Hamas War

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Winograd Committee January 30, 2008 remarks


Thanks to IMRA

Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Full text: Winograd Committee January 30, 2008 remarks


Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: Take the time to at least read this and think
about it for 60 seconds before opening your mouth and you are way ahead of
the overwhelming majority of talking heads appearing on the various Israeli
television channels tonight.
There is one particularly bizarre phrase in the remarks of Judge Eliyahu
Winograd: "We should also note that the war had significant diplomatic
achievements. SC resolution 1701, and the fact it was adopted unanimously,
were an achievement for Israel. This conclusion stands even if it turns out
that only a part of the stipulations of the resolution were implemented or
will be implemented, and even if it could have been foreseen that some of
them would not be implemented."

Does this mean that Winograd considers a piece of paper to be a "
significant diplomatic achievement" even if it can be foreseen that the
piece of paper won't be implemented?

This is an extremely dangerous position to take, given that there is
tremendous concern that the current "piece process" is exactly that: an
attempt to reach a photo opportunity signing ceremony in which a piece of
paper is signed with great fanfare even though it can be foreseen that the
piece of paper won't be implemented.


Winograd Committee Press Release - January 30, 2008

January 30, 2008
Press Release
Good Evening.

1. About an hour ago we submitted the Final Report of the Commission to
Investigate the Lebanon Campaign in 2006 to the Prime minister, Mr. Ehud
Olmert, and to the Minister of Defense, Mr. Ehud Barak.

2. The task given to us was difficult and complex. It involved the
examination of events in 34 days of fighting, and the scrutiny of events
before the war, since the IDF had left Lebanon in 2000. This covered
extensive, charged and complex facts, unprecedented in any previous
Commission of Inquiry.

3. The fact that the Government of Israel opted for such an examination, and
that the army conducted a large number of inquires of a variety of military
events, are a sign of strength, and an indication that the political and
military leaders of Israel are willing to expose themselves to critical
review and to painful but required mending.

4. We have included in the classified version of the Report all the relevant
facts we have found concerning the 2nd Lebanon war, systematically and in a
chronological order. This presentation of the factual basis was an important
part of our work. It is reasonable to assume that no single decision maker
had access to a similar factual basis. In this task we had a unique
advantage over others who have written about this war, since we had access
to a lot of primary and comprehensive material, and the opportunity to
clarify the facts by questioning many witnesses, commanders and soldiers,
including bereaved families.

5. For obvious reasons, the unclassified Report does not include the many
facts that cannot be revealed for reasons of protecting the state's security
and foreign affairs. We tried, nonetheless, to balance between the wish to
present the public with a meaningful picture of the events and the needs of
security. We should note that we did not take the mere fact that some data
has already been published in the media as a reason for including it in our
unclassified Report.

6. We, the members of the Commission, acted according to the main objectives
for which the Commission was established - to respond to the bad feelings of
the Israeli public of a crisis and disappointment caused by the results of
the 2nd Lebanon war, and from the way it was managed by the political and
military echelons; and the wish to draw lessons from the failings of the war
and its flaws, and to repair what is required, quickly and resolutely. We
regarded as most important to investigate deeply what had happened, as a key
to drawing lessons for the future, and their implementation.

For complete text click this.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hashem yerachem alenu!!!

We were all building up for a logical switch in government, but no. We are now being told by most that 'it was not so bad after all'. Last night and this morning, we were told that the army was to blame and that the final offensive was 'almost obligatory', ignoring the other parts of the 500 page report. I assume as more people read it, the total truth will come out, but it will already have been forgotten. 'Olmert is safe' were some headlines. The army is probably devastated. What kind of majors and generals want to keep being the punching bags of the public, many can find better paying work elsewhere without the national criticism.

We are at a very bad stage right now. Our orange leaders must wake up.

Batya said...

There is no such thing as an "orange leader." Please! That's Moetzet YESHA!!
We need true Jewish leadership, not someone looking over his/her shoulder.