No one to be singled out over "Israel"-Lebanon war debacle: report

Source: AFP, 8-3-2007
JERUSALEM (AL-QUDS) - An interim report on "Israel`s" conduct during the Lebanon war will not single out individuals for criticism, "Israeli" television reported late Thursday.
The report, due out on March 27, does not deal with the conduct of the war itself, but the events leading up to and the decision to go to war, Channel Two reported.
Elie Shaked, a spokesman for the Winograd Commission, told AFP: "The Commission does not comment on non-official information."
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reportedly told the commission that "Israel`s" military strategy during last year`s war on Hizbullah had been drawn up months in advance.
Olmert was the last person to appear before the commission investigating the 34-day war against Lebanon`s Shiite militia in July and August and its findings could determine his political future.
The commission heard from 70 senior politicians and officers during its investigation.
To date, the only person to accept any responsibility has been the army chief of staff during the war, General Dan Haloutz, who resigned in January without waiting for the commission`s findings.
Halutz had been criticized for overestimating the effectiveness of air strikes during the war, while infantry and armoured units were poorly trained and equipped.
The war on Hizbullah was launched after the militia seized two "Israeli" soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12.
"Israel" failed to achieve its main goals of freeing two seized "Israeli" soldiers and destroying Hizbullah.
The conflict killed more than 160 "Israelis", mostly soldiers, and more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians.