If anyone is puzzled about Israel’s outrageously stupid and disproportionate reaction to the capture of its soldiers in Gaza and the Lebanon border, just read my previous post and connect some political dots. Ehud Olmert and Amir Peretz neither have “illustrious” military careers. So they totally defer to the army’s advice for dealing with security situations. Dan Halutz is the Chief of Staff and as such, without needing a putsch, he now controls and sets policy for the Israeli government. When a war criminal runs a country, the results are obvious. For a bit more background, it’s worth reading Avnery’s analysis which makes the same point with more historical context:
” THE REAL aim is to change the regime in Lebanon and to install a puppet government. That was the aim of Ariel Sharon’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982. It failed. But Sharon and his pupils in the military and political leadership have never really given up on it. As in 1982, the present operation, too, was planned and is being carried out in full coordination with the US. As then, there is no doubt that it is coordinated with a part of the Lebanese elite. That’s the main thing. Everything else is noise and propaganda.”