The operation was a success but the patient died.

Tim Hames of the Times of London thinks the Israelis won the go-round with Hezbollah. That won't save Olmert, but it illustrates how differently things look if you're considering military results rather than public relations. I think that Israel knows by now that it can never win the public relations battle, because the media will never give them a fair shake.

All in all, Israel accomplished a lot, but its dithering in the handling of the campaign has left a bad taste with most of its supporters. Olmert's government is likely to fall.