Posted on 08/11/2006 7:03:29 AM PDT by Allan
Ehud Olmert may decide to accept the French proposal for a cease-fire and unconditional surrender to Hezbollah.
That is his privilege.
Olmert is a prime minister whom journalists invented, journalists protected, and whose rule journalists preserved.
Now the journalists are saying run away. That's legitimate. Unwise, but legitimate.
However, one thing should be clear: If Olmert runs away now from the war he initiated, he will not be able to remain prime minister for even one more day.
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You cannot lead an entire nation to war promising victory, produce humiliating defeat and remain in power.
You cannot bury 120 Israelis in cemeteries, keep a million Israelis in shelters for a month, wear down deterrent power, bring the next war very close, and then say - oops, I made a mistake. That was not the intention. Pass me a cigar, please.
There is no mistake Ehud Olmert did not make this past month. He went to war hastily, without properly gauging the outcome. He blindly followed the military without asking the necessary questions.
He mistakenly gambled on air operations, was strangely late with the ground operation, and failed to implement the army's original plan, much more daring and sophisticated than that which was implemented.
And after arrogantly and hastily bursting into war, Olmert managed it hesitantly, unfocused and limp.
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But in blinking first over the past 24 hours, he has become an incorrigible political personality.
Therefore, the day Nasrallah comes out of his bunker and declares victory to the whole world, Olmert must not be in the prime minister's office.
Post-war battered and bleeding Israel needs a new start and a new leader. It needs a real prime minister.
(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...
You get the sense that if BB had been in charge this would have ended inside a week. Olmert is toast.
i sadly agree. olmert jumped the shark yesterday.
I don't blame Olmert for being a weenie. It's in his nature to be more a Chamberlain than a Churchill. Some people rise to the ocasion, some do not. To paraphrase Shakespeare, "some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them". Unfortunately, many who have it thrust upon them cannot handle the weight, and collapse under it. Olmert appears to be just such a delicate flower.
Let's hope Bibi's time is now. Israel needs a PM that is more "Winnie" and less "Weenie".
This author does not know what he is talking about. If Olmert authorized and followed the military plan that has been on the shelf for three years the whole operation would have lasted three days and 90 % of the hezbos would have been destroyed.
"He blindly followed the military without asking the necessary questions.
He mistakenly gambled on air operations, was strangely late with the ground operation, and failed to implement the army's original plan,"
It seems this author want to have it both ways.
How do you 'blindly follow the military' and yet 'fail to implement the army's original plan'.
Seems a bit contradictory to me.
Beat me by mere seconds.
:)
I find what is going on in Israel very disturbing. I am hoping that we are not being given all the facts. What is the difference in Israel retreating leaving Hezbollah to declare victory and our pulling out of Iraq leaving the terrorists to declare victory? I hate war and don't want to see any more Americans or Israelis killed but this is the price of freedom. If Israel quits it looks like they surrendered. I don't get why France and the US are dictating what is going on in the Middle East war. I hope that the truth lies in bad reporting which prevents us from knowing what is going on.
If either Sharon or Bibi was the Prime Minister, like you said, they would have ordered overwhelming force to end the uprising by Hezbollah.
I'm guessing that this was a power move by Hezbollah and they seemed to guess correctly that the time was ripe to start a new war. They certainly didn't dare to do this while Sharon "the Butcher" was still leading Israel.
(Go Israel, Go! Slap 'Em Down Hezbullies.)
Does anyone think that the approach of August 22nd might have something to do with this?
Mr. A's favorite date....and Israel may have found out that Iran has something on the back burner for them.
Hezbollah may be the least of their worries right now.
I just hope that Olmert gets bounced before Israel agrees to any ceasefire. The damage that a schism in the Israeli solidarity would be far less damaging than that ceasefire at this time.
Hezbollah has had the good fortune of having two sniveling weenies to push around, Barak and Olmert. What in the world were the Israelis thinking? To snatch defeat from the jaws of victory now is incredibly stupid and a total waste of the lives of some brave young Israeli fighters. Shame on the US State Dept. if we have pressured Israel to cave to the French, and shame on them for not saying, "Drop dead!" to the Quislings in D.C.
I trust Israel to do what she needs to do. It sounds like they may not have realized how strong hezbollah had grown. Also the fact that Israel is asking to speed up arms shipments makes me wonder if Israel needs the time to regroup and rearm.
If this ceasefire happens, the Israelis know that it's only going to hold for a while but when they go back to fighting it will be full bore.
Olmert could always emigrate to a blue state and get elected to the US Senate.
bookmark
We hve a similarly indecisive wannabe in the wings named Hilary Clinton. If you want those on again off again retreating and advancing troops to be ours, vote for her.
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