I really love to see the power of the Internet. Thanks to our postings on Ali Baba and here, we managed to get this UK business man out of Guilin and the hands of Guilin Youlianshiye Co.…Too bad he had to fly out there but at least they never got the “loot” (never actually had a chance to use that word..)

Hi, I am one of those suckers who have just visited Guilin Youlianshiye Co. We received an order of over US$500,000 for chandeliers manufactured in the UK and received the letter of invitation and a draft contract. I was asked to visit Guilin to sign the contract “because it was their tradition”. I booked my own flight and hotel. They picked me up in the morning and took me to their premises. Their young female interpreter explained that their Financial Director had to visit our premises in London to make sure he was confident we could produce the work. If he was happy he would authorise the payment of the deposit. She said the FD would expect to be looked after well in London and would want special benfits. When I asked what type of benefits, she said he collected art of up and coming young Chinese artists. She said she could take me to a gallery where I could purchase a piece which I could take back to London to give him when he came over to see me. She suggested some art was available for around 20,000 yuan (about 1,400 stirling). I was due to return the next day to sign the contract. I emailed my wife in the UK and told her I thought it was a scam and she searched through the internet and found your subject on Alibaba, I just wish I had found it before I jumped on a plane! Obviously, I did not return to sign the contract. Does anyone know who I should report this to? Everyone I spoke to out there suggested there is very little in the way of business in Guilin other than tourism. Got off the plane this morning a bit wiser!

The dollar is losing 0.4% in the local market to NIS 3.974, its lowest level in more than seven years. Moshik! is getting a little worried….

In the beginning of the Second Lebanon War, early on, Hassan Nasrallah called to our leaders and warned that their inexperience should make them reconsider jumping into a war. In essence that is the conclusion of the Winograd Report handed out yesterday.

The report painted a clear, bleak picture of the three men that lead the country to war. Although the Winograd Committee was elected by Olmert and critics were quick to dub it a rubber stamp, this initial report shows they did the work required thoroughly, professionally and with a great deal of respectability.

Ignoring this report and not having these people removed from office (Olmert and Peretz), will both be detrimental and dangerous for Israel, and a step towards becoming a Third World Nation. The good news is that if we do become a Third World Nation, we won’t last that long anyway!

I went through a few pages and translated some excerpts of this frightening report. In case you want to read the initial report (all 171 pages) its available here in Hebrew (get a tissue out before you read this…).

Ehud Olmert was found to be the irresponsible, negligent in his duties and primarily at fault. As Prime Minister he was held accountable to the failures of the Second Lebanon War personally.

“his personal decisions, and the process in which decisions were made, was flawed. The Prime Minister took a position without getting a clear plan for action or asking for one – he therefore was unable to analyze the details of such a plan or approve it. Furthermore, Olmert never requested any alternative courses of action and did not display enough skepticism to the military options presented to him.
The Prime Minister also failed in leading the government to adopting ill conceived decisions, that he himself contributed to directly, in that he did not provide the guidance necessary for a clear decision making process. He also is accused of setting unrealistic goals and proclaiming that the war will not end until these goals were attained.”

As for Amir Peretz our so called Minister of Defense. The Committee clearly stated that he did not fulfill his duties as army chief. No real surprise there.

“His inexperience and lack of knowledge caused him to fail in all aspects of his job. During the whole period that was inspected by the Committee, Peretz did not request or examined a single military plan, did not check the readiness and preparedness of the armed forces. He did not examine in a broad view the methods of operation and how they relate to the intended goals proposed.”

“We believe that the decision by the Minister of Defense to accept the position, like the decision of the Prime Minister to appoint him the position, were political decisions that need to be examined on the political and public level only. One has to assume, for the benefit of the Minister, that if he had enough time he would have acquired the required competency. However, although lack of knowledge and proficiency in matters of his office should not prevent a man from taking a job, they are not to be celebrated or a reason for any pride. We found failures and deficiencies in every aspect of the Minister’s actions…he did not take necessary steps that would augment his lack of skill and experience, like for example, using a professional consulting system external to the security forces.”

Finally, Dan Halutz, the Chief of Staff. The committee laid at his feet an unprecedented amount of blame, never assigned before to a Chief of Staff. Halutz is now studying at Harvard Business School (MBA) and had Israeli reporters removed when they approached him for comments. The army is paying of course..

“The committee found Dan Halutz personally and professionally responsible for the fact that on the day of the attack he did not have any realistic plans for the possibility of escalation on the Lebanese front. He did not present to government, knowing their inexperience, the complexities of the arena, the army’s perceptions and the physical limitations in readiness. When Halutz received the Green Light, he avoided reserve army recruitment. He was a major contributing factor to the deficiencies and failures associated with the decisions of going to war. The army as a whole was uncreative in its approach.”

