By Alan M. Dershowitz
FrontPageMagazine.com
April 27, 2007
I have known Jimmy Carter for years. I first met him in the spring of 1976 when, as a relatively unknown candidate for president, he sent me a handwritten letter asking for my help in his campaign on issues of crime and justice. I had just published an article in The New York Times Magazine on sentencing reform, and he expressed interest in my ideas and asked me to come up with additional ones for his campaign. Shortly thereafter, my former student, Stuart Eisenstadt, brought Carter to Harvard to meet with some faculty members, me among them. I immediately liked Jimmy Carter and saw him as a man of integrity and principle. I signed on to his campaign and worked very hard for his election.
When Newsweek magazine asked his campaign for the names of people on whom Carter relied for advice, my name was among those given out. I continued to work for Carter over the years, most recently I met him in Jerusalem a year ago, and we briefly discussed the Mid-East. Though I disagreed with some of his points, I continued to believe that he was making them out of a deep commitment to principle and to human rights. Recent disclosures of Carter's extensive financial connections to Arab oil money, particularly from Saudi Arabia, had deeply shaken my belief in his integrity. When I was first told that he received a monetary reward in the name of Shiekh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayan, and kept the money, even after Harvard returned money from the same source because of its anti-Semitic history, I simply did not believe it. How could a man of such apparent integrity enrich himself with dirty money from so dirty a source? And let there be no mistake about how dirty the Zayed Foundation is. I know because I was involved, in a small way, in helping to persuade Harvard University to return more than $2 million that the financially strapped Divinity School received from this source. Initially, I was reluctant to put pressure on Harvard to turn back money for the Divinity School, but then a student at the Divinity School, Rachael Lea Fish showed me the facts.
They were staggering. I was amazed that in the twenty-first century there were still foundations that espoused these views. The Zayed Centre for Coordination and Follow-up, a think-tank funded by the Shiekh and run by his son, hosted speakers who called Jews "the enemies of all nations," attributed the assassination of John Kennedy to Israel and the Mossad and the 9/11 attacks to the United States' own military, and stated that the Holocaust was a "fable." (They also hosted a speech by Jimmy Carter.) To its credit, Harvard turned the money back. To his discredit, Carter did not.
for the rest of the story: http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=28044
Thanks to Bruce Tuchman for sharing the article- Check out www.nycat.org a great source of information
Monday, April 30, 2007
Your Next Trip
As I read my postings from Israel, I note that most of them have some reference to the wars fought to defend this country and the terrorist attacks that they have endured. I feel I am contributing to the distorted image that Israel is not a safe place to visit.
People commend me for be brave enough to visit Israel. They act as if I am visiting Bagdad or that my luggage will come back bullet ridden. They visualize tour guides stepping over bodies.
It does not take bravery to visit Israel; it just takes curiosity and interest. The guide spoke about the new part of the Wall of Jerusalem; it was 450 years old, built during the Ottoman rule. To get the most out of brief visit you need a good guide. The state of Israel requires guides to be very well trained and liscenced. It is hard to envision a better guide than Shlomo Ben-Asher; he guides tours for both Jewish and Christian groups. You can contact him at horevben@zahav.net.il.
I can honestly say I feel as safe walking down the streets of Tel Aviv or Jersusalem as I do walking down Cherry Street in Macon. Yes you must be aware of the areas surrounding Israel and I would not wander off into the West Bank or Gaza. The cities of Israel have respect for law and order and are safe. Gaza is only 40 miles away but the security Israel provides is so good, 40 miles away could seem like 400 or 4000 miles away.
We forget that the United States has lost more citizens to terrorism in the last several years than the Israelis. And the United States loses far more citizens to violent crime every year than the Israelis both in real and in relative terms. We faced our tragedy at Virginia Tech, but classes have resumed and few of us would consider not sending our kids to that school because of the terrible violent act.
We can acknowledge our history without defining ourselves by the demons we overcame. We are not a nation of slavery, but a nation that overcame slavery. We are not a nation of corruption but a nation that exposes and overcomes corruption.
Israel is not a nation of violence but a nation that has overcome war and violence to build a nation that is a model to the world. Israel is as modern as the United States. Their TV stations show modern MTV videos and game shows. They have a rich music, dance and art community. It has one of the highest literacy rates in the world, and the highest rates of college graduates in the world. It has the most museums per capita in the world. Its cities have some of the nicest hotels you can find. It has one of the largest and fastest growing high tech communities in the world. They have more new patents issued than any other nation besides the US. Warren Buffet just invested four billion dollars in Iscar Industries, an Israeli cutting tools manufacturer and his first foreign holding.
Israel is safe, very clean and one of the most interesting places you can find to visit. A life spent without seeing the miracle of this country is incomplete.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
HKO
People commend me for be brave enough to visit Israel. They act as if I am visiting Bagdad or that my luggage will come back bullet ridden. They visualize tour guides stepping over bodies.
It does not take bravery to visit Israel; it just takes curiosity and interest. The guide spoke about the new part of the Wall of Jerusalem; it was 450 years old, built during the Ottoman rule. To get the most out of brief visit you need a good guide. The state of Israel requires guides to be very well trained and liscenced. It is hard to envision a better guide than Shlomo Ben-Asher; he guides tours for both Jewish and Christian groups. You can contact him at horevben@zahav.net.il.
I can honestly say I feel as safe walking down the streets of Tel Aviv or Jersusalem as I do walking down Cherry Street in Macon. Yes you must be aware of the areas surrounding Israel and I would not wander off into the West Bank or Gaza. The cities of Israel have respect for law and order and are safe. Gaza is only 40 miles away but the security Israel provides is so good, 40 miles away could seem like 400 or 4000 miles away.
We forget that the United States has lost more citizens to terrorism in the last several years than the Israelis. And the United States loses far more citizens to violent crime every year than the Israelis both in real and in relative terms. We faced our tragedy at Virginia Tech, but classes have resumed and few of us would consider not sending our kids to that school because of the terrible violent act.
