The Eerie Familiarity Of Ehud Olmert’s Problems

Doesn’t this report about embattled Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert have an eerily familiar ring to post-9/11 American ears?

IPS : Peter Hirshberg – Noose Tightens Around Olmert

It [a government report] accused him of going to war “hastily”, of lacking a “detailed military plan”, and of “a serious failure in exercising judgment, responsibility and prudence.” Political leaders, public figures and most of the country’s leading columnists have repeatedly called on the prime minister to resign. But Olmert, who has also been dogged by a series of corruption allegations since he won election a year ago, has stubbornly refused to budge, saying he has no intention of quitting. He has said he will stay in office to fix the failings of the war.

For all its faults, Israel’s political system appears to understand the necessity in a democracy of holding leaders responsible for gross misconduct or incompetence. I’m not sure we retain that commitment in the States anymore

The eerie familiarity of Ehud Olmert’s problems