From: Mermaid . (britannica@hotmail.com)
Date: Sat Apr 13 2002 - 09:36:26 MDT
Does this surprise anyone? anyone? hmm?
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/134433612_israelmilitary09.html
Israel no longer dependent on U.S. military assistance
By David Wood
Newhouse News Service
WASHINGTON — There was a time when the United States was the unquestioned
military superpower in the Middle East and drew obedient if grudging respect
from all sides.
No more.
Now Israel is the region's superpower, and where it once looked to the
United States not just for diplomatic support but also for military rescue,
now Israel can thumb its nose at Washington and go its own way.
Israel can field 19 divisions of ground troops, by some counts; the United
States boasts 13 divisions worldwide and would need weeks to move any
significant military force into the region.
Israel's air force, which flies souped-up U.S. F-15 and F-16 fighters, can
generate nearly 3,000 sorties, or combat missions, per day. The United
States can sustain about 1,600 sorties a day. That kind of combat punch has
given Israel unprecedented freedom of action, not just against lightly armed
Palestinian street fighters, but against its traditional enemies of Syria
and Egypt as well.
"We have created an 800-pound gorilla," said Kenneth Brower, an independent
military consultant in Washington, assessing decades of U.S. military aid to
Israel.
Yesterday, the 11th day of its invasion of Palestinian territories, Israel
initially shrugged off U.S. demands that it begin withdrawing "without
delay," as President Bush put it. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in a
speech to the Knesset in Jerusalem that "the army will continue operating as
quickly as possible until the mission has been completed."
Later, Sharon relented — somewhat. He withdrew from two West Bank cities as
his government claimed military success.
The United States has given Israel about $3 billion a year for weapons
purchases since the late 1970s, and has transferred new or used weapons and
military technology for free or at deeply discounted prices under other
government programs and commercial arrangements.
The United States also has stored millions of dollars' worth of ammunition,
fuel and spare parts and even built a field hospital in Israel, ostensibly
for use by American forces. The agreements under which the equipment was
stored in Israel are secret, but most analysts assume Israel has access to
the storage sites.
"It's always been said there are 'tripwires' that would permit Israel to use
that stuff," said Shoshana Bryen, an analyst for the Jewish Institute for
National Security Affairs, a think tank in Washington.
The increase in Israel's combat clout comes less from size than from other,
intangible factors. For instance, Israeli technicians have added digital and
other improvements to their F-16 fighters, making them even more capable
than versions used by the U.S. Air Force, Brower said.
And Israel can fly so many combat sorties per day because it has a huge pool
of seasoned combat pilots. That enables its air force to use one aircraft
again and again during a 24-hour period while exchanging fatigued pilots for
fresh ones. The United States does not maintain as many combat pilots per
airplane as Israel.
Israel relies heavily on its reserve forces. There are almost 1 million
Israelis under the age of 48 liable to be recalled to duty. All have done
three years' active duty as well as reserve training. Reserve troops are
organized into units already matched up with vehicles and weapons.
"It's one of the most efficient military forces around," said Anthony
Cordesman, a senior analyst at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies in Washington. "Can they thumb their nose at us? Well, for a while.
But they don't have the technical or production base to sustain these
capabilities without some resupply by us."
But Cordesman estimated it would take about two years of fighting before
Israel needed help.
It was a much closer thing in 1973, when Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on
Yom Kippur, one of the Jewish high holy days. As Egyptian tanks swept across
the Sinai Peninsula and plunged through Israeli defenses, a panicked Israeli
government pleaded with the United States for help.
Then-President Nixon quickly stationed two aircraft carriers off the Israeli
coast and put U.S. combat forces on alert. Eight days later, U.S. cargo
planes began delivering what would be more than 22,000 tons of supplies to
Israel, including tanks and jet fighters.
The deliveries tipped the military balance. Israel counter-attacked with its
tank forces, under the leadership of then-Gen. Sharon, chasing Egyptian
troops back across the Suez Canal and reclaiming the Sinai.
>From that experience came the U.S. pledge that Israel would never lose its
"qualitative edge" in military power to any Arab neighbors, and U.S.
military aid to Israel that backed up that pledge. U.S. military support to
Egypt, which began after Egypt and Israel signed their 1979 peace treaty, is
about two-thirds what Israel gets.
Despite the images of violence broadcast from the Palestinian territories,
very little of the Israeli military is being used in current operations,
analysts said. Israeli officials declined to say how many tanks have been
deployed in the current fighting, but analysts estimated that not more than
a few dozen of Israel's 4,000 main battle tanks were on the streets.
In an all-out war where civilian casualties were not a concern, Israel
"could roll up the West Bank in 36 hours," Bryen said.
As for igniting a wider Middle East war, most analysts said the Israelis are
confident they can handle any contingency — at least in the short run.
Syria's military forces have atrophied badly since the collapse of the
Soviet Union, its main benefactor. Egypt is said not to have the stomach for
another wider war.
"We have to be realistic," Brower said. "We are the world's superpower in
some respects, but we don't have a big capability in the Middle East and the
Israelis know that. They can count."
Copyright © 2002 The Seattle Times Company
About David Wood, the author of the article:
David Wood has covered national security for Newhouse News Service since
1984. Before that he worked for Time magazine and the Los Angeles Times. He
has covered conflict and foreign affairs from Washington and in Asia,
Africa, Central America, the Middle East and Europe for more than 20 years.
In 1998, he was a Pulitzer finalist in national reporting. Also in 1998, he
won the Gerald R. Ford Prize for Distinguished Reporting on National Defense
and a National Headliner Award.
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