We can acknowledge our history without defining ourselves by the demons we overcame. We are not a nation of slavery, but a nation that overcame slavery. We are not a nation of corruption but a nation that exposes and overcomes corruption.
Israel is not a nation of violence but a nation that has overcome war and violence to build a nation that is a model to the world. Israel is as modern as the United States. Their TV stations show modern MTV videos and game shows. They have a rich music, dance and art community. It has one of the highest literacy rates in the world, and the highest rates of college graduates in the world. It has the most museums per capita in the world. Its cities have some of the nicest hotels you can find. It has one of the largest and fastest growing high tech communities in the world. They have more new patents issued than any other nation besides the US. Warren Buffet just invested four billion dollars in Iscar Industries, an Israeli cutting tools manufacturer and his first foreign holding.
Israel is safe, very clean and one of the most interesting places you can find to visit. A life spent without seeing the miracle of this country is incomplete.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
HKO
The Taste of Security
From the abandoned old Syrian concrete outpost you can look down to the right and see a field that the Israelis once plowed with armed tractors or military escort. On the horizon to the left is the kibbutz Gadot. Before the 1967 war every home in the kibbutz had been hit at least once by fire from the Syrians looking down from the hills. Standing on top of the Syrian bunker, it is clear why Israel took the Golan Heights when they had the chance.
On another even higher hill the Syrians had even better vantage to fire on other Israeli communities with impunity.
After the initial success in the Six Day War decimating the Egyptians in the Sinai and the capturing East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan, Israel took aim at the Golan. With such superior position the estimate before the War was that taking the territory may cost 3,000 Israeli soldiers; but because word of the impressive Israeli victories had reached the Syrian troops they became dispirited and put up less of a fight than expected. About 120 Israeli troops died scaling the hills of the Golan Heights, a tragic loss for such a small country, but much better than the original projections.
Many Israelis thought the Six Day War would be the last war because it was such a stunning victory, but six years later Israel became complacent. Egypt and Syria attacked and dealt a devastating blow. Syria retook the Golan Heights. Far more costly the second time, Israel pushed Syria back and retook the Golan that had become so critical to Israel’s security.
The area was hardly inhabited by the Syrians. Under Israeli rule several communities are flourishing. The Golan proved well suited for wineries and hundreds of vineyards have developed. The Golan Heights Winery is up there with some of the best wineries in Northern California. The climate, volcanic soil, and proximity to the sea provide a near perfect environment for 22 types of grapes.
The Golan was hit by thousands of rockets from Hezbollah last summer, but it is quiet and safe now. There is talk about Israel returning the Golan to Syria in exchange for a peace agreement. Israel is a matchbook on a football field surrounded by neighbors who all promise peace if only it will give each one of them a little piece of its land, but for 50 years its neighbors have only delivered war. It would be an enormous loss and a terrible tragedy if Israel gave up any of this land.
You only have to be on this land in the Golan for a few hours to see how critical it is that Israel maintains control of Golan for its own security. You can taste this country.
I personally recommend the Yarden Cabernet and the Muscat from the Golan Heights Winery.
HKO 4/25/07
On another even higher hill the Syrians had even better vantage to fire on other Israeli communities with impunity.
After the initial success in the Six Day War decimating the Egyptians in the Sinai and the capturing East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan, Israel took aim at the Golan. With such superior position the estimate before the War was that taking the territory may cost 3,000 Israeli soldiers; but because word of the impressive Israeli victories had reached the Syrian troops they became dispirited and put up less of a fight than expected. About 120 Israeli troops died scaling the hills of the Golan Heights, a tragic loss for such a small country, but much better than the original projections.
Many Israelis thought the Six Day War would be the last war because it was such a stunning victory, but six years later Israel became complacent. Egypt and Syria attacked and dealt a devastating blow. Syria retook the Golan Heights. Far more costly the second time, Israel pushed Syria back and retook the Golan that had become so critical to Israel’s security.
The area was hardly inhabited by the Syrians. Under Israeli rule several communities are flourishing. The Golan proved well suited for wineries and hundreds of vineyards have developed. The Golan Heights Winery is up there with some of the best wineries in Northern California. The climate, volcanic soil, and proximity to the sea provide a near perfect environment for 22 types of grapes.
The Golan was hit by thousands of rockets from Hezbollah last summer, but it is quiet and safe now. There is talk about Israel returning the Golan to Syria in exchange for a peace agreement. Israel is a matchbook on a football field surrounded by neighbors who all promise peace if only it will give each one of them a little piece of its land, but for 50 years its neighbors have only delivered war. It would be an enormous loss and a terrible tragedy if Israel gave up any of this land.
You only have to be on this land in the Golan for a few hours to see how critical it is that Israel maintains control of Golan for its own security. You can taste this country.
I personally recommend the Yarden Cabernet and the Muscat from the Golan Heights Winery.
HKO 4/25/07
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Taking Ancient Wisdom Literally
A bus driver in Jerusalem on Yaffa Street notices smoke coming out of a car behind him in his rear view mirror. He stops the bus tries to pull the driver out of the burning car. The driver resists. The bus driver believes he is in shock and struggles to pull him out of his car.
The bus driver did not recognize him as a terrorist but he was. The bomb had not detonated the main charge and it only smoked. While the bus driver was trying to save this driver, the driver was struggling to finish detonating the bomb.
The bus driver succeeded in pulling the terrorist from the car, in an effort to save the bomber's life not knowing the ulitmate deadly mission of the driver. The bus driver succeeded and the terrorist's mission failed.
I am in no way a Talmudic scholar, but I hear that there is a saying that a man who saves one life saves a thousand. There were far less than a thousand lives on the targeted bus, but sometimes you can take the ancient wisdom literally.
HKO 4/25/07
The bus driver did not recognize him as a terrorist but he was. The bomb had not detonated the main charge and it only smoked. While the bus driver was trying to save this driver, the driver was struggling to finish detonating the bomb.
The bus driver succeeded in pulling the terrorist from the car, in an effort to save the bomber's life not knowing the ulitmate deadly mission of the driver. The bus driver succeeded and the terrorist's mission failed.
