‘Olmert Made the Decision to Go to War Unprepared’, by Herb Keinon, Gil Hoffman, Mark Weiss (Jerusalem Post)
Excerpts;
The Winograd Committee’s interim report harshly criticizing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz, and former IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Dan Halutz over their actions during the first five days of the Second Lebanon War was released to the public Sunday afternoon.
According to the report, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert bears the responsibility for the decision to go to war without sufficient preparation, a decision the committee called “lacking in judgement, responsibility, and caution.”
According to the final chapter of the report, which includes the committee’s conclusions, Olmert is described as a passive leader who was led by the nose by the army and who did not take charge of the war he was supposed to be commanding.
Peretz, who should not have accepted the Defense portfolio in the first place, did not do what he should have to make up for his lack of knowledge of security matters after he accepted the post, according to the report.
And with regards to Halutz, the report said that the former IDF chief of general staff did not take Hizbullah’s missile attacks against the northern part of the country seriously and at no time came up with a plan to address the threat.
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Commentary;
Are the people, Yosef Q. Israeli ready and willing to take their protests to the next level, beyond Thursday. Are they ready, willing and eager to emulate the Ukranian Model? Are they ready to force leadership which leads the way it should — the Jewish Way?