- The U.S. Marine Corps and Israeli military commanders
are studying the capture of the Palestinian refugee camp outside the West
Bank city of Jenin. The three-day battle left 23 Israelis and more than
50 Palestinians dead.
-
- The marines want to learn from the Israeli experience
in urban warfare and the recent massive search-and-destroy operations
for Palestinian insurgents in the West Bank.
-
- Marine Lt. Col. Dave Booth, who oversees the Marine Corps-Israeli
Defense Force exchanges, said his service meets with commanders from Israel
and other countries to exchange information and hone skills. Booth said
this benefits both the United States and its allies.
-
- "We're interested in what they're developing, especially
since Sept. 11," Booth told the Marine Corps Times. "We're interested
in their past experience in fighting terrorism. So there's a lot of things
we could learn from them."
-
- The U.S. military weekly said the Marine Corps Warfighting
Lab plans to revise the corps' urban warfare doctrine after an examination
of Israeli tactics. This includes adapting Israeli methods in the deployment
of air and armor in urban areas. The military talks
took place in both Israel and the United States. Marine corps commanders
watched Israeli exercises and Israeli officers viewed a U.S. exercise
in urban warfare last month.
-
- The United States also sent a delegation from the Joint
Chiefs of Staff last month to review Operation Defensive Shield, the term
used for the month-long offensive against Palestinian insurgents in the
West Bank.
-
-
- The marines, struggling to reduce casualties in urban
warfare simulations, have experimented with handheld satellite phones and
rugged laptop computers to coordinate attacks on cities. In Operation
Defensive Shield, Israel used unmanned air vehicles and attack helicopters
along with armored vehicles. Israel and the United
States have also been discussing ideas for a security buffer zone meant
to detect insurgents. Next week, Israel plans to launch tenders to establish
a zone based on sensors, command and control and electronic fences in
the first stage of a project estimated at $65 million.
-
- http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_9.html
|