The war and the generals

Apparently the iron will of the public to let a few heads roll in the aftermath of the second Lebanon war makes the real investigation into the reasons for some failures close to impossible. Otherwise, there is no reasonable explanation to the unbelievable fact: the investigation of the failures in the logistics area, where lots of complaints on the lack of ammunition, food, even water were voiced, was undertaken by... the OC IDF Logistics and Medical Branch Maj.-Gen. Avi Mizrachi.

Noting the poor quality of equipment found in emergency military warehouses during the second Lebanon war, OC IDF Logistics and Medical Branch Maj.-Gen. Avi Mizrachi announced Tuesday plans to invest NIS 2 billion to upgrade the equipment used by reservists in a time of war.

Speaking at a press conference at Tel Hashomer on Tuesday, Mizrachi said the emergency warehouses would undergo a complete overhaul - over a period of five years - and be stocked with new vests, helmets, weapons and uniforms.

Will it be at least reasonable to ask the general where exactly has he been in the years before the war? Because we know only too well what kind of advice he offered during the war:

"If our soldiers deep in Lebanon are left without food and water, as far as I'm concerned they can break into local shops" (Technology and Logistics head, Maj.-Gen. Avi Mizrachi, finds an alternative to his branch, in an interview with Army Radio).

In another interview (no link, unfortunately), the same Avi Mizrachi displayed his philosofical inclinations by telling that logistics are ruled by Pareto principle. Which means that you succeed to do your job in 80% of the cases, more or less. Which also means that these 20% of our guys who found themselves without food, water or reliable equipment have Pareto to blame - instead of general Mizrachi.

And to add insult to injury, our learned general has some ideas for the future:

In addition, Mizrachi, who led a probe into the role the reservists played during the war, has recommended the creation of a three-year program in which reservists will train for a period of 10 days once every two years and enlist for operations and guard duty once every three years.

I don't know, folks. Tell me what you want, but in my book a general like this should be court-martialled without delay and, hopefully, frog marched to the nearest wall and shot.

But my book is, probably, not good enough for IDF...

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