Security and Defense: Marching Backward?

Ten thousand troops and reservists are deep inside Lebanon, reestablishing the security zone and taking up positions outside more than 10 key villages in advance of a massive sweep through the area to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure and push the guerrilla group to the north.

While there are already calls from within and without the defense establishment for an inquiry into the way this campaign was directed, the fact of the matter is that the IDF is where it wants to be - albeit a little later than it had hoped. Military officials said this week that they were well aware that time was running out for the operation, and that all they could hope for was a few more days of fighting.

IDF officers are beginning to come to terms with the fact that they may walk away from this war without a major victory. "Prepare for the possibility that we may not win," was how one senior officer put it this week.

In a desperate search for some sort of victory it can present to the public and say: "See, it was worth sitting in bomb shelters for a month" - the government is grasping at any and all military achievements. Which is why the IDF played up the covert Sayeret Matkal (General Staff Reconnaissance Unit) and Shaldag operations in Baalbek during Tuesday night.

But, with Hezbollah still firing more than 200 rockets a day, and known to have at least 10,000 more in its arsenal, it appears that Israel is still far from achieving its much-needed feat.

WITH DIPLOMATIC pressure escalating, and predictions that by the beginning of next week the US and the UN will force Israel into accepting a ceasefire, the question now is how to get the 10,000 troops currently inside Lebanon back to Israel. The IDF, said the high-ranking officer, will not agree to pull out its troops until a multinational force or the Lebanese army deploys in its place. That could take months.

Retaining a ground presence is not the preferred option among the top military brass, who want to avoid a replay of Israel's previous presence in Lebanon.

Otherwise, the only question left will be why it left in the first place