And it is this fundamental failure of cognition that has landed six soldiers in the hospital, Israel's international reputation in tatters and Israeli spokesmen - from Netanyahu down - searching for a way to describe a reality they do not understand and explain how they will cope with challenges that confound them.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Ending Israel's losing streak

With traffic and traffic lights there to confound smooth progress, putting a foot down when the road does finally open up is one of the few ways an urban driver can exert some control over a journey.

BBC: Traffic

Rudolph, wearing a dark-gray suit and blue shirt with no tie, said his goal had been to confound and anger the federal government and to force the cancellation of the games -- or at least get people to stop attending them.

CNN: Rudolph apologizes for Olympic bombing

Cooley, 44, made his name during the 2005 Ashes campaign, when he was credited with helping Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones master reverse swing and confound the Australian batsmen.

BBC: Australia seek new bowling coach ahead of Ashes series

And although it has convincingly shown itself able to confound the efforts of retailers to avoid easy and direct price comparisons, it has a harder time dealing with what their suppliers do.

ECONOMIST: Intelligent agents