Israeli politician sets up military as scapegoat

Take a close look at this story, because this is what Bush Administration officials will be saying about Iraq in future.

Turbowitz the Toady astonishingly places the blame for the Lebanon debacle entirely on the head of the Israeli military, almost as if Olmert was forced into the mess against his will.

Almost any military, when asked, will say that it is capable of handling a challenge. That's the military mentality, after all. Perhaps that is why civilian political figures are put in charge of making decisions. In the case of the U.S. we have already seen the consequences when the military is pressured into agreeing with the civilian administration. In effect, they are told what to say, and they echo it back. Blaming the parrot for the words they were taught to repeat is foolish.

What is missing from all of this is Cheney's involvement in pressuring Israel into a "slam-dunk" military adventure in Lebanon, when the credibility of Cheney's "analysis" is plain to anyone who can say the word "Iraq". We're the good guys, and the good guys always prevail in Cheney's mind.

Just as in Iraq, it was abject failure of civilian administration planning that made the military's job impossible. How can the military possibly guarantee civilian preparedness against an unknown scenario?

This should be an object lesson to the IDF when faced with whatever crazy new schemes the voices in Cheney's head compel him to dictate to his Israeli political minions.

Turbowitz: IDF Told Us We Could Handle War

(IsraelNN.com) Defending his boss, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's chief of staff Yoram Turbowitz told the Winograd Committee that contrary to the public perception, it was the military establishment, not the political, that was behind the country's lack of preparedness during the Second Lebanon War. The testimony was published Thursday.

According to Turbowitz, the IDF told Olmert that, "the home front was ready for the consequences of Hizbullah firing missiles on northern Israel, as well as for the possibility they may hit south of Haifa."

"There was a definite feel that we were launching a military campaign, the IDF chief of staff told us, under no uncertain terms, that the army can handle it," said Turbowitz.