I am in no way a Talmudic scholar, but I hear that there is a saying that a man who saves one life saves a thousand. There were far less than a thousand lives on the targeted bus, but sometimes you can take the ancient wisdom literally.
HKO 4/25/07
Friday, April 27, 2007
Open for Business
By Henry Oliner
Genine was born in Queens, New York. Her parents were holocaust refugees. Hearing of their stories growing up, she saw Israel as the miracle it was; a fulfilled 2000 year old dream in the wake of the Jewish people’s greatest disaster, successfully creating a state against incredible odds.
In Israel she traveled as many young Israelis do to India where she met her husband, Ronen Bar-El; a professional chef who had worked in the United States, most recently in Atlanta, GA. Ronen had returned to Israel, and was also on a spiritual journey. They married and bought a 150 year old house in Safed (Tzfat on the Israeli maps) in northern Israel; a beautiful old home on a narrow stone street with white walls and stone with pointed arches and a stone courtyard overlooking the calm scenic hills of Galilee and the Golan.
Safed dates back to 70 AD and is one of the four holy cities in Israel along with Hebron, Tiberias, and Jerusalem. In the 16th century Safed grew as scholars and mystics fled to the town when expelled from Spain. It became known as a center of Kaballah, a branch of Jewish mystical teachings recently made a bit trendy for the VH-1 crowd by Madonna and a few other Hollywood types.
The Bar-El home became their business. They started hosting study groups, but grew into hosting weddings, bar mitzvahs, various visiting groups and tonight they were hosting 19 visitors from Macon, GA.
The food was an indescribable experience. A first rate chef and his wife cooking in their home, two of the tables set in their small kitchen. Two young beautiful children made random appearances. Genine seemed to be about one month away from a third child.
We wondered what codes such a business would have violated in the United States. Have we abdicated such soul defining experiences to the authority of petty bureaucrats?
Safed is 20 miles from the Lebanese border and last June thousands of Hezbollah rockets rained on this part of the holy land. A lady was killed next door to the house where we were now enjoying a delightful dinner. Five children were seriously injured. Genine and her children went into makeshift underground shelters. Further attacks ensued and Genine and Ronen would no longer put their children at such risk. Since the war had squelched most of their business, and since Israelis were headed south for shelter, they decided to vacation in France.
In France most of the news coverage was about Israel's disproportionate response with practically no reference to the 1,000,000 Israelis uprooted by unprovoked attacks from Hezbollah, funded by Syria and Iran. I wondered how my fellow Americans, especially in Georgia would respond to 4,000 missiles exploding for days around their homes.
They have returned to their home in Safed and are again open for business. Nine months after the Lebanese barrage there is a small baby boom; pregnant women and infants are everywhere in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The northern border is quiet for now, and business is again growing. Amidst the big hearted smiles of our hosts and the warm intimacy of a very special meal in a very special place, last summer’s vicious attacks seemed more like decades away rather than the mere ten months that had actually passed.
Check out the menus or book accommodations at Genine and Ronan's Inn at www.bar-el.com.
The sweet potato and mushroom soup was incredible.
HKO 4/24/07
Genine was born in Queens, New York. Her parents were holocaust refugees. Hearing of their stories growing up, she saw Israel as the miracle it was; a fulfilled 2000 year old dream in the wake of the Jewish people’s greatest disaster, successfully creating a state against incredible odds.
In Israel she traveled as many young Israelis do to India where she met her husband, Ronen Bar-El; a professional chef who had worked in the United States, most recently in Atlanta, GA. Ronen had returned to Israel, and was also on a spiritual journey. They married and bought a 150 year old house in Safed (Tzfat on the Israeli maps) in northern Israel; a beautiful old home on a narrow stone street with white walls and stone with pointed arches and a stone courtyard overlooking the calm scenic hills of Galilee and the Golan.
Safed dates back to 70 AD and is one of the four holy cities in Israel along with Hebron, Tiberias, and Jerusalem. In the 16th century Safed grew as scholars and mystics fled to the town when expelled from Spain. It became known as a center of Kaballah, a branch of Jewish mystical teachings recently made a bit trendy for the VH-1 crowd by Madonna and a few other Hollywood types.
The Bar-El home became their business. They started hosting study groups, but grew into hosting weddings, bar mitzvahs, various visiting groups and tonight they were hosting 19 visitors from Macon, GA.
The food was an indescribable experience. A first rate chef and his wife cooking in their home, two of the tables set in their small kitchen. Two young beautiful children made random appearances. Genine seemed to be about one month away from a third child.
We wondered what codes such a business would have violated in the United States. Have we abdicated such soul defining experiences to the authority of petty bureaucrats?
Safed is 20 miles from the Lebanese border and last June thousands of Hezbollah rockets rained on this part of the holy land. A lady was killed next door to the house where we were now enjoying a delightful dinner. Five children were seriously injured. Genine and her children went into makeshift underground shelters. Further attacks ensued and Genine and Ronen would no longer put their children at such risk. Since the war had squelched most of their business, and since Israelis were headed south for shelter, they decided to vacation in France.
In France most of the news coverage was about Israel's disproportionate response with practically no reference to the 1,000,000 Israelis uprooted by unprovoked attacks from Hezbollah, funded by Syria and Iran. I wondered how my fellow Americans, especially in Georgia would respond to 4,000 missiles exploding for days around their homes.
They have returned to their home in Safed and are again open for business. Nine months after the Lebanese barrage there is a small baby boom; pregnant women and infants are everywhere in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The northern border is quiet for now, and business is again growing. Amidst the big hearted smiles of our hosts and the warm intimacy of a very special meal in a very special place, last summer’s vicious attacks seemed more like decades away rather than the mere ten months that had actually passed.
Check out the menus or book accommodations at Genine and Ronan's Inn at www.bar-el.com.
The sweet potato and mushroom soup was incredible.
HKO 4/24/07
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Rowdy Teenagers in Dimona
Dimona is not a city commonly visited in Israel. It is in the southern part of Israel seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Relative to a more popular Tel Aviv or Jerusalem it seems to be in the middle of nowhere. Yet once in the city it is clean and modern.
