Another highly lethal anti-tank weapon used by Hezbollah was the giant RPG-29. The RPG-29 is the largest of the Russian made RPG family of anti-tank rockets (unguided). It features a tandam warhead designed to knock out ERA protected tanks and to increase penetration of advanced composite armor such as those used on Israeli, American, and Western European made tanks. Its sometimes refered to as “The Abrams killer” as it is believed to be able to penetrate the side armored skirts and hull armor of a M1A1/A2 tank. There were also rumors of Hezbollah possessing the RPG-7VR rockets. These are essentially upgraded versions of the highly popular RPG-7 AT rockets found all over the world. Like the RPG-29, the RPG-7VR warhead is a tandem design that is far more potent against armor then the standard RPG-7 design.
All of these weapons, in the hands of a professional, experienced, and well disciplined guerilla force can wreak havoc on a heavy armor/mechanized force of a modern conventional army. If for example Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi army had used well trained, highly mobile and well camoflaged tank killing teams equipped with ATGMs, he very likely could have inflicted enormous casaulties on American armor. Fortunately for the American military, the Iraqi armor suffered from inept leadership, old Soviet fighting doctrine, and key Generals bribed into not fighting.
Nevertheless, the 2006 War in Lebanon shows the future of guerilla warfare in the Middle East involving not only IED’s, VBE’s, suicide bomber, mortars, and snipers, but also advanced ATGM & AT systems supplied by various Middle Eastern nations or by the black market.
The response by Western Nations will either be the development of better technology to counter these threats (like the Russian Arena system, that now Western defense companies are copying), better usage of indigenous counter-guerilla forces (aka-death squads), or even worse, resorting to past savage principles of warfare that involve ethnic cleansing and the massive killing of civilians. The latter tactic was used effectively by the Russians against Chechnyan rebels and civilians.
The Israelis likewise killed alot of Lebanese civilians during their 2006 invasion. However it was not NEARLY as many as they could have killed. For example, their was no widespread usage of fuel-air explosives (napalm) that could have effectively wiped out concealed Hezbollah positions. The Russians had no qualms of this in Chechnya where they liberally used fuel-air artillery systems to wipe out hidden guerilla bunkers in various urban and rural areas. Likewise, young Chechnyan Muslim men and boys were routinely rounded up by Russian forces and never seen again.
Ultimately, it is only a matter of time before Israeli and American forces begin to use such scorched earth policies against insurgents. We saw an example of the beginnings of such tactics by US forces in Fellujah.

The only thing preventing this from happening is a willingness to except defeat by Israeli and American populations or intense diplomatic efforts and direct dialogue with Islamic guerilla organizations and the Islamic nations that use them as proxys.
Diplomacy in the Middle East however is rarely pretty and generally involves a high degree of backstabbing. So the prospects of diplomacy working is not very high given the lack of any clear strong leadership in America, Israel, or amongst any nation in the Middle East. I had hopes for Hezbollah’s leader, Nasrallah being a voice of reason, but now however, he seems bent on undermining and taking over the Lebanese government as Lebanon now teeters once again to the brink of civil war.

Inshallah, clear heads and good hearts will prevail in which men of honor of all sides will come together to talk as equals and as passionate about peace as they are at fighting wars. If not, beautiful Lebanon will suffer once again and may never recover from the looming proxy war set to erupt.

Abdul Haqq

[ UPDATE: Here is a companion piece about Hezbollah’s tactics. (via Carl in Jerusalem) From Stratfor: Red Alert: The Battle Joined – Friday, 7/21/06   The ground war has begun. Several Israeli brigades now appear to be operating between the……