WE Agree With Caroline Glick: No Confidence in Olmert
Let me preface this before I continue. Marcie and I stand 100% behind Israel, and what they have been doing over the last month. Our only complaint is that Olmert launched the retaliation without the intent of ever truly "winning." We were disappointed to see both sides claiming victory with the cease-fire in place; Hezbollah, unfortunately, is the winner here. Not only did Israel not accomplish its goal by getting their soldiers back, but they failed to demolish Hezbollah's capacity to strike them.
And now a defiant Hezbollah still sits in the south, and has proclaimed their jihad will continue and they won't disarm. So, who won? Hezbollah did, and this should be the final naiul in Olmert's political coffin. Caroline Glick, at the J-Post, states it bluntly:
HT: Charles Johnson
(This puppy's three pages long. This is a taste, and I recommend all of our readers head over to the J-Post and read it, too.)
From all sides of the political spectrum calls are being raised for the establishment of an official commission of inquiry to investigate the Olmert government’s incompetent management of the war in Lebanon. These calls are misguided.
We do not need a commission to know what happened or what has to happen. The Olmert government has failed on every level. The Olmert government must go.
The Knesset must vote no confidence in this government and new elections must be carried out as soon as the law permits. If the Knesset hesitates in taking this required step, then the people of Israel must take to the streets in mass demonstrations and demand that our representatives send Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and their comrades out to pasture.
Every aspect of the government’s handling of the war has been a failure. Take relief efforts as an example. For five weeks the government ignored the humanitarian disaster in the North where over one million Israelis are under missile assault. The government developed no comprehensive plan for organizing relief efforts to feed citizens in bomb shelters or for evacuating them.
And then there is the military failure. The IDF suffers from acute leadership failures - brought to Israel courtesy of Ariel Sharon who hacked away at the General Staff, undermined its sense of mission and treated our generals like office boys just as he decimated the Likud by undermining its political vision and promoting its weakest members.
Yet, guiding the generals to make the right decisions and finding the generals capable of making them in wartime is the government’s responsibility. It was the government’s responsibility to critique and question the IDF’s operational model of aerial warfare and to cut its losses when after two or three days it was clear that the model was wrong. At that point the government should have called up the reserves and launched a combined ground and air offensive.
But the government didn’t feel like it. It wanted to win the war on the cheap. And when the air campaign did not succeed, it abandoned its war goals, declared victory and sued for a cease-fire. When the public objected, after waiting two precious weeks, the government called up the reserves but then waited another unforgivable 10 days before committing them to battle.
For all those on the Left out there that want to call people like Marcie and I chickenhawks, please, by all means, bray about it until the rest of the jackasses come home. Just bear in mind that when it comes to military, we may be novices, but we're not inexperianced or idiots. When a leader commits his soldiers to war, the goal should be to win; that is the complete and utter destruction of the enemy's ability to engage in any hostilities any longer. We did it to Germany and Japan in World War II. We did it to the South in the Civil War. We did it to the British in the Revolutionary War. To use Caroline Glick's term, we "sued" for a peace accord/cease-fire in Vietnam and Korea, respectively.
She's right. The Olmert government squandered the early internation support--including the support of the Arab League (tell me the last time that occurred; I thought Hell was asking for ice water)--to launch a failed air campaign. It took the IAF too long to crush the Hezbollah positions in the south, and while their accuracy with their rockets was diminshed, it still didn't stop them from coming. Day after day, night after night, the rockets fell; a couple of them landing as deep as fifty miles inside of Israel. That';s the first time that's ever happened, and yet Olmert showed no signs of worry.
Now a few people out there might say that Olmert should be held responsible alone. His staff should suffer no repercussions because he ultimately called the shots. That's nice in theory, but in practice ytou don't leave incompetence in key positions when they screw up as badly as his advisors did. They go. All of them. Anyone involved in this fiasco should be handed their walking papers in the Knesset as early as tomorrow morning.