The committee clearly brings to light the festering infection at the core of Israel’s leadership. The lack of professional, educated, inspiring leaders has never been so apparent. In a final statement about the government’s role in the war the committee stated that the government as a whole should be held accountable. Ministers voted without knowing what were the exact plans going forward – that as a result of over relying on army reports.

“The government as a whole and each of its members is responsible. It acted in haste and without receiving any assessments that detailed the consequences of their decision on an overly aggressive military action. This decision was made without examining the possible results and demanding an orderly debate on the options. The government of Israel and each of its members, did not act using their better judgment, care and responsibility as required.”

That pretty much describes the problem with our people in government. The sad thing is that unfortunately I don’t think they have the tools to be good leaders, they are just not quality people. Each of them will sell their mother for money and the only benefit they see associated with being a member of government is their own personal wealth and power. Just look at the conviction rate and investigations of political figures and you’ll see the ideological bankruptcy we face.

This war is proof of how bad things can get when a used car salesman runs the show. When the Minister of Defense, a bumbling idiot, a wanabe socialist, bargains his way into the most sensitive position in the country and then war actually breaks out. The welfare of the country was sold for a political bargain price and the Hezbollah was there to call the bluff and serve us the bill - a body count of 139 people.

We need to start over. Get back to basics. Find the people that don’t want the job, that gave up and bring them back. The people that have been made sick by the low moral fiber that passes for leadership in Israel today.

Will Monday’s publication of the much awaited Winograd Report be reminiscent of Ernest Hemmingway’s classic novel: For Whom the Bell Tolls? The long prepared document prepared by a very distinguished committee headed by former Tel Aviv District Judge Eliahu Wingrad (pictured), is supposed to formally point out the faults of the Israeli government during last summer’s Lebanon II war, in which more than 230 Israeli soldiers and civilians lost their lives and the country’s entire northern region from Haifa and Afula onwards were bombarded during 34 days of constant Hezbollah launched missile attacks.

These attacks, which caused serious damage to many of Israeli towns and cities, including Haifa, also turned the country’s economy upside down and caused more than a million Israeli citizens to be either confined to very unpleasant conditions in crowded bomb shelters, or turned into refugees in their own land, forced to seek the kind assistance of people like billionaire Arkady Gaydamak, whose tent city in southern Israel gave temporary shelter while a hapless government failed to come to terms with a very unpleasant reality.

The report is expected to note the failures of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defence Minister Amir Peretz, and then IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz. But with all of this before us, is there really anything that hasn’t already been figured out by most of the Israeli public? After all, the reserve soldiers who were sent into battle without enough rations, ammunition – even water – do they need a long and very in depth report by a group to retired generals and legal experts to conclude what has already been thought out by nearly everyone with an IQ of at least 75? The report, which took more than five months to complete and at a cost of millions of shekels, is reported to find Olmert responsible for the results of the war, including lack of ability to care for the needs of nearly a fourth of the country’s inhabitants; Peretz’s failures due to his not being qualified for his position as Defense Minister; and Halutz’s failures due to his not having ‘on the ground’ military experience as a field commander (after all flying over a war zone is not the same as having to plow through it as many unprepared conscripts and reserve soldiers found out).

The committee also blames other IDF generals including Gal Hirsch and Udi Adam for their actions, and adds that lack of awareness of Hezbollah activity by former Prime and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, former Defense Ministers Shaul Mofaz and Moshe (Boogie) Ayalon allowed Sheik Hassan Nasrallah to strengthen his organization’s infrastructure in southern Lebanon during the six year period between the May 2,000 IDF pullout and the July 2006 war.

Though other details will most likely be revealed when the report is formally released at 3:30 p.m. on Monday (NOW !!), the resulting fallout to Olmert’s already troubled administration may result in early elections at most, or if not, at least a severe shakeup in Olmert’s cabinet.

Olmert commented recently that he knows he is not a very popular prime minister; and by the time the Winograd Report’s dust has settled, he may discover that his unpopularity is even more intense. After all, a lot of ordinary people were directly involved in this conflict – more than in most other major wars in Israel’s 59 year history.

And from a military point of view, many eyes will now be focused on new IDF Chief of Staff Gaby Ashkenazi to try to set things right in Israel’s armed forces. The only thing is – things have to be set right at the top as well; for as a former U.S. President, Harry S. Truman, once said, regarding ultimate responsibility: “the buck stops here”.

Don’t you love Mondays?