" 444 page RAND “study” on the IAF performance in July war (More Fun) – Hizb leadership bunker was in “heart of” Downtown Beirut"

" I am going to have a field day with this guy’s 444 page report – as if we needed ANOTHER paper on the July war relying on the same arguments and same IDF data points! (Remember Biddle’s masterful work which managed to divine Hizbullah’s INTENTIONS with literally ONE footnote reference to a speech/statement by anyone in Hizbullah – no joke, ONE nasrallah quote in the 200 plus pages!). Want a PhD idea? Do it on the “academic/think tank” discourse over the July 2006 War and what it says about the sorry state of that discourse…The SO FAR best part: Benjamin S. Lambeth NEVER VISITED Lebanon! His account is literally haaretz and US/Israeli sources.  He attacks Arkin’s earlier report as wacky…. even though Arkin actually visited BOTH SIDES.  He claims that the “34-minute myth” is almost certainly true (when the IAF supposedly knocked out 90% of hizbullah’s larger rockets! Wowie Zowie!).  And then this gem that got me excited to pick apart the whole expensive, wasteful effort “…On August 3, Nasrallah thundered ominously: “If you [Israelis] strike Beirut, we will strike Tel Aviv.”59 Not long there- after, the IAF boldly reattacked Hezbollah’s leadership facilities in the heart of downtown Beirut, and no retaliatory Zelzal fire against Tel Aviv occurred. “– The guy may be referring to the Bo18 nightclub? But that’s what happens when you do a big RAND report and DONT SEEM TO VISIT!" (thanks Nicholas)