Gaza, Gaza, Gaza

The IDF closed the investigation into alleged misconduct by IDF forces in Gaza.  I am not sure on what basis the IDF made this decision; there are accounts by soldiers that are on their face extremely problematic.  These accounts have been corroborated by independent accounts from Palestinians.  (The very skeptical will say, 'of course, the Palestinians are lying...do you think they would defend the actions of the IDF.'  I don't think that is entirely out of the question.  However, there are ways of independently verifying these accounts--the details of the Palestinian accounts precisely match the accounts of soldiers to the extent that the information cannot be dismissed out of hand.)

Operation Cast Lead has been extremely problematic for the Israelis.  As I said previously, I'm not sure it was in Israel's best interest--which is my ultimate concern.  Perhaps the goals are clear to the commanders and politicians that conceived and authorized it; but as rockets are still falling (more than 30 in March) and Gilad Shalit is still being held prisoner and now Israel is letting through humanitarian aid--it is difficult to understand the goal since the situation now seems fairly similar to the situation before Operation Cast Lead. 

Yes, I'm willing to concede that there may be goals of which I am not aware; I'm not privy to the decision making at any level.  And yes, maybe we need to wait longer to find out more.  Yet, I think it is fair to ask 2 questions:  Has Operation Cast Lead improved the security of Israel? 2)Is the position/status of Israel today better, worse or the same as it was before Operation Cast Lead?  If Israel is not more secure today and if the position/status of Israel isn't better today...then I think the merit of Cast Lead is called into question.

To me, this underscores one expectation we should have of our leaders:  decisions should be based on cold, hard, facts and an assessment of the reality and realpolitik we confront rather than emotions or to appease political constituencies (yea, good luck with that!).  I feel the same about the United States as I do about Israel in this regard.