At the local school are kids from Morocco, Russia, Iraq, India, Syria and other countries. In the high school you can nearly start a riot with a digital camera; the kids love to pose and yell for you to take a picture. They are incredibly confident and probably a little rowdy by our standards.
I wonder if a teacher in the United States had such a class if they would not put them on ritilin; how would they even handle this much energy in a class room?
In Israel this energy built a nation, and still does.
HKO 4/26/07
At the local school are kids from Morocco, Russia, Iraq, India, Syria and other countries. In the high school you can nearly start a riot with a digital camera; the kids love to pose and yell for you to take a picture. They are incredibly confident and probably a little rowdy by our standards.
I wonder if a teacher in the United States had such a class if they would not put them on ritilin; how would they even handle this much energy in a class room?
In Israel this energy built a nation, and still does.
HKO 4/26/07
Monday, April 23, 2007
Bread, Bullets, and a Tanning Salon - How Israel Won the War
Outside of Tel Aviv is the site where a kibbutz once stood. Among the very spartan concrete buildings that once housed the workers is a small courtyard between the laundry and bakery that served the kibbutz. Beneath the courtyard with laudrey on clotheslines blowing in the breeze, 25 meters below is a factory.
Before Israeli independence the British mission to create a homeland for the Jews turned very wrong. The British in the wake of Hiter's wrath after WW II were denying the Jews who had survived, entry into the holy land. The British troops denied the Jews in Israel weapons to defend themselves but did nothing to stop the weapons in the hands of the Arabs. The Jews knowing they were building a state, had to arm themselves secretly in order to be able to defend themselves from the invading hordes soon to invade them when they declared statehood.
So when the Israelis were building the kibbutz and landscaping the foundation with a bulldozer they built the underground bunker with intent to manufacture bullets. The construction took 3 weeks. (non union labor) The Ayalon Institute looked like a Kibbutz but it was one of many such underground weapons facilities. The location was close to a British railway depot.
As many as 42 workers labored underground from 1945 to 1948 beneath the laundry and the bakery, producing 14,000 9mm bullets per day for their sten guns, many which were also manufactured secretly.
When the British soldiers visited, the work shut down to avoid detection. The kibbutz workers responded by bringing the soldiers warm beer. They asked for cold beer; the hosts at the kibbutz suggested that if they would let them know when they were coming they would be glad to ice a few beers for them. That was the early warning system.
After working around the brass slivers of scrap from the shell casings they were careful to have the shoes cleaned thoroughly to avoid the smallest chance of a small piece of brass scrap attracting attention. There was one more problem; they were supposed to be farmers and laboring all day in the sun. Working underground it would be readily obvious that their pale skin would indicate otherwise.
So this enterprising group created probably one of the first known tanning salons in the hot underground factory; builiding a special light in a closet.
The Israelis have an ingenuity that is very American; there is nothing they can not do or overcome. Their commitment is their survival. The combination of ingenuity and commitment is how nations are built and how Israel won that war, and the wars that followed.
Today the Ayalon Institute Museum near Tel Aviv has restored the underground bullet factory and reminds us how nations are built.
Before Israeli independence the British mission to create a homeland for the Jews turned very wrong. The British in the wake of Hiter's wrath after WW II were denying the Jews who had survived, entry into the holy land. The British troops denied the Jews in Israel weapons to defend themselves but did nothing to stop the weapons in the hands of the Arabs. The Jews knowing they were building a state, had to arm themselves secretly in order to be able to defend themselves from the invading hordes soon to invade them when they declared statehood.
So when the Israelis were building the kibbutz and landscaping the foundation with a bulldozer they built the underground bunker with intent to manufacture bullets. The construction took 3 weeks. (non union labor) The Ayalon Institute looked like a Kibbutz but it was one of many such underground weapons facilities. The location was close to a British railway depot.
As many as 42 workers labored underground from 1945 to 1948 beneath the laundry and the bakery, producing 14,000 9mm bullets per day for their sten guns, many which were also manufactured secretly.
When the British soldiers visited, the work shut down to avoid detection. The kibbutz workers responded by bringing the soldiers warm beer. They asked for cold beer; the hosts at the kibbutz suggested that if they would let them know when they were coming they would be glad to ice a few beers for them. That was the early warning system.
After working around the brass slivers of scrap from the shell casings they were careful to have the shoes cleaned thoroughly to avoid the smallest chance of a small piece of brass scrap attracting attention. There was one more problem; they were supposed to be farmers and laboring all day in the sun. Working underground it would be readily obvious that their pale skin would indicate otherwise.
So this enterprising group created probably one of the first known tanning salons in the hot underground factory; builiding a special light in a closet.
The Israelis have an ingenuity that is very American; there is nothing they can not do or overcome. Their commitment is their survival. The combination of ingenuity and commitment is how nations are built and how Israel won that war, and the wars that followed.
Today the Ayalon Institute Museum near Tel Aviv has restored the underground bullet factory and reminds us how nations are built.
Friday, April 20, 2007
A Canary in the Coal Mine
When I told folks in Macon I was going to Tel Aviv they acted like I was going to Bagdad. Tel Aviv is modern, secular, yet very Israeli. As I walked along the beach I could have been in Miami execpt this city is cleaner and safer. Beautiful modern hotels and condos line the beach. One of our travellers commented how her hair dresser wanted to know if there were bodies in the street in Jerusalem.
There are 340 members of the international press stationed in Jerusalem. Israel is the most reported country in the world yet the press has not given a very accurate picture of the country. Jerusalem is very different from Tel Aviv.
40 miles down the beach from Tel Aviv is the Gaza Strip. In the minds of the Israelis it could be 5,000 miles away; life is very normal. Life here, however, is not always so normal. There are modern scultures along certain streets that are memorials to civilians killed in bus bombings during the intifada. Stark reminders that if we do not stop this terrorist insanity over here, whether in Israel, Bagdad or elsewhere we will be building these memorials in the United States.
