Winograd Likely to Pin 33 Deaths on Olmert

The final report of the official inquiry into the 2006 Second Lebanon War is expected to accuse PM Ehud Olmert of having caused 33 pointless IDF deaths in the last 60 hours of warfare.

The Winograd Commission was appointed a month after the end of the war, as a result of heavy public pressure and criticism of the war's poor results. The commission's mandate was to investigate the errors in running the war. It had been announced of late that the commission would not call for Olmert's resignation - but the Sunday Times of London now reports that it is likely to come close: The commission will sharply censor the Prime Minister for the battles of the war's last three days, in which 28 soldiers were killed in battle and another five were killed when their helicopter was shot down.

In the final 60 hours of fighting, Israel launched a major ground offensive which began while the United Nations was nearing a ceasefire resolution. Though some would say that Olmert wished to seize a victory from the jaws of defeat, or at least end the war with Israel in its best possible position, the Winograd Commission sees the situation differently.