War With Lebanon, Olmert's Swan Song?

Olmert Accepts Blame For Operation's 'Failings'

By Molly Moore
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, August 15, 2006; Page A07

JERUSALEM, Aug. 14 -- Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday acknowledged mistakes in the war against Hezbollah as the Israeli government confronted widespread criticism and political recriminations over the conflict.

"There have been failings and shortcomings," Olmert, with deep circles under his eyes and a haggard look on his face, told a special session of the Israeli parliament. "We need to examine ourselves in all aspects and all areas. We will not sweep anything under the table, we will not hide anything. We must ensure that next time things will be done better."

Defense Minister Amir Peretz announced he would "conduct a deep and wide investigation on all that occurred before the war erupted and through its duration."

The statements came as Binyamin Netanyahu, an opposition leader and former prime minister, described a "national soul-searching" over risks "threatening our very existence."

I would say that things look bleak for Olmert, but there is obviously enough guilt to spread around.

The IDF command failed in the proper training of their troops in combating terrorists.

A lack of anti-missile technology exposed the citizens of Northern Israel to randomly landing Katyusha rockets (it would be difficult to design an anti-Katyusha defense, but it is something they must examine).

There is the question of the effectiveness of the IDF's "ground-up radar," if any. This is radar which would pin-point the exact location of rocket launches within seconds of a launch.

The effectiveness of the bombardment strategy used by the Israelis to kill and intimidate the Hizbollah terrorists must be questioned.

Most certainly the psychological warfare aspect of destroying the Lebanese infra-structure in hopes that the Lebanese civilians would blame Hizbollah has been a dismal failure. Facts rarely trump well executed propaganda, and the terrorists in the Middle East excel at propaganda on the Arab street.

This kind of limited war has again been proven to be a faulty strategy. One must use overwhelming force to overcome these sorts of enemies. Olmert's main error was an error of scale. Once the decision to strike back was made, he should have gone in en masse. This war is not over, the issues are not resolved, and this is but a respite.

Full Story: For Israel, the Song Remains-All or Nothing At All

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