Winograd as an alibi

How things change. Some 140,000 mentions show up in a Google search of "Winograd Commission." Most of them were posted prior to the publication of the commission's interim report, exactly three weeks ago, and they didn't go out of their way to praise it. Sharp minded politicians and commentators have long explained that it was a "rigged commission of inquiry" whose members owed the prime minister their posts and therefore would not settle scores with him.

They also said that commission members should resign if they had any trace of self-respect left in them, and that if they do not resign a State commission of inquiry would be established anyway and its members would be appointed by the president of the Supreme Court. It was inundated with petitions to the High Court; it was pestered with dubious demands to publicize the protocols. It was falsely accused of not having the public's faith. And lo and behold, this is no longer the case.

The demagogic slanderers, in the media and outside of it, have fallen silent (as expected, they didn't express any regret or make an apology.) Now this commission is considered the ultimate source of absolute truth. Now it is even being said that the kitten has turned into a fierce tiger.

What's worse, with regards to the public, is that the commission's indignation is being used to explain everything that is wrong in the government. They say that the commission's shadow is darkening the Qassam ridden town of Sderot, and alternately it is being said that such a commission would have lynched anyone who tried to accomplish anything here - from Ben Gurion onwards, from 1948 to Entebbe until the current time.

This only goes to show that foolish chatter doesn't disappear; it is just replaced by a new one.

The Winograd Commission, thank heaven, didn't satisfy the craving for blood and did not roll heads - and it didn't spare the public its duty to demand accountability from its leaders. It sharpened a truth that was clear to any thinking person since the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War.

Are we in deep trouble?

We didn't need the commission to tell us the government - from its head down to is last member - failed over and over again last summer. Even prior to the publication of the interim report we knew that the chief of staff didn't resign in vain.

Even then it was crystal clear that the handling of the home front left a lot to be desired, that the local authorities (including the Arab authorities) did not ensure that shelters adhere to standard, that there is no adequate National Security Council, that the vast majority of politicians are wheeler dealers who are incapable of seeing beyond the tips of their noses.

And besides this, even before the Winograd Commission had its say and even before it was appointed, there was room to regret the fact that other numerous failures in the past required investigation and drawing of harsh conclusions. And this applies to the War of Independence 59 years ago and the Six Day War 40 years ago that ended in great victories - hallelujah.

But what does all this have to do with the real problems in Gaza and the outlaying areas? Until this point in time, not a single politician or commentator has come up with a magical formula for ending the asymmetrical war going on there.

Until now, not a single operative option waiting for a decisive Ben Gurion ruling has been placed on the table. With or without Winograd, the story is sad and complicated, it is linked to what was not done in the past and cannot be put straight by mere words in the present.

The situation calls for consideration, while avoiding haste or clinging to dubious clichés. If this mission is too complicated for the decision-makers and opinion leaders, we are in deep trouble.