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Photo: AP
In trouble? Olmert
Photo: AP

We're in deep trouble

Our 'amateur' leaders should consult with professionals on defense issues

No wrong decisions were taken during the war in Lebanon, said the prime minister in a New Year interview to the nation. This is absolute rubbish. He has no idea what he's talking about. It's all about intuition. The state comptroller's report determined that the prime minister has no empirical tool enabling him to make independent decisions and to know whether he had made the right decision or not.

 

The state comptroller's conclusions indicate that the cabinet and the prime minister's decision-making process on matters relating to state security are defective, unprofessional and somewhat "alarming." We can continue losing sleep at night.

 

General staff assignments are usually conducted by the executing arm – the military, the Mossad and the Shin Bet – who represent clear interests and only see part of the overall picture.

 

Real consultations are carried out in closed forums comprised of advisors closely affiliated to the prime minister.

 

At best, advisors have a professional background, yet in a less ideal situation they are blinded brownnosers. They lack the knowledge, accountability or the mechanism required to examine the recommendations presented to the prime minister by the executing arm.

 

For the past seven years the head of the Israeli National Security Council did not partake in this closed forum. As long as the prime minister comes from a defense oriented background the damage can be minimized. However, when both the prime minister and the defense minister have no military background - we are in deep trouble. 

 

Look out for amateurs

The disaster of the second Lebanon war, warns the comptroller, is not incidental. He of course doesn't write this explicitly, yet the report screams out: Look out for amateurs who won't listen to professionals!

 

The report devotes a significant section to another highly problematic issue: The prime minister's military secretary who gradually became a leading figure determining national security.

 

The person in question is a senior brigadier general who came straight from the battlefield to take up his first position as a major general without adequate experience or training, and quickly became a key figure in determining the country's political-defense agenda.

 

An inbuilt glitch

His status and influence do not fall below those bestowed on the chief of staff. This is an inbuilt glitch at the prime minister's office.

 

Even though the National Security Council was created, its principle rulings are not implemented. In practice, this constitutes a form of deception. Prime ministers are not interested in professional advisors; they prefer attorneys and ambiguous decisions to avoid being burdened with imminent failures. And the failures are imminent.

 

The current prime minister outdid himself when he further detracted from his national security advisor's status, which is already pretty wretched anyway. He didn't subjugate him to himself but rather to his general staff chief.

 

True, you know we are foolish, because we elected you; however, we also want to survive, so stop trying to outwit us.

 


פרסום ראשון: 09.28.06, 11:45
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