The Israeli Lesson

This is from David's blog. He "borrowed" what I wrote (see previous post):

Can we learn from the Israelis?

Four and a half years ago, the Bush administration sold the Iraq war to the public with embellishments and faulty information (to be polite about it). Now Democrats in Congress are finally trying to hold the administration accountable.

The House oversight and government reform committee, chaired by Democratic Representative Henry Waxman, authorized a subpoena last week requesting that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice testify in front of the committee about one of the administration's false reasons for war—that Iraq was trying to acquire uranium from Niger. Not only has Rice said she will not respond to the subpoena, Republican committee members are nay-saying the subpoena. "I understand why the Democrats want to kick Bush, but what would it achieve?" said Representative Chris Shays, a Connecticut Republican, according to The Hill.

Compare this to the Israeli model. A commission appointed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert released a report this week that blasted Olmert's handling of the month-long war last year in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah. As AP put it, the report accused the prime minister of "hasty decision-making, failing to consult others and neglecting to assess the chances that his goals could be accomplished." Sound familiar? The report has prompted tens of thousands of Israelis to protest and demand Olmert's resignation.

There have been investigations in the United States of the intelligence failures that preceded the invasion of Iraq. The Senate intelligence committee and a presidential commission both lambasted the CIA for botching the intelligence on WMDs in Iraq. But there have been no investigations of Bush's decision to invade Iraq, his failure to plan adequately for the post-invasion phase, and his poor management of the war effort in the years since. Olmert messed up less than a year ago, and a panel (that he created) has already investigated his actions and rendered a harsh and official judgment of his actions. In the United States, there has been no such accountability. Can you imagine Bush appointing a panel to investigate his decision to invade Iraq and his handling of the war and the post-invasion challenges in Iraq?