Olmert's Mistakes

In a move barely noticed by the world press and even less so by Prime Minister Olmert, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt publicly gave their tacit approval for Israel to destroy Hezbollah by blaming that organization for the war. Those "moderate" regimes must have taken that position because they believed that Israel could win and they wanted Hezbollah to lose.

Instead, Olmert dithered and did not order a full-scale invasion, resulting in a protracted stale-mate. Olmert failed to see that with Bush and Blair (and Germany, Canada, Australia and others) protecting Israel's flank at the UN and the "moderate" Arab support, that he was given a bright flashing neon green light to go in with no holds barred.

Olmert’'s lack of geo-political experience could cause enormous problems for Israel and the West's fight against Islamo-Fascism. Firstly, you can be sure that "moderate" Arab states will not take the same position again for a long time to come, if ever. Their tacit approval of Israel's military response was a calculated risk. They wanted Hezbollah to be defeated and humiliated so that the rise of Islamo-Fascism in the Arab street would dissipate. Unfortunately the opposite has occurred and more instability in the Middle East can be expected. Secondly, the stale-mate will be seen as a victory for Hezbollah by Islamo-Fascists, which will embolden them to fight on in Iraq, London, Madrid, etc. Thirdly, Lebanon took several steps away from freedom as Syria and Iran (through Hezbollah) will be emboldened to interfere in her affairs.
The only way out of this mess is to turn the current stale-mate into a victory by Israel. And unfortunately, the only way that could happen is if Hezbollah violates the terms of the UN resolution and Olmert learns his lesson and responds with overwhelming military force and wins the second half of the war.