There are 340 members of the international press stationed in Jerusalem. Israel is the most reported country in the world yet the press has not given a very accurate picture of the country. Jerusalem is very different from Tel Aviv.
40 miles down the beach from Tel Aviv is the Gaza Strip. In the minds of the Israelis it could be 5,000 miles away; life is very normal. Life here, however, is not always so normal. There are modern scultures along certain streets that are memorials to civilians killed in bus bombings during the intifada. Stark reminders that if we do not stop this terrorist insanity over here, whether in Israel, Bagdad or elsewhere we will be building these memorials in the United States.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
From the Holocaust to Virginia Tech
There were 33 tragedies at Virginia Tech yesterday, this is the story of only one.
This is the week of Yom Hashoah when the victims of the holocaust are remembered. Liviu Librescu survived the Holocaust, but did not survive the shooting spree. He saved students' lives by blocking the doorway while they escaped. If you want to know about Librescu's work , Google his name and observe his contributions to engineering, science and math. There are over 3,000 entries documenting his technical and academic works.
It may make you wonder what contributions we missed from the six million we remember this week.
for more on the story on Librescu:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Virginia-Tech-World-Victims.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
This is the week of Yom Hashoah when the victims of the holocaust are remembered. Liviu Librescu survived the Holocaust, but did not survive the shooting spree. He saved students' lives by blocking the doorway while they escaped. If you want to know about Librescu's work , Google his name and observe his contributions to engineering, science and math. There are over 3,000 entries documenting his technical and academic works.
It may make you wonder what contributions we missed from the six million we remember this week.
for more on the story on Librescu:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Virginia-Tech-World-Victims.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Palestinians Murder Journalist,... Journalists boycott Israel..?
Help me with this logic:
A Palestinian group abducts and then murders BBC reporter Alan Johnston in Gaza.
The National Union of Journalists in Britain votes to boycott............ Israel.
What motivates journalists to take such a poltical stand and then claim to be objective or non biased in their reporting?
for the more on this story:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,2056882,00.html
and
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/foreign/tobyharnden/april07/savageisrael.htm
A Palestinian group abducts and then murders BBC reporter Alan Johnston in Gaza.
The National Union of Journalists in Britain votes to boycott............ Israel.
What motivates journalists to take such a poltical stand and then claim to be objective or non biased in their reporting?
for the more on this story:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,2056882,00.html
and
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/foreign/tobyharnden/april07/savageisrael.htm
Sunday, April 15, 2007
The Three Most Important Points to Understand about the Holocaust
by Henry Oliner
The Holocaust stands as a unique event in the history of western civilization, yet sometimes it seems as if few people other than the Jews really understand it. Some wonder why the Jews obsess on it and don’t ‘put it behind them’ and get on with their lives.
As we commemorate the victims of the holocaust during Yom Hashoah there are three main aspects of this event I wish every American and others in the global community would understand.
This was a unique event of biblical proportions. This is an event that is on the scale of the exodus from Egypt or the crucifixion of Jesus. It is epic in its nature and will be remembered for millennia.
This was not just a case of a one group of people murdering another or a tragic example of the casualties of war. This was a deliberate and meticulously organized campaign to deny a very specific group of people living in many countries the very right to exist anywhere. They were not destroyed to take their wealth though many took advantage of their misery. They were not destroyed to take their territory, and they were not destroyed for political differences. The Nazis and their many willing accomplices wanted them wiped off the face of the earth. This was a pure hatred deeper and wider than any we have ever seen.
This is distinctly different from the persecution of the American Indians, who were attacked or marginalized to take their land. It was different from the treatment of African slaves; we did not kidnap slaves from Africa to kill them but to use their labor like that of a common farm animal. Both policies were stains on our history and often brutal and inexcusably inhuman; but distinctly different. Millions of Cambodians were murdered by Pol Pot for political reasons, as were millions of victims of Stalin in Russia and Mao Tse Tong in China. The twentieth century saw a sickeningly high number of genocides, but the hatred behind the holocaust is unique.
The scale of this genocide was also unprecedented. One third of the entire population of the world’s Jews was destroyed. Nearly ten percent of Poland’s population, 5,000 villages ceased to exist. Of the six million slaughtered one and a half million were children.
The second essential point is that this hatred did not start with Hitler and it did not end with his defeat and death. For two thousand years the Catholic and Christian churches of Europe demonized, marginalized, and ostracized the Jews. In churches followers were taught to believe the most evil things conceivable about the Jews; they drank the blood of Christian children as a part of Jewish rituals, they ate excrement from animals, and they were sexual deviants, emissaries of the devil. They were pictured with horns and hideously ugly and sinister in the common works of art.
Politically, Europeans were taught that Jews were both evil and smart. They controlled the press, the banks and the schools. No one questioned how a group with no political power could do this, they just believed it. With this belief they could blame the Jews for all of their ills. Jews were blamed for the bubonic plague, World War One, the defeat of Germany, financial depressions, the rise of the Bolsheviks, the rise of capitalism and anything else that would take responsibility off anyone or any group who was actually responsible.
Jews were murdered by the Crusaders on the way to free the Holy Land, they were expelled from Spain in 1492, they were kept in ghettos by the Pope, and they were forced to convert or die hideous deaths during the Spanish Inquisition. In its early history when the Passion Play was performed it incited Christians to burn Jewish villages and murder Jews in their path.
In the Twentieth Century Henry Ford continued this anti Semitic legacy with a series in his newspaper, the Dearborn Independent, culminating in his famous issue, The International Jew. Henry Ford’s portrait hung in Adolph Hitler’s office.
The holocaust was not a unique invention of Hitler; this killing field had been nurtured and fertilized by the churches in Europe for two thousand years. Nor was this killing limited to Germany. In fact some of the most brutal and massive killings took place in Russia, Poland, Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia, as well as Italy and France. The "willing executioners" were common ordinary citizens in occupied territories taking delight in beating, burning, stabbing and shooting their Jewish neighbors: men women, children and infants. The Nazi soldiers often just gave them permission, and let the civilians willingly do their dirty work. Some Nazi soldiers were amazed at how brutal the locals could be.
