Glenn Reynolds calls attention to this article by Richard Cohen in the Washington Post. The article is mostly about the massacre of truth at Jenin, but Cohen also notes some fundamental differences between Arab and Israel army tactics:
The fact is, though, that Israel has largely eschewed such methods. It fights hard and sometimes ruthlessly -- assassinations, for instance -- but it has generally adhered to Western standards of warfare. It has the only army in the Middle East in which reservists have refused to serve for reasons of conscience -- an option I wouldn't recommend to any soldier in any Arab army....
Maybe this is part of what he was talking about:
The problem started in 1994 when Saddam Hussein issued a presidential order to cut off the ear of any military person who failed to report for military service, or defected from the army. Unfortunately, I had just started my residency after graduating from medical school. I never imagined that an Iraqi physician would be forced to perform mutilating surgeries... But this is exactly what happened... the day came when Iraqi military physicians... were forced to cut off the ears of officers and soldiers...
