Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared Thursday during a tour of Israel’s northern border that the war he launched against Hezbollah guerrillas a year ago was a success that made Israel safer. Flouting the widely accepted view that the 34-day conflict was a failure, Olmert said Israel is better off today than it was at the outset of fighting on July 12, 2006. Olmert’s political fortunes plummeted in the wake of the conflict, and he remains deeply unpopular. Full Story