William Arkin’s book, Divining Victory: Airpower in the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War, examines why the Israel-Hezbollah War may well be a paradigm for 21st century warfare. The technically-sophisticated Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were confronted by a much smaller, but well-armed and highly unconventional, "state within a state" opponent. Israel launched an intensive 34-minute air assault designed to essentially disarm Hezbollah; it did not. Hezbollah's interspersion within the civilian population presented major targeting problems for the IDF, setting up condemnation of Israel's "over-reaction" in the international press. Airpower became the big loser in the press and after-action reports.
His first work of fiction, History in One Act: A Novel of 9/11, will be out in 2021. Here are some reviews & praise for William Arkin’s Divining Victory…
“William Arkin, the well-known independent military analyst, explodes both myths in his new book... meticulous documentation”
“William Arkin’s book has an extremely valuable role to play. It has certainly succeeded inasmuch as it is one of the few recent books on air power to rate a review—and a positive one at that—from the pages of The New York Times.”