« What's in a Name? What's in a Number? | Main | The Greatest Hitter Ever? »
September 1, 2006
Israel’s Defense Chief Supports War Inquiry
This story is interesting at a few levels. First, neither Ohlmert nor anyone in his Kadima party has responded (yet) that Peretz is an appeaser who's too weak to protect Israel. That contrasts sharply with how the GOP responds to the administration's critics on Iraq. Second, the fact that Israel can have this debate without completely politicizing its strike into Lebanon suggests a democracy that may be far more robust and serious than our own. Third, the alacrity with which Israel is moving to initiate a meaningful investigation is markedly different from how our own Congress has handled oversight since 9/11. Israeli politcians appear to recognize the import of having not only a serious debate about what happened in Lebanon -- which President Bush ironically dubbed a "victory" -- but a meaningful post mortem.
Though certainly far from perfect, Israel still offers a light to the nations of the world. (Isaiah 42:6-:7) And just because Israel has a parlimentary government doesn't mean we can't or shouldn't take this lesson seriously.
UPDATE: In response to a comment suggesting I'm enlisting Israel in an anti-war crusade, I say this: I'm pointing to Israel's response in hopes of prompting acountability and competence on the part of this otherwise incompetent administration and do-nothing Republican Congress. I've not said I'm anti-Iraq war. What I am is anti-incompetence.
Posted by shertaugh at September 1, 2006 4:11 PM
Comments
The main gripe among Israeli citizens is not that the war was a waste of time, or money, or resources, but that the IDF was not allowed to go far enough to completely eliminiate Hezbollah. There are also many complaints that soldiers were not equipped with the materials they needed to do the job. This is far, far different than saying that the war was a bad idea to begin with. Peretz is calling for an inquiry in a (probably futile) attempt to save his political life, not out of some noble motive.
Your attempt to enlist the Israelis in your anti-Iraq war crusade is misbegotten. From what I've seen, Israelis are pretty practical people; they may disagree about a lot of things, but they know that their neighbors don't like them and that at any given time they might have to fight. The reason that Israel's democracy is "robust and serious" is that it knows its existance is threatened. We can afford some illusions -- and you seem to have many of them -- they can't.
Posted by: Reuben at September 1, 2006 11:02 PM
Reuben’s description of the type of criticism inside Israel about is way too restrictive. To mention just a few additional criticized issues: the war should have stopped after 3 days; the last day of fighting cause the death of 34 soldiers that added nothing; there was no preparation for the anti-tank missiles; and there are many more.
Posted by: shmuel at September 2, 2006 11:05 PM