Once the order has been given to engage one's enemy, you don't play games with them. They will kill you in war just as easily as shaking your hand in peace. Calling up the reserves, and then stalling them for ten days goes beyond unforgivable. To the Israelis it was criminal. They were facing a relentless enemy who didn;t give a rip about where their rockets were landing. Meanwhile, Israel dropped leaflets letting Lebanese citizens know they were about to bomb. And, of course, Hezbollah moved, too. Good job, Ehud. In a rush to fight a politically-correct war, you simply scattered you enemy instead of shattering them.
And that is what this war was. Like our own war, Olmert fought the battle in a PC sort of way. (Don't get any funny ideas about our stance on the war America is engaged in. We support it and the troops, but we have grievances about how we're going about doing it.) And if people think we were the only critics about how Israel was going about the job, think again. Take a look at Yoni Tidi's site and tell us no one criticized the Olmert government. Yoni was one of the most vocal people out there. And as an Israeli living in America, he was appalled at how Olmert continued to dawdle, wasting precious hours and days. And his criticism wasn't reserved to Olmert. No, it fell on Livni and Peretz, as well. He literally held nothing back (except for the swearing under his breath), and for those saying that he's simply one Israeli, please remember that this man has thirty years of intelligence work in the IDF. He knows what he's talking about.
Ground forces should have joined planes in the air on Day Three of this conflict. You go in with what you have while you spin up your reserves. As soon as the reserves are ready, you go in with them, as well. It provides, for your side, an overwhelming force that Hezbollah wouldn't have had a chance against. It was important to remove the bridges and roads to Syria, and it was important to take out the runways at Beirut Airport. The generals knew that with both intact, Hezbollah would continue to be resupplied by Iran and Syria. But after that, the IAF basically went through the motions, and followed their orders. Don't blame the troops; blame the generals commanding them.
Earlier I called this a fiasco. It was. It was a terrible failure on every level for the Olmert government. But we should have seen this coming when Olmert won in the election. He was the voice in Sharon's head for the Gaza disengagement, and the voice telling him who should be appointed in the cabinet. With Olmert at its helm, Israel didn't receive a cabinet that was reminiscent of the past. They got a cabinet full of doves all too eager to capitulate rather than achieve victory. This is what political correctness has contributed to the world. A bunch of weenies so sensitive that they are affected by what others say. Lord, don't criticize them; they might cry. They'll give in. Non-stop whining from Hezbollah, reinforced by a solid PR effort (with willing and able cronies in the MSM), and a stubborn refusal to give up led to Hezbollah's victory. And on the heels of this story from Yahoo that Charles also picked up, the belief that Israel holds all the cards in this peace agreement was just decimated:
Secretary-General Kofi Annan has warned Israel and Lebanon against occupying additional territory and told them to refrain from responding to any attacks “except where clearly required in immediate self-defense.”
A copy of a letter that Annan sent to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was obtained Monday by The Associated Press. It set out the U.N.’s expectations of how both sides will fulfill their obligations under the Security Council resolution adopted Friday.
A similar letter was sent to Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
The resolution called for an end to the war between Israel and Hezbollah militants, and authorized up to 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers to help 15,000 Lebanese troops take control of south Lebanon, which was under Hezbollah’s control, as Israel withdraws. The cessation of hostilities took effect early Monday, the 34th day of fighting that claimed more than 900 lives.
Annan told Israel and Lebanon in the letters sent Sunday that once the cessation of hostilities took effect there must be no firing from the ground, sea or air into the other side’s territory or at its forces.
Lebanon and Israel must immediately inform the United Nations if they have been fired on, with as much detail as possible, “refraining from responding except where clearly required in immediate self-defense,” Annan said.
Tell me, again, that Israel won. I dare you. I might have to laugh you straight out of the room AFTER I educate you on their "glorious" victory. This was no win for them, and Ehud Olmert and his cabinet are to blame. It really is time for him to go.
