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08-28-2006, 09:50 PM
Reuters (http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-08-28T184146Z_01_L28802348_RTRUKOC_0_US-MIDEAST-OLMERT.xml&archived=False)
Olmert orders low-level inquiry into Lebanon war
By Luke Baker
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced a low-level inquiry into the Lebanon war on Monday, rejecting a fuller, independent probe that could have led to high-level resignations in the government and military.
In a prime-time speech, Olmert acknowledged shortcomings in the way the 34-day campaign against Hizbollah was pursued but said the decision to go to war was his alone and that an inquiry should look at the government's actions not the military's.
"True, not everything went as we wanted. Not everywhere were we as ready as we should have been, not every time did we achieve the results we wanted," he said in a speech in Haifa, a city struck frequently by Hizbollah rockets during the conflict.
"There were shortcomings and failures ... we must not ignore the failures."
Olmert said the government would appoint a committee to carry out the investigation. "The committee will be charged with examining the government's functioning in taking decisions and all that it sees as fit," he said.
The announcement avoids the creation of an independent inquiry which could have raised the prospect of high-level resignations, both from the government and the military.
Olmert had faced calls for such a probe that would have looked into the government's conduct, the army's preparedness and its failure to crush a relatively small guerrilla force.
Defending his decision, Olmert said he did not wish to expose the army to a drawn-out investigation and that it would instead have to examine its own actions.
More (http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-08-28T184146Z_01_L28802348_RTRUKOC_0_US-MIDEAST-OLMERT.xml&pageNumber=1&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage1)
Olmert orders low-level inquiry into Lebanon war
By Luke Baker
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced a low-level inquiry into the Lebanon war on Monday, rejecting a fuller, independent probe that could have led to high-level resignations in the government and military.
In a prime-time speech, Olmert acknowledged shortcomings in the way the 34-day campaign against Hizbollah was pursued but said the decision to go to war was his alone and that an inquiry should look at the government's actions not the military's.
"True, not everything went as we wanted. Not everywhere were we as ready as we should have been, not every time did we achieve the results we wanted," he said in a speech in Haifa, a city struck frequently by Hizbollah rockets during the conflict.
"There were shortcomings and failures ... we must not ignore the failures."
Olmert said the government would appoint a committee to carry out the investigation. "The committee will be charged with examining the government's functioning in taking decisions and all that it sees as fit," he said.
The announcement avoids the creation of an independent inquiry which could have raised the prospect of high-level resignations, both from the government and the military.
Olmert had faced calls for such a probe that would have looked into the government's conduct, the army's preparedness and its failure to crush a relatively small guerrilla force.
Defending his decision, Olmert said he did not wish to expose the army to a drawn-out investigation and that it would instead have to examine its own actions.
More (http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-08-28T184146Z_01_L28802348_RTRUKOC_0_US-MIDEAST-OLMERT.xml&pageNumber=1&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage1)