This article does not make clear the intended benefit to the participants and the organizers of the 6 day sponsored tour.

How do American CIOs benefit from knowing that a heavily armed & technologically sophisticated army that regularly kills civilians and combatants can't achieve dominance over a technically less sophisticated and much weaker army?

The intended benefit to the participants? The realization that even the most sophisticated technologies don't guarantee their goals.

I'll have more coverage of the CIO tour in future blog postings.

And this comes as news?

The 'take-away' that CIO should have gotten from this is, how to conduct some 'asymmetrical operations' of their own.

I'm an Israeli. You won't hear it reported in MSM, but the problems in last year's Lebanon War had more to do with the meddling of American advisors and so-called experts in International Law who micro-managed ground operations.

Units were sent to combat only to have their activities severely restricted by the American dominated law "experts" exactly as America did to soldiers in Viet Nam. Most (but not all) of the casualties were caused by this behind-the-scenes meddling on the part of the Americans.

It's a little-known fact that American "aid" to Israel amounts to less than 1.5% of our GDP. In spite of this fact, the myth is spread far and wide that Israel can't get along without America.

Having accepted the myth of American aid, Israel's political echelon subordinates itself to the dictates of the Americans. This is done without regard to the desires of Israeli citizens or the long-term impact on the Nation of Israel.

The Americans have long been pushing a policy of appeasing criminal terrorist groups that the Americans say are carrying on a legitimate struggle against Israeli "occupation".

The Saudi-American "Roadmap" is intended to break the Jewish State into indefensible parts. The long-range plan of the global Islamic movement is to eliminate the Jewish State entirely.

The lesson is that one must choose friends more carefully than the Israeli political echelon have been doing over the past 40 years.

The slogan by which Israel determines policy should be this: "The friend of my enemy is my enemy"

Bob Martin
Yaffo, Israel

Is this a Political or an IT Blog?

The whole trip is another pro-Israel propaganda.

You should write about how war technology can not differentiate between innocent civilians and combatants. Or how that technology used in hospitals becomes absolute when you have no electricity due to Israeli blockade, as the case in Gaza.

You can not buy truth with free trips!

Fahmi Abd
Amman, Jordan

Fahmi:

We all should remember that, in 1970, Jordan engaged in a brutal war against the very people whom you now say are being mistreated by Israel. Jordan expelled these people. Jordan made them refugees. Jordan kicked them out, but nevertheless continued aiding them in their fight against Israel. To this day, a great deal of support for ongoing terror operations comes from Jordan, in spite of treaties and agreements to the contrary.

The politicization of the issue is being done by you and others who cannot accept the Jewish State on any terms whatsoever. It's interesting that even the Arabic weather reports and children's shows frequently include hateful diatribes against Jews and Israel.

In spite of ongoing war, propaganda, and terrorism, Israel continues (and will continue) making genuine efforts to bring about stability and peace.

At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, the proper and natural geographic boundaries of Israel were set aside as the home of the Jewish people. This was done by the same global powers that created the present-day Islamic kingdoms and states surrounding Israel. The land set aside for Israel at that time included large parts of Jordan.

What, exactly, makes Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, any more legitimate than Israel? Such claims of legitimacy come only from the prejudice of those whose religion demands total submission to its dogma without any genuine acceptance of alternative views.

The Islamic kingdoms and states have been at perpetual war with Israel from long before the time the 1947 lines were drawn. The 1929 massacre of Jews in Hebron is a good example of this multi-generational irrational hatred.

Simply put, a truly objective analysis can easily prove that Israel has not caused the crisis. The crisis is caused by ongoing hatred from Islamic countries.

We in Israel hope that the future will bring about a change of circumstances and a generation of educated professionals who are capable of seeing through the fog of misinformation generated by Islamic hatred of Jews.

I encourage you to become a part of that group of educated professionals and to make room in your expansive country and give food, clothes, houses, medicine, and education to those for whom your heart bleeds and your eyes shed tears. The same ones whose relatives were slaughtered by your country in 1970.

Technology, particularly communications technology, has the potential of raising awareness by making facts and truth available to everyone. But it also has the potential of perpetuating the very mythomania that sustains anti-Israel hatred.

Indeed, there have never been more outlets for irrational hatred than there are today. And, as Mark Twain noted, "a lie can make it half-way 'round the world before the Truth gets out of bed and puts on its slippers." Today, with technology, lies can easily overwhelm the truth.

Join the human race, and work for genuine peace and tolerance instead of the false peace and false tolerance that has characterized your side for 1,428 years. We are ready to welcome you.

Chag Sameach (Happy Holiday)

Zionists like you always amaze me. Even in today's open world of the Internet you think you will try something new. It is clear that you believe that you can misinform the world. Anyone can do a small search on the Internet and discover your Zionist misinformation and propaganda.

I believe that you really exaggerated what happened in 1970 between the PLO and the Jordanian army. For your information, today about 60 percent of the 5.5 million Jordanians are Palestinians, many of whom are living in refugee camps. Where did you get your information that Palestinians were expelled and became refugees in 1970.

I am a Palestinian, and my family lived in Palestine for thousands of years. In 1948, my family and another one million Palestinians were made refugees by your "democratic" state. They had to flee after they were terrorized by Zionist Jews. They had a choice between waiting and facing the fate of massacred Palestinians in Qubia, Deer Yasin, Houla, and elsewhere; or flee for their lives.

Israel has a long history of massacring Palestinians. It continues to terrorize them in the West Bank and Gaza, and kill them in cold blood. The latest is the massacre last week of 4 children and their mother in Gaza.

I don't understand where did you get the information that Jordan is supporting "terrorism?" Arab dictatorship regimes are the reason why Israel still exist. You should be thankful to the Jordanian monarchy for protecting Israel. Israel has its longest borders with Jordan, and Jordanian army is doing a good job protecting you.

Your information about the 1919 Paris Conference is wrong. I challenge you to produce any official document that came out of that conference which mentions Israel. That conference sat the stage to the British Mandate of Palestine between 1920 and 1948. During that period the British did help the Zionists with the establishment of Israel. You probably are talking about the 1919 agreement between Faisal and Weizmann. Faisal (the great grandfather of the current Jordanian King) was considered a traitor and a collaborator with Western Colonizers. He didn't have the authority to negotiate in behalf of the Palestinians, or even the Arabs.

Jews lived in Muslim lands for over 1.400 years. I suggest that you go back and study your Jewish history, and learn where did Spanish Jews flee to during the Spanish Inquisition.

The Palestinian saying, "You can't hide the sun with a screen," applies well to Israel's attitude toward Palestinians. Zionist can keep trying to hide behind their propaganda machine and weapons of mass destruction, but this will not solve Israel's major dilemma. Israel was established on land stolen from Palestinians. Today, there are 7 million Palestinians yearning for freedom and justice.

Peace can not exist without justice.

Fahmi Abd