Tel-Chai Nation

He wants to appear before the Lebanon war commission again:

JERUSALEM (AP) - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert wants to appear again before the Lebanon war commission, after testimony released by the body showed he blamed the army for shortcomings but acknowledged he ignored warnings that Israeli forces were unprepared for the conflict last summer.

Olmert's office said late Thursday that he wants to counter a statement to the commission from his foreign minister and political rival, Tzipi Livni, that she recommended a diplomatic solution instead of a large-scale military operation the day after Hezbollah guerrillas captured two soldiers and killed three in a cross-border raid. Olmert said there was no such recommendation.

Olmert's appearance before the panel failed to stave off its severe censure of his wartime performance. Last week's publication of the commission's first report triggered a wave of calls for his resignation.

The war ended without Israeli forces fulfilling Olmert's two stated goals - crushing Hezbollah and returning the captured soldiers. Instead, Hezbollah rained almost 4,000 rockets on Israel during the 34-day conflict.

I think Olmert is just stalling for more time, while simultaneously, we see how the political crooks are turning on one another. I'm not impressed with his attempt to seek an "appeal", and look at this next part here:

"Something in the conception of how they operated the forces, something in the conception of their control over the forces, something wasn't what we expected, unfortunately, and that no doubt led to the disparity between what we are capable of doing and what we actually achieved," he said.

Translation: he's blaming the army commanders. It's everyone else's fault but his.

Labels: Israel, Lebanon, political corruption, war on terror