1.   Although he is a former defense minister and a former general, he did not serve as army chief of staff.

2.   And it is hard to portray Barak, a highly decorated former general, as a softie.

3.   Another former general inside the intimate circle of opponents, Yitzhak Mordechai, the Center Party candidate, has been trailing them.

4.   Another former general, Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon, went further.

5.   As a former general and a former foreign minister under Shimon Peres, Barak has seen his share of warmaking and peacemaking.

6.   Anyone who has been schlepped by Sharon around Judea and Samaria in a helicopter knows that this former general has his specific plan.

7.   As host of the APEC meeting, the former general is seeking international credibility for a region that has languished in the shadow of its powerful Asian neighbors.

8.   At a meeting of ministers, Sharon attacked the deal so harshly that Mordechai, like Sharon a former general, turned on him.

9.   Barak and the other major candidate, Yitzhak Mordechai, are former generals with better military credentials than Netanyahu.

10.   Barak is a former general who pledges to be tough on security.