It has been Cheney that has been the primary director of the Olmert government. He pushed Olmert into the ill-conceived "final conflict" with Hezbollah in Lebanon and he pushed Olmert to bomb the Syrians' putative nuclear facility, thus inflaming relations with Turkey. This resulted in a supremely lame and highly conditional "apology" to Turkey. Paraphrased:
IF we entered your airspace, we didn't do it to hurt your feelings. We don't apologise for actually doing it, only for upsetting you when we did it. IF we actually did it in the first place, of course, which we don't admit to. And we just might do it again, just so you know and don't go getting yourself all worked up. We respect your sovereignty, but we'll violate it whenever we want. No hard feelings, okay?
Over a year later, Israel has finally overcome the stall tactics of the Olmert Administration, and the Winograd Commission is due to issue a report on the ill-fated Second Lebanon War. Somehow, some way, the invasion was supposed to result in freeing two Israeli soldiers held hostage and crush Hezbollah forever. It didn't.
Instead, Israel fought Hezbollah to a standstill. Over a thousand Lebanese civilians were killed and over a hundred Israeli soldiers died for nothing. Eager to make quick gains, Israel ignored the ceasefire imposed by the UN and continued to drive into Lebanon. It gained nothing but more casualties, while the Bush Administration made bold statements backing Israel's right to defend itself by invading a neighbour. There are different rules for Israel in every case, at least in the White House's eyes.
The UN, that worthless and decrepit organisation decried by the Bush Administration, was tasked with the job of peacekeeping in Lebanon - minus the U.S, of course, which had its hands full in Iraq and Afghanistan while plotting a new war in Iran. The UN moved in and did what Cheney's proxy could not do. In return, Bush blamed the UN's "interference" for the failure to rout Hezbollah from Lebanon. The UN didn't want Israel to "win", and they spoiled all the fun with their cowardly ceasefire, just as Israel was poised to "win". The Bush fantasy world is a wonder to behold.
Israel's invasion was carried out with the characteristic optimism of the Bush Administration.
Lack of equipment, unrealistic orders and objectives, poor communication, and dismal planning were the hallmarks, but this is par for the course when you are the "good guys", because the good guys always prevail. Just like in Afghanistan. It's never complicated. Just send in the good guys and let them do their job, and we'll have a happy ending that we can take credit for. Expressing doubts about this strategy means that you hate the good guys, not that you question the policies or logisitics of those that send the good guys into harm's way. So don't look too closely at what went wrong a year and a half ago, just cheer on the brave good guys in their glorious fight to kill off the bad guys that want to kill us for some incomprehensibly sinister reason. Is this a comic book or real life?
Meanwhile, the U.S. gives a gift of $12 million every single day to Olmert's government. It also steadfastly ignores Israel's nuclear arsenal, while screeching about Iran's non-existent nukes at every opportunity. And, the U.S. makes excuses for and shushes up any criticism of Israel regardless of how it matches up with our policies.
Here's hoping that the Bush shill named Olmert gets the boot. It's time for a new stooge to advance our policies, whatever they are. Maybe even successfully this time, so that we don't have to spin reality out of whole cloth while the region chuckles at us. Possibly even a stooge that will actually move forward with the peace process. Is that too much to ask for $12 million a day?
story from The Daily Telegraph
Ehud Olmert faces calls to quit ahead of Lebanon war verdict
By Carolynne Wheeler in Jerusalem
Last Updated: 2:31am GMT 27/01/2008
Eighteen months after her husband's death in a helicopter crash in southern Lebanon, Sarit Gomez is still fighting for the truth
She may get some answers this week when a report into Israel's handling of its 2006 war with Hezbollah, the militant Islamic faction in Lebanon, is published.
The Winograd Committee report is expected to be highly critical of ministers and the military, and to put pressure on Ehud Olmert, the prime minister, to resign. It may yet bring down his government.
It will show why Israeli soldiers, including Mr Gomez, were sent into battle after the United Nations had brokered a ceasefire.
Mrs Gomez's husband Daniel, 25, was shot down on August 12 - after the August 11 ceasefire deal, but 33 hours before Israel halted its military operations. He was one of 33 Israeli soldiers killed between the deal and the end of hostilities.
These fateful hours are at the centre of growing anger from soldiers and relatives.
Many are also angry at the conflict's stalemate ending, military planning errors and equipment shortages, and a lack of government direction.
"I believe in protecting our country and our people, but I don't understand why it had to continue after the Lebanese government had already agreed to stop fighting," said Mrs Gomez, 27, a lawyer who lives at Tel Nof, near Tel Aviv, with Avia, her son, who was born three months after his father's death.
"I really think Danny's death, and the deaths of many other soldiers that day, could have been prevented."
Last week, 50 reserve company commanders signed a public letter calling for Mr Olmert's resignation. Other soldiers voiced their criticisms. "The company commanders are not prepared for this man to lead our country in another war. He failed," Yanir Zaken, a first sergeant in the reserves, told The Sunday Telegraph.
"There was no real reason we were there - putting our lives in danger. The ceasefire was already signed. The government insisted that we fight for one more week, that we press through to the Litani [river], and for what?"
The war began on July 12, after Hezbollah had ambushed an Israeli patrol, seizing two soldiers. Israel retaliated with aerial bombardment and a ground offensive into Lebanon, while Hezbollah fired thousands of rockets into northern Israel. More than 1,100 Lebanese - mostly civilians - and 117 Israeli soldiers and 43 civilians died.
Today, Hezbollah retains a presence in south Lebanon, despite the UN troops posted on the border, and little is known of the fate of the two captive soldiers.
Last week, the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, brandished the "dog-tag" of an Israeli soldier and offered soldiers' body parts from the battlefield, in exchange for Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails.
Many Israelis now look to the Winograd report to tell them why the military mission failed. The committee cannot lay personal blame, but is likely to issue general findings about what went wrong.
Two leaders during the war, the ex-defence minister Amir Peretz and the former army chief Dan Halutz, have quit. Yet Mr Olmert and his fragile coalition remain.
"Were mistakes made? Yes. Were there failures? Certainly. But lessons were learned, shortcomings were rectified, patterns of action were changed," he said last week, adding that the war succeeded in stopping rocket fire on the north and drove Hezbollah back.
Holding the key to Mr Olmert's survival is Ehud Barak, the defence minister and Labour Party leader.
He is said to be weighing up whether pulling his support from the coalition and triggering a poll is worthwhile at a time when Israel faces US pressure to negotiate with the Palestinians and a deteriorating situation in Gaza.
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