I'm wondering if the Israelis will learn the lesson and choose the right candidates in future elections so that never again such idiots as Olmer, Peretz and co, who endangered Israel, will be elected again...

There will be elections and every leader will try to appease segments of the population who will get him elected. Why the heck are there poles all the time? But what worries me as a citizen and a mother is that although Winograd criticizes, it's main criticism of the army is that it was too concerned with having "casualties". Our sons are our reason for being. What kind of a monstrous people would we be if we did not demand some thought regarding their lives? And then there is the horror that a commission and objective assessment could be believed to ease the pain of the violence and danger we and those we love are continually exposed to. With such intelligence, finances, and ability to judge and make strategies, couldn't those same tools be used to make peace? War is so difficult and so unpredictable despite all the best plans with a cruel and horrible enemy, but so is peace, why not throw our resources into that? Are we really putting as much of our resources into the making of peace as we do into the making of war?

You have it 100% correct. Winograd absolved Olmert and dumbbell peretz, saying the invasion was reasonable, but then they hid in the backpages that the invasion plan had problems with timing, with numbers, with hesitancy directly attributable to Olmert who constitutionally is against any warfare of any kind. That is why I asked if Olmert had personal relations with any of the Judges. The report was heavy with long words and vague concepts-political-military echelon communications. The point is if you have a PM and DM who are naturally curious, realize the air campaign is not effective, you ask for a ground campaign with good strategy( you could call in Yaalon for a second opinion), with the right numbers of troops and time to carry it out-2-3 weeks, not 72 hours. You continue with the campaign even if the UN says stop, you do it until you accomplish most of your goals. If Israel fights according to winograd, it will lose every war without a doubt. Finally, Winograd had a chance in the press conference to nail Olmert-he made 150 bad decisons, instead they bailed him out and screwed Israelis. The final cut-Barak comes back after ruining Israel while he was PM and he backs the retard Olmert.Wait, Olmert will be crucified over the next weeks and barak will never be reelected for anything ever. He is finished. Besides the IDF no longer trust him. Ask Danny Yatom.Finally, Winograd--remember one thing-The IDF made a successful war in the west bank as Sharon grabbed hold of the generals and commanders and said Lets go-stop fooling around-that's why it succeeded. Believe me, Olmert could never grab hold of the IDf and give them a pep talk-they all despise him.

it simply was WRONG. MOFAZ left us with an army with no underpants. He should be put on trial,behind bars and to stay there for the rest of his life. the blame is his. he never said a word that the army was not prepared. all he did was smile and vote "for" any action possible in order to make sure that Amir Peretz will look like a fool. The future will tell the true story. The man is a murdere of innocent soldiers but now is enjoying the job/money etc. as a minister.

Victory is the key word not peace, because peace is not an option in this part of the world, and because there is only one solution to terror : a military solution. You do not talk to terrorists, you fight and defeat them. Victory is needed to prove to the Muslims in general and the Arabs in particular that against their ethos of death stands the ethos of life, protected by the arms of democracies that are resolved to punish them where it hurts most as explained at : http://israelagainstterror.blogspot.com/2008/01/stop-them-with-clear-cut-victory-part-i.html

A conclusion is that Hezbolla defeated Israel because Olmert and his supporters wanted "convergence" (violent population transfer according to ethnicity), even when previous "convergences" proved to be be utter failures.

The same mistakes are being made in our lack of preemptive action in Gaza. Hamas continues to smuggle in more sophisticated arms, Iranian-trained terrorists, & has sent hundreds of terrorists into the Sinai effectively extending their reach all across our undefended border. This brings even Eilat within reach of Hamas. And what are we doing about it? Nothing. Barak says build a fence - as usual, too little, too late. And building fences is not much help against Kassams. Our supposed leaders have no valid strategy for our defence. All of their efforts are to ensure their own political advantage. Our strategic position deteriorates by the day while our politicians make empty speeches. We are being ringed in, surrounded on all sides, as hostile elements prepare war against us. Our political system is so unresponsive, so insulated, so unaccountable that even a report as damning as Winograd has no effect.

There was a suicide bombing in Dimona. The suicide bombers infiltrated from the Sinai. The blame lies squarely on Olmert, Barak, Livni & the whole clique of corrupt, inept, self-interested political hacks who neglect our security for political advantage. How many of us must die because of Olmert?

Look at Bush! The village idiot. It's up to the Israelis to demand more from their leaders as with the USA. Bush lied to declare war on Iraq and all of America pays for this bozo, as does Israel. Expect and demand more.

As the electorate, we must expect and demand more accountability from all our elected leaders. The titles given to opponants is smoke and mirrors.