I heard Olmert's statement on Saturday. The goals as he stated were not to uproot Hamas, were not to reinstate Palestinian Authority rule (Fatah terrorists), were not to liberate/occupy/reinstate/rehabilitate - non of that. It was simple - to change the reality so that Israeli civilians would not suffer from rockets bombing their homes and that terror activity across the Gaza border would stop. That's pretty simple. The means to that goal can vary - but it could end with a white flag from Gaza and a silent agreement. Hezbollah has many times waved the white flag. Twice in the 90-s, and while it claimed to be victorious in 2006 - it did wave a white flag. The stupidity then was to proclaim unattainable goals.
There are two items that I'm concerned with:
1. Yesterday Bolton was on Hannity and Colmes and mentioned that Israel proclaimed this operation's goal to be the removal of Hammas and his concern that not following through would spell more trouble for Israel.
2. Today's Mobarak's statement that the Rafah crossing would be open by Egypt only after Hammas gives back control to Abbas over Gaza: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3647299,00.html
It would appear that either the Israeli politicians told two different stories to Israelis and to world leaders, or that the current international pressure on Israel is to use IDF soldier's blood to free Gaza from one terror group and to deliver it to another.
Oy.
Another thing I noticed, some Israeli politicians mentioned that once Israeli soldiers enter Gaza they would not leave for a long time. Simply mentioning that they would leave is a hint that the initial goal is to reinstate Fatah regime over Gaza. The same Fatah regime who are still broadcasting incitement for hate against Jews and Israel over at their TV station, school literature, and politically appointed Mosque Imams.
There's a fog of war - and then there's a fog of thought, which Middle East strategists continue to suffer from.
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