. There was no word on the condition of the men.

Complaining about indecisive leadership, hundreds of Israeli reservists signed a petition calling for an official commission of inquiry. They wrote that they were ready to risk their lives in the defense of Israel, “but there was one thing we are not willing to accept — indecisiveness.”

In a further sign of anger over handling of the war, a group of parents of fallen soldiers called for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s resignation, saying that the government’s objectives had not been achieved and their sons had died for nothing.

Olmert defended his centrist coalition, saying it had been in power for only two months when the war broke out.

“We don’t have a lot of time to talk about what happened. We have to talk about what will happen,” Olmert told reporters Monday during a tour of Kiryat Shemona, a town that suffered some of the heaviest Hezbollah rocket fire.

Olmert rules out Syria peace talks
He said he was willing to consider an investigation, but did not make clear what kind. He warned that too much second-guessing could harm the army’s morale.

Should Israel “put them (soldiers) in front of commissions of inquiry each and every day, so they won’t be able to properly assess the next conflict, because they will be afraid we shall come complaining to them?” he asked.

Olmert also ruled out peace talks with Syria as long as it supports “terror organizations,” calling the country a “committed, aggressive member of the axis of evil.”

Earlier Monday, a top government official suggested it was time to resume talks with Syria despite its support for Hezbollah.

With concern mounting over the fragile truce, Israel sent warplanes over the coastal city of Tripoli, some 35 miles north of Beirut, and over Baalbek, scene of an Israeli commando raid two days ago which Israel said was to disrupt weapons shipments for Hezbollah from Syria.

Lebanon considers overflights a violation of the U.N. resolution that ended 34 days of fighting last week.

Lebanon deploys 15,000
As part of the cease-fire agreement, Lebanon has begun deploying 15,000 soldiers to the south, putting a government force in the region for the first time in four decades. They are to be joined by an equal force of international peacekeepers, but wrangling among countries expected to send troops has so far delayed assembly of the force.

The reluctance of European countries to commit substantial numbers of troops has raised doubts about whether the truce can hold.

The United States is planning to introduce a new U.N. resolution on disarming Hezbollah in southern Lebanon but U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said Monday this should not hold up the quick deployment of U.N. peacekeepers.

France, which commands the existing force U.N. force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, had been expected to make a significant new contribution that would form the backbone of the expanded force. But President Jacques Chirac disappointed the U.N. and other countries last week by merely doubling France’s contingent of 200 soldiers.

Olmert further complicated matters by saying Sunday that countries which don’t have diplomatic relations with Israel should not be permitted to contribute troops to the U.N. force. That would eliminate Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh — among the only countries to have offered front-line troops.

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