If these details and events are new to you it tells you what is missing in our history curriculum, and what you may not have learned about the history of Christianity in Europe.
It did not end with Hitler. Even immediately after World War Two, the few survivors of the death camps were often murdered by the remaining inhabitants when they tried to return to their homes. Sadly, the anti Semitism taught to the youth in many of the Muslim nations of the Middle East today is even more violent and hate filled than that experienced before the Holocaust. Today’s anti Semitism in the Middle East would have made the Hitler youth blush.
The third and probably most important point is that it started with words. Ideas have consequences and when repeated enough by people with enough charisma, authority or power the results can be devastating. Whether the words come from published authors, political figures, journalists, intellectuals in our public institutions, or priests from our pulpits, words and ideas can instigate actions that can not be controlled.
Hitler and Henry Ford were both believers in the publication, “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” This proven forgery claims to have been based on secret Jewish documents on their plans to control the media, the universities, the banks, and shows how they planned to manipulate everything to enslave the world for their own selfish power. It amazes me how anyone can believe such obviously forged ignorance, but such hatred does not need a reason; it only needs an excuse. The Protocols became the basis for the anti Semitic ravings in Mein Kampf and Henry Ford’s the International Jew. And today it is widely distributed and believed in almost every Muslim Country in the Middle East.
This is why the words of Iranian President Ahmadinejad and so many others, whether on the campuses of our universities, or on the floor of the United Nations, or from school yard bullies can not be ignored. Our memory is still fresh with the consequences of hateful words and ideas allowed to grow unchallenged.
As the survivors and witnesses to the madness of the holocaust pass on it is critical that this event be remembered. This is why the numerous Holocaust memorials are critical and remembrances such as Yom Hashoah are necessary. In Israel, during the commemoration, they actually read out the name of every holocaust victim publicly out loud: ALL SIX MILLION NAMES.
We do not want to ‘put this behind us’. We want everyone to know about it and all of its ugly details so that it will never happen again. Never Again.
The Holocaust stands as a unique event in the history of western civilization, yet sometimes it seems as if few people other than the Jews really understand it. Some wonder why the Jews obsess on it and don’t ‘put it behind them’ and get on with their lives.
As we commemorate the victims of the holocaust during Yom Hashoah there are three main aspects of this event I wish every American and others in the global community would understand.
This was a unique event of biblical proportions. This is an event that is on the scale of the exodus from Egypt or the crucifixion of Jesus. It is epic in its nature and will be remembered for millennia.
This was not just a case of a one group of people murdering another or a tragic example of the casualties of war. This was a deliberate and meticulously organized campaign to deny a very specific group of people living in many countries the very right to exist anywhere. They were not destroyed to take their wealth though many took advantage of their misery. They were not destroyed to take their territory, and they were not destroyed for political differences. The Nazis and their many willing accomplices wanted them wiped off the face of the earth. This was a pure hatred deeper and wider than any we have ever seen.
This is distinctly different from the persecution of the American Indians, who were attacked or marginalized to take their land. It was different from the treatment of African slaves; we did not kidnap slaves from Africa to kill them but to use their labor like that of a common farm animal. Both policies were stains on our history and often brutal and inexcusably inhuman; but distinctly different. Millions of Cambodians were murdered by Pol Pot for political reasons, as were millions of victims of Stalin in Russia and Mao Tse Tong in China. The twentieth century saw a sickeningly high number of genocides, but the hatred behind the holocaust is unique.
The scale of this genocide was also unprecedented. One third of the entire population of the world’s Jews was destroyed. Nearly ten percent of Poland’s population, 5,000 villages ceased to exist. Of the six million slaughtered one and a half million were children.
The second essential point is that this hatred did not start with Hitler and it did not end with his defeat and death. For two thousand years the Catholic and Christian churches of Europe demonized, marginalized, and ostracized the Jews. In churches followers were taught to believe the most evil things conceivable about the Jews; they drank the blood of Christian children as a part of Jewish rituals, they ate excrement from animals, and they were sexual deviants, emissaries of the devil. They were pictured with horns and hideously ugly and sinister in the common works of art.
Politically, Europeans were taught that Jews were both evil and smart. They controlled the press, the banks and the schools. No one questioned how a group with no political power could do this, they just believed it. With this belief they could blame the Jews for all of their ills. Jews were blamed for the bubonic plague, World War One, the defeat of Germany, financial depressions, the rise of the Bolsheviks, the rise of capitalism and anything else that would take responsibility off anyone or any group who was actually responsible.
Jews were murdered by the Crusaders on the way to free the Holy Land, they were expelled from Spain in 1492, they were kept in ghettos by the Pope, and they were forced to convert or die hideous deaths during the Spanish Inquisition. In its early history when the Passion Play was performed it incited Christians to burn Jewish villages and murder Jews in their path.
In the Twentieth Century Henry Ford continued this anti Semitic legacy with a series in his newspaper, the Dearborn Independent, culminating in his famous issue, The International Jew. Henry Ford’s portrait hung in Adolph Hitler’s office.
The holocaust was not a unique invention of Hitler; this killing field had been nurtured and fertilized by the churches in Europe for two thousand years. Nor was this killing limited to Germany. In fact some of the most brutal and massive killings took place in Russia, Poland, Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia, as well as Italy and France. The "willing executioners" were common ordinary citizens in occupied territories taking delight in beating, burning, stabbing and shooting their Jewish neighbors: men women, children and infants. The Nazi soldiers often just gave them permission, and let the civilians willingly do their dirty work. Some Nazi soldiers were amazed at how brutal the locals could be.
If these details and events are new to you it tells you what is missing in our history curriculum, and what you may not have learned about the history of Christianity in Europe.
It did not end with Hitler. Even immediately after World War Two, the few survivors of the death camps were often murdered by the remaining inhabitants when they tried to return to their homes. Sadly, the anti Semitism taught to the youth in many of the Muslim nations of the Middle East today is even more violent and hate filled than that experienced before the Holocaust. Today’s anti Semitism in the Middle East would have made the Hitler youth blush.