Publius II
Let me preface this before I continue. Marcie and I stand 100% behind Israel, and what they have been doing over the last month. Our only complaint is that Olmert launched the retaliation without the intent of ever truly "winning." We were disappointed to see both sides claiming victory with the cease-fire in place; Hezbollah, unfortunately, is the winner here. Not only did Israel not accomplish its goal by getting their soldiers back, but they failed to demolish Hezbollah's capacity to strike them.
And now a defiant Hezbollah still sits in the south, and has proclaimed their jihad will continue and they won't disarm. So, who won? Hezbollah did, and this should be the final naiul in Olmert's political coffin. Caroline Glick, at the J-Post, states it bluntly:
HT: Charles Johnson
(This puppy's three pages long. This is a taste, and I recommend all of our readers head over to the J-Post and read it, too.)
From all sides of the political spectrum calls are being raised for the establishment of an official commission of inquiry to investigate the Olmert government’s incompetent management of the war in Lebanon. These calls are misguided.
We do not need a commission to know what happened or what has to happen. The Olmert government has failed on every level. The Olmert government must go.
The Knesset must vote no confidence in this government and new elections must be carried out as soon as the law permits. If the Knesset hesitates in taking this required step, then the people of Israel must take to the streets in mass demonstrations and demand that our representatives send Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and their comrades out to pasture.
Every aspect of the government’s handling of the war has been a failure. Take relief efforts as an example. For five weeks the government ignored the humanitarian disaster in the North where over one million Israelis are under missile assault. The government developed no comprehensive plan for organizing relief efforts to feed citizens in bomb shelters or for evacuating them.
And then there is the military failure. The IDF suffers from acute leadership failures - brought to Israel courtesy of Ariel Sharon who hacked away at the General Staff, undermined its sense of mission and treated our generals like office boys just as he decimated the Likud by undermining its political vision and promoting its weakest members.
Yet, guiding the generals to make the right decisions and finding the generals capable of making them in wartime is the government’s responsibility. It was the government’s responsibility to critique and question the IDF’s operational model of aerial warfare and to cut its losses when after two or three days it was clear that the model was wrong. At that point the government should have called up the reserves and launched a combined ground and air offensive.
But the government didn’t feel like it. It wanted to win the war on the cheap. And when the air campaign did not succeed, it abandoned its war goals, declared victory and sued for a cease-fire. When the public objected, after waiting two precious weeks, the government called up the reserves but then waited another unforgivable 10 days before committing them to battle.
For all those on the Left out there that want to call people like Marcie and I chickenhawks, please, by all means, bray about it until the rest of the jackasses come home. Just bear in mind that when it comes to military, we may be novices, but we're not inexperianced or idiots. When a leader commits his soldiers to war, the goal should be to win; that is the complete and utter destruction of the enemy's ability to engage in any hostilities any longer. We did it to Germany and Japan in World War II. We did it to the South in the Civil War. We did it to the British in the Revolutionary War. To use Caroline Glick's term, we "sued" for a peace accord/cease-fire in Vietnam and Korea, respectively.
She's right. The Olmert government squandered the early internation support--including the support of the Arab League (tell me the last time that occurred; I thought Hell was asking for ice water)--to launch a failed air campaign. It took the IAF too long to crush the Hezbollah positions in the south, and while their accuracy with their rockets was diminshed, it still didn't stop them from coming. Day after day, night after night, the rockets fell; a couple of them landing as deep as fifty miles inside of Israel. That';s the first time that's ever happened, and yet Olmert showed no signs of worry.
Now a few people out there might say that Olmert should be held responsible alone. His staff should suffer no repercussions because he ultimately called the shots. That's nice in theory, but in practice ytou don't leave incompetence in key positions when they screw up as badly as his advisors did. They go. All of them. Anyone involved in this fiasco should be handed their walking papers in the Knesset as early as tomorrow morning.
