Preparing for the Next War

After the summer Hizbollah War, I noted that Israel would learn from its failure to pulverize Hizbollah in Lebanon and that the next time Israel would be prepared to win. This is one way the Israelis are preparing to win in a new city they built:

For Israeli troops frustrated by last summer's war in Lebanon, it was the perfect place for practicing how to avoid another inconclusive outcome.

"We're definitely training for the next war," said Sgt. Shalev Nachum, a medic who fought in the Lebanon campaign. "Next time, it will be different."

The $40 million Urban Training Center, built with help from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was unveiled as Israel named a new army chief of staff. Gabi Ashkenazi, a retired general, succeeds Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, who resigned last week over the failure of Israeli's largest operation since 1982.

The next war seems fairly inevitable. Peaceful protesting for these thugs is never more than a pause before striking:

Hezbollah-led protesters burned tires and cars and clashed with government supporters Tuesday, paralyzing Beirut and areas across Lebanon in the worst violence yet in the pro-Iranian group's campaign to topple U.S.-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.

Given that the Hizbollah-Syria-Iran axis is trying to recover their lost ground in Lebanon after the Cedar Revolution expelled the Syrian army, that war could arrive fairly soon.

Unless you still think UNIFAIL will solve the problem in southern Lebanon.