The third and probably most important point is that it started with words. Ideas have consequences and when repeated enough by people with enough charisma, authority or power the results can be devastating. Whether the words come from published authors, political figures, journalists, intellectuals in our public institutions, or priests from our pulpits, words and ideas can instigate actions that can not be controlled.
Hitler and Henry Ford were both believers in the publication, “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” This proven forgery claims to have been based on secret Jewish documents on their plans to control the media, the universities, the banks, and shows how they planned to manipulate everything to enslave the world for their own selfish power. It amazes me how anyone can believe such obviously forged ignorance, but such hatred does not need a reason; it only needs an excuse. The Protocols became the basis for the anti Semitic ravings in Mein Kampf and Henry Ford’s the International Jew. And today it is widely distributed and believed in almost every Muslim Country in the Middle East.
This is why the words of Iranian President Ahmadinejad and so many others, whether on the campuses of our universities, or on the floor of the United Nations, or from school yard bullies can not be ignored. Our memory is still fresh with the consequences of hateful words and ideas allowed to grow unchallenged.
As the survivors and witnesses to the madness of the holocaust pass on it is critical that this event be remembered. This is why the numerous Holocaust memorials are critical and remembrances such as Yom Hashoah are necessary. In Israel, during the commemoration, they actually read out the name of every holocaust victim publicly out loud: ALL SIX MILLION NAMES.
We do not want to ‘put this behind us’. We want everyone to know about it and all of its ugly details so that it will never happen again. Never Again.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Humility does exist in Politics- Fred Thompson and Highway 43
as noted in www.Redstate.com
April 2, 2007
The Honorable Joey HensleyNashville, TN 37243
Dear Joey,
I read where the naming of a segment of U.S. Highway 43 in Lawrenceburg after me is under consideration. I cannot blame anybody if there is hesitation to name another thing for another politician or former politician. But I must say that I am very appreciative of my friends in Lawrenceburg and Lawrence County who originally had this idea. The fact that they would want to do this is more important to me than the naming itself. My daddy’s car lot was on that stretch of road, so it’s special to me, but the fact is that I didn’t build it and I didn’t pay for it. The taxpayers did. So it is entirely appropriate that it remain U.S. Highway 43 the way I remember it when I was a boy. Therefore, I would request that you thank my friends and withdraw the naming bill.
I really appreciate your work on this and the great job you are doing for our people. All the best to you and your colleagues.
Sincerely.
Fred Thompson
The hubris of all the polticians who take our money and then accept honors in their own name has infuriated me for decades.
-HKO
April 2, 2007
The Honorable Joey HensleyNashville, TN 37243
Dear Joey,
I read where the naming of a segment of U.S. Highway 43 in Lawrenceburg after me is under consideration. I cannot blame anybody if there is hesitation to name another thing for another politician or former politician. But I must say that I am very appreciative of my friends in Lawrenceburg and Lawrence County who originally had this idea. The fact that they would want to do this is more important to me than the naming itself. My daddy’s car lot was on that stretch of road, so it’s special to me, but the fact is that I didn’t build it and I didn’t pay for it. The taxpayers did. So it is entirely appropriate that it remain U.S. Highway 43 the way I remember it when I was a boy. Therefore, I would request that you thank my friends and withdraw the naming bill.
I really appreciate your work on this and the great job you are doing for our people. All the best to you and your colleagues.
Sincerely.
Fred Thompson
The hubris of all the polticians who take our money and then accept honors in their own name has infuriated me for decades.
-HKO
Still rejecting the obvious.. The Tax Cuts Worked
Remember the shrill warnings during the early Bush years from the likes of Paul Krugman and others on the disaster looming with Bush's "tax cuts for the rich?" In spite of the obvious success of the Bush Tax Policy in the midst of Katrina, the expensive wars in the Middle East, 911, and the aftermath of the Enron and Worldcom meltdowns, they never admitted they were wrong and still shriek about the need to undo the Bush tax cut.
Fred (We hope he will run..) Thompson gets it and explains it as simply as it can be stated in this OpinionJournal article:
The results of the experiment that began when Congress passed a series of tax-rate cuts in 2001 and 2003 are in. Supporters of those cuts said they would stimulate the economy.
Opponents predicted ever-increasing budget deficits and national bankruptcy unless tax rates were increased, especially on the wealthy.
In fact, Treasury statistics show that tax revenues have soared and the budget deficit has been shrinking faster than even the optimists projected. Since the first tax cuts were passed, when I was in the Senate, the budget deficit has been cut in half.
Remarkably, this has happened despite the financial trauma of 9/11 and the cost of the War on Terror. The deficit, compared to the entire economy, is well below the average for the last 35 years and, at this rate, the budget will be in surplus by 2010.
Perhaps the most fascinating thing about this success story is where the increased revenues are coming from. Critics claimed that across-the-board tax cuts were some sort of gift to the rich but, on the contrary, the wealthy are paying a greater percentage of the national bill than ever before.
for the rest of Fred Thompson's article, "Case Closed" :
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009940
Fred (We hope he will run..) Thompson gets it and explains it as simply as it can be stated in this OpinionJournal article:
The results of the experiment that began when Congress passed a series of tax-rate cuts in 2001 and 2003 are in. Supporters of those cuts said they would stimulate the economy.
Opponents predicted ever-increasing budget deficits and national bankruptcy unless tax rates were increased, especially on the wealthy.
In fact, Treasury statistics show that tax revenues have soared and the budget deficit has been shrinking faster than even the optimists projected. Since the first tax cuts were passed, when I was in the Senate, the budget deficit has been cut in half.
Remarkably, this has happened despite the financial trauma of 9/11 and the cost of the War on Terror. The deficit, compared to the entire economy, is well below the average for the last 35 years and, at this rate, the budget will be in surplus by 2010.
