Why Is It Taking The Lebanese Army So Long?

There has been much speculation as to why it has taken the Lebanese Army so long to crush the Fatah Al Islam (FAI) fighters, knowing that there were initially as few as 300 of them.


Here are some of the reasons according to a retired Lebanese Army officer who is still well connected in Yarze:

• The FAI fighters are well dug-in and willing to fight to the end, rather than surrender. Further, they have nowhere to go, and their options are either to surrender or die fighting.
  
  
• The terrain is quite difficult, with narrow streets and tightly packed buildings filled with booby traps.
  
  
• The Army is trying hard to limit civilian casualties and limit the amount of destruction caused by the fighting. This is in big part in trying to prevent the fighting from spreading to the other Palestinian "camps" and to maintain the support of friendly Arab nations.
  
  
• The Army wants to limit the number of casualties in the ranks of its troops.
  
  
• The Army believes that time is on its side, at least to a certain extent and is willing to sacrifice time in order to attain the other objectives stated above.

With respect to the military supplies the Army has received from friendly nations, they do not provide it with a decisive advantage. Most of the supplies that were flown in consisted of body armor, helmets, rifles and ammunition. And while the 2 Gazelle gunships provided by the UAE are a good morale boost, they are only moderately effective in a dense urban setting.