At the Jerusalem Post, here’s a great first-hand report from an IAF pilot flying missions over Lebanon: In the cockpit. (Hat tip: Rhonda.)
1430
The siren blows. We run to the planes, start the engines, power up the systems. Ground crew running around the plane, the tower gives us permission to take off. We are told to head north, to Lebanon. “Get ready to receive targets,” announces the flight controller as we approach. Major E and I read back the information, verifying with the flight controller that we have no mistakes. We head to the coast of Lebanon. It looks so small from above - Israel on the south, Syria in the east. I shake myself - no time to enjoy the view… hurry through the switches, procedures, arm the bombs, check the systems, head to the target, follow the range 10-9-8 Pickle! The plane violently rocks from side to side as two bombs fall off each wing, few seconds apart. I look down at the ground - we are flying so high, it’s hard to judge where my bombs are going to hit, but the explosions catch my eye.
We head back - “mission complete. 4 direct hits,” reports Major E to the controller. The rush and adrenalin gone, thoughts enter my head. I sure wish I hit the “bad guys” and that there were no civilians hanging around the place. Hizballah cynically often uses civilians as a shelter from Israel’s bombings.
1630
We land in the base, and are relieved to learn that we went for a Hizbullah post. Probably unmanned. It’s strange how the focus in these missions is not to succeed, hit the target precisely, but rather - not to make any mistakes. The message is clear all the way from the Squadron commander to the last pilot. One mistake can jeopardize the whole war, like in Kfar-Kana, in one of the last operations in Lebanon, where artillery bombarded a refugee camp, killing over 100 people, which resulted in international pressure that halted the operation. Hitting the target is expected, no misses are acceptable. There aren’t any congratulations for a well-performed mission. Only a hammer on the head if something goes wrong. Personally, I think it’s a healthy attitude; it causes the whole system to be less rash and hot on the trigger.
re: #499 Render The fact that Jordan purported to annex the West Bank had no meaning in international law, because the annexation was never recognized by the international community. And even if Egypt conscripted people in Gaza, that does not mean, again under international law, that Gaza was part of Egypt. The authors were writing about the meaning and effect of international law on ...
Frank says: