As Israel, having abandoned the terrible simplicity of 'never again,' awaits the French army to bless it with the fruits of the ceasefire, further reflection on this war increases its mysteries. Take the Germans as an example.  As any student of World War II is aware, the Germans were great planners.  Not all their plans worked out, but planning was the basis of their military operations.  This included the question of doctrine — how would the next war be fought, which led them to come up with the combined arms doctrine of armor plus dive bombing which became known as blitzkrieg — to what specific plan of attack should be used for a given theater.  The plan for the attack on France, for instance, was the subject of raging debate within the General Staff, with the dramatic 'southern attack' being forced through by Hitler. The point of all this is the extensive thought and experimentation that went into German planning for war.  Fast forward to...(Read Full Post)