There was no mistaking the frayed standing of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as a war leader who, addressing the Knesset immediately after the war was over, spoke of "painful blows" received by the Israeli army, admitted the "shortcomings" in the conduct of the war, personally owned "overall responsibility" for the operation of the war and promised its "review."

His speech was repeatedly interrupted by the angry opposition members of the Parliament. The Israeli defense minister promised "full inquiry and investigation" into the Israeli military performance. Benjamin Nataniyahu, leader of the right wing Likud Opposition flayed the government for its "many failures" of threat perception and response, failure on the home front and in the theatre of operation. He demanded a full explanation. Opinion poll conducted on the war in Israel showed deep frustration at the unsatisfactory outcome of the war for Israel.

By all accounts, Israel failed to achieve its objectives of the war, sparked ostensibly by the capture of the two Israeli soldiers on July 12. It failed to secure the return of the two captured Israeli soldiers; it failed to destroy Hizbullah; it failed to occupy southern Lebanon up to the Latini river.

In the war it lost nearly 120 soldiers besides 40 civilian casualties. Twenty Israeli tanks were disabled. Israel in its last minute ground invasion of Lebanon to obtain military advantage before the cease-fire was in place, lost about 40 soldiers in one day alone in the frontal encounter with Hizbullah.

Light armed but steel willed, a few thousand Hizbullah fighters, fired with the rage of injustice, defended the territorial integrity of Lebanon with remarkable valour and a spirit of sacrifice, survived the massive military onslaught of the 30,000-strong Israeli army equipped with awesome military weaponry, contained and repulsed the enemy.

It was a typical test of strength in the fight between David and Goliath. Hizbullah has not been destroyed or discredited but stands tall as ever, gaining popularity across the Shia, Sunni, and Christian divide in Lebanon. Its stature as a hero has grown across the Arab and Muslim world. Hizbullah won because it was on the side of righteousness and justice against the tyranny of Israeli occupation. The myth and memory of the much vaunted invincibility of the Israeli military, since its victory in the six-day war of 1967, is in ruins.

The Hizbullah win is a turning point in the long narrative of the Arab-Israeli conflict and bids fair to be the forerunner of a new Middle East with reawakening of strength in unity and solidarity of the Arab and the Muslim world. It is significant to note that the OIC and the Arab League rose to the occasion. Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's participation and role in the emergency meeting called by OIC in Malaysia was praiseworthy. The effect of successful Hizbullah resistance has profound significance for the future landscape of the Middle East and will leave a lasting impact on the political, psychological, and military power balance in the area.

It is now clear that the capture of two Israeli soldiers was a pretext for a major offensive that had been in the works for a long time. Seymour Hersh the investigative journalist of the New Yorker magazine, who has a track record of ground breaking stories on My Lai massacre in Vietnam, prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib detention centre in Iraq, and alleged US plot to launch nuclear attack on Iranian nuclear installations, has now written in the current issue of the magazine about US involvement in the planning of recent Israeli military attack on Hizbullah. Quoting a US government consultant, he disclosed that early this summer Israeli officials visited Washington to share plans for the attack.

All along the 34 day war, the US supported Israel with military supplies and stalled every step of the way a UN brokered cease fire to allow Israel time to make military gain against Hezbullah. The failure of the Israeli offensive in Lebanon is a defeat of the Bush-Rice plan for what they described as "a new Middle East" where Hizbullah as a military force will be eliminated to reduce the threat of a possible Hizbullah retaliation against Israel, should the US launch a military strike against Iran.

Behind the objectives of Israeli attack against Hizbullah lurked the wider shared Israeli US strategy of weakening links between Lebanon and Syria and between Hizbullah and Iran to redress the strategic imbalance brought about by the Iraqi fiasco which has strengthened Iran and Syria in the region.

Israel laid waste to southern Lebanon and parts of Beirut by indiscriminate and relentless bombing for 34 days on end, destroying bridges, power plants, gas stations, and apartment blocks, killing more than one thousand civilians and displacing about a million people.

Israel's air and sea blockade of Lebanon prevented rescue and relief operations, raising international concern and condemnation about the spectre of a humanitarian disaster. But at the end of the day, the Israeli offensive received a drubbing, remained badly bruised and made very little gains. Not even the densest fog of war can hide the fact that Israeli invasion has been a moral, political, and military disaster.

For Israel and the US, the lesson in Lebanon and Iraq is the futility of the logic of military solution of a political problem. The dismantling of continuing Israeli occupation of Palestinian land in Gaza and West Bank, Sheba farmland in Lebanon and Golan Heights in Syria is central to the solution of the Middle East problem. Israel must renounce violence as a means of conflict resolution and engage in bridge building with its neighbours and address the Palestinian question based on internationally backed two-state solution.

No one knows what will be the fallout of the devastating and savage Israeli attack on Lebanon. There will be no surprise if it breeds a few more terrorists. Israel, an illegitimate transplant by the West on Arab land and sustained by American life support system, is an economic and political liability to America and a cause of security risk for America and the West. The sooner this realisation sinks into the mind of Bush and Blair, the better.

Abdul Hannan is a former press counselor, Bangladesh UN Mission in New York.