Once the order has been given to engage one's enemy, you don't play games with them. They will kill you in war just as easily as shaking your hand in peace. Calling up the reserves, and then stalling them for ten days goes beyond unforgivable. To the Israelis it was criminal. They were facing a relentless enemy who didn;t give a rip about where their rockets were landing. Meanwhile, Israel dropped leaflets letting Lebanese citizens know they were about to bomb. And, of course, Hezbollah moved, too. Good job, Ehud. In a rush to fight a politically-correct war, you simply scattered you enemy instead of shattering them.
And that is what this war was. Like our own war, Olmert fought the battle in a PC sort of way. (Don't get any funny ideas about our stance on the war America is engaged in. We support it and the troops, but we have grievances about how we're going about doing it.) And if people think we were the only critics about how Israel was going about the job, think again. Take a look at Yoni Tidi's site and tell us no one criticized the Olmert government. Yoni was one of the most vocal people out there. And as an Israeli living in America, he was appalled at how Olmert continued to dawdle, wasting precious hours and days. And his criticism wasn't reserved to Olmert. No, it fell on Livni and Peretz, as well. He literally held nothing back (except for the swearing under his breath), and for those saying that he's simply one Israeli, please remember that this man has thirty years of intelligence work in the IDF. He knows what he's talking about.
Ground forces should have joined planes in the air on Day Three of this conflict. You go in with what you have while you spin up your reserves. As soon as the reserves are ready, you go in with them, as well. It provides, for your side, an overwhelming force that Hezbollah wouldn't have had a chance against. It was important to remove the bridges and roads to Syria, and it was important to take out the runways at Beirut Airport. The generals knew that with both intact, Hezbollah would continue to be resupplied by Iran and Syria. But after that, the IAF basically went through the motions, and followed their orders. Don't blame the troops; blame the generals commanding them.
Earlier I called this a fiasco. It was. It was a terrible failure on every level for the Olmert government. But we should have seen this coming when Olmert won in the election. He was the voice in Sharon's head for the Gaza disengagement, and the voice telling him who should be appointed in the cabinet. With Olmert at its helm, Israel didn't receive a cabinet that was reminiscent of the past. They got a cabinet full of doves all too eager to capitulate rather than achieve victory. This is what political correctness has contributed to the world. A bunch of weenies so sensitive that they are affected by what others say. Lord, don't criticize them; they might cry. They'll give in. Non-stop whining from Hezbollah, reinforced by a solid PR effort (with willing and able cronies in the MSM), and a stubborn refusal to give up led to Hezbollah's victory. And on the heels of this story from Yahoo that Charles also picked up, the belief that Israel holds all the cards in this peace agreement was just decimated:
Secretary-General Kofi Annan has warned Israel and Lebanon against occupying additional territory and told them to refrain from responding to any attacks “except where clearly required in immediate self-defense.”
A copy of a letter that Annan sent to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was obtained Monday by The Associated Press. It set out the U.N.’s expectations of how both sides will fulfill their obligations under the Security Council resolution adopted Friday.
A similar letter was sent to Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
The resolution called for an end to the war between Israel and Hezbollah militants, and authorized up to 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers to help 15,000 Lebanese troops take control of south Lebanon, which was under Hezbollah’s control, as Israel withdraws. The cessation of hostilities took effect early Monday, the 34th day of fighting that claimed more than 900 lives.
Annan told Israel and Lebanon in the letters sent Sunday that once the cessation of hostilities took effect there must be no firing from the ground, sea or air into the other side’s territory or at its forces.
Lebanon and Israel must immediately inform the United Nations if they have been fired on, with as much detail as possible, “refraining from responding except where clearly required in immediate self-defense,” Annan said.
Tell me, again, that Israel won. I dare you. I might have to laugh you straight out of the room AFTER I educate you on their "glorious" victory. This was no win for them, and Ehud Olmert and his cabinet are to blame. It really is time for him to go.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 12:28 AM
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