How could both sides have blundered so badly?

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | How could both sides have blundered so badly?: "How could the protagonists have miscalculated so badly? Where is Israel's exit strategy? What did Hizbullah, the radical Shia militia, expect when it launched the attacks that captured two Israeli soldiers and left eight others dead?

he militarily inexperienced Olmert-Peretz team was already overreacting to the Palestinian raid, which killed two soldiers and captured one. Rather than negotiate a prisoner swap, they were lashing out all over Gaza.

But today's asymmetrical warfare is proving far harder for Israel to handle, and is exacting a deadlier toll. First came the Palestinian resort to suicide bombing, which tanks are powerless to defeat. Now come long-range rockets that have killed more Israelis in one week than Saddam Hussein's Scud missiles did in 1991. It is true that Israel is no longer fighting for its existence as it did in 1967 and 1973, when Arab forces penetrated the country."