A recent AP article gave a dismal view of the Israeli army as they returned from their attacks in Lebanon, many of the reports from Israeli soldiers themselves.

Twenty-two year old infantryman Ilia Marshak was quoted in the article, stating that they had fought for nothing.

Marshak said his unit was hindered by a lack of information, poor training and untested equipment. In one instance, Israeli troops occupying two houses inadvertently fired at each other because of poor communication between their commanders.

"We almost killed each other," he said. "We shot like blind people. ... We shot sheep and goats."

These are the men Israel sent in to Lebanon. If young soldiers, lacking communications, are firing at one another, it's no wonder so many Lebanese civilians were killed in the action.

It's sad for the Israeli soldiers as well. The idea of Israeli soldiers being so thirsty in the field that they're forced to get water from the canteens of fallen Hezbollah fighters, as well as using their chlorine tablets in animal troughs is quite a statement about what the Israeli government thinks about their own troops. The lack of training for the Israeli soldiers (one complained about not having thrown a grenade in 15 years) indicates that perhaps this recent battle was more of a sudden political move on the part of Israeli's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert than anything else.

... but what war isn't a political move?