Perhaps the most fascinating thing about this success story is where the increased revenues are coming from. Critics claimed that across-the-board tax cuts were some sort of gift to the rich but, on the contrary, the wealthy are paying a greater percentage of the national bill than ever before.
for the rest of Fred Thompson's article, "Case Closed" :
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009940
Friday, April 13, 2007
Silver Bullets and Real Solutions
from Caroline Glick at the Jerusalem Post
The Americans pushed for elections in the hopes of finding a silver bullet that would instantly solve the problem of tyranny in the Arab world. But in their rush, the Americans trampled the very liberal democrats they sought to empower.
By pushing fast elections, the US entrapped itself. It inadvertently empowered its enemies and so was unable to embrace the duly elected governments. In opposing the forces it expended so much energy getting elected, the US was perceived as weak, foolish and hypocritical.
THE FACT of the matter is that the Americans are capable of learning from their mistakes. This week, the commander of US forces in Iraq General David Petraeus published a letter to the Iraqi people ahead of the fourth anniversary of Baghdad's fall. In it, he discussed the anti-American rallies that Sadr organized from Iran.
As Petraeus put it, "On this April 9th, some Iraqis reportedly may demonstrate against the coalition force presence in Iraq. That is their right in the new Iraq. It would only be fair, however, to note that they will be able to exercise that right because coalition forces liberated them from a tyrannical, barbaric regime that never would have permitted such freedom of expression."
In the end, the protests were ill attended. Now Sadr is whining that he will pull his support for the government as US forces destroy his militia in Diwaniyah and daily release information about Iranian support for the insurgency.
The success the US is now experiencing in Iraq is the result of a process of identifying and correcting mistakes. If such learning could take place regarding the US's regional strategy, there is every reason to believe that it will contend successfully with Iran and the Arab world. But to correct mistakes it is first necessary to recognize them.
The US is not failing to contend with Iran because it went to war in Iraq. It is failing because it is implementing policies that prefer imaginary silver bullets to real solutions for real problems.
There are no shortcuts in this war. But victory is still waiting at the end of the long and difficult road.
for the rest of the editorial
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=3&cid=1176152783695&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
The Americans pushed for elections in the hopes of finding a silver bullet that would instantly solve the problem of tyranny in the Arab world. But in their rush, the Americans trampled the very liberal democrats they sought to empower.
By pushing fast elections, the US entrapped itself. It inadvertently empowered its enemies and so was unable to embrace the duly elected governments. In opposing the forces it expended so much energy getting elected, the US was perceived as weak, foolish and hypocritical.
THE FACT of the matter is that the Americans are capable of learning from their mistakes. This week, the commander of US forces in Iraq General David Petraeus published a letter to the Iraqi people ahead of the fourth anniversary of Baghdad's fall. In it, he discussed the anti-American rallies that Sadr organized from Iran.
As Petraeus put it, "On this April 9th, some Iraqis reportedly may demonstrate against the coalition force presence in Iraq. That is their right in the new Iraq. It would only be fair, however, to note that they will be able to exercise that right because coalition forces liberated them from a tyrannical, barbaric regime that never would have permitted such freedom of expression."
In the end, the protests were ill attended. Now Sadr is whining that he will pull his support for the government as US forces destroy his militia in Diwaniyah and daily release information about Iranian support for the insurgency.
The success the US is now experiencing in Iraq is the result of a process of identifying and correcting mistakes. If such learning could take place regarding the US's regional strategy, there is every reason to believe that it will contend successfully with Iran and the Arab world. But to correct mistakes it is first necessary to recognize them.
The US is not failing to contend with Iran because it went to war in Iraq. It is failing because it is implementing policies that prefer imaginary silver bullets to real solutions for real problems.
There are no shortcuts in this war. But victory is still waiting at the end of the long and difficult road.
for the rest of the editorial
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=3&cid=1176152783695&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Lieberman notes ...something profoundly wrong
Senator Lieberman said:
There is something profoundly wrong when opposition to the war in Iraq seems to inspire greater passion than opposition to Islamist extremism.
There is something profoundly wrong when there is so much distrust of our intelligence community that some Americans doubt the plain and ominous facts about the threat to us posed by Iran.
And there is something profoundly wrong when, in the face of attacks by radical Islam, we think we can find safety and stability by pulling back, by talking to and accommodating our enemies, and abandoning our friends and allies.
...this wrong-headed thinking about the world is happening because we're in a political climate where, for many people, when George Bush says "yes," their reflex reaction is to say "no."
That is unacceptable.
There is something profoundly wrong when opposition to the war in Iraq seems to inspire greater passion than opposition to Islamist extremism.
There is something profoundly wrong when there is so much distrust of our intelligence community that some Americans doubt the plain and ominous facts about the threat to us posed by Iran.
And there is something profoundly wrong when, in the face of attacks by radical Islam, we think we can find safety and stability by pulling back, by talking to and accommodating our enemies, and abandoning our friends and allies.
...this wrong-headed thinking about the world is happening because we're in a political climate where, for many people, when George Bush says "yes," their reflex reaction is to say "no."
That is unacceptable.
Kim Jong has No Dong
Kim Jong-il has No Dong. Please, no giggling. It’s not a side effect of the counterfeit Viagra that North Korea manufactures (seriously). No Dong is the name of his missile system. “Dong” is Korean for “dong,” and “no” is Korean for “big swinging,” and that’s how Kim Jong-il sees himself on the freelance nuke scene. Anyway, on the Glorious Fourth, he decided to test the latest version of his No Dong. That’s a “test” in the sense that I test my new shotgun by firing it through your kitchen window and seeing if it penetrates in the living room.”
from America Alone by Mark Steyn
from America Alone by Mark Steyn
The Other Refugees
The Daily Telegraph of the UK has been ahead of the pack in reporting on events in Lebanon. Last August, its correspondents were among the first to report on Hezbollah's efforts to conceal its casualties in the summer conflict with Israel. Recently, on March 31, the paper carried a piece revealing the large scale emigration of Christians from Lebanon since the war last summer.
According to the article, "Rise in radical Islam last straw for Lebanon's Christians" by Michael Hirst, 60,000 Christians have already left Lebanon in the last several months. Even more alarming, Hirst reports that half of the Maronite community, Lebanon's main Christian denomination, are considering leaving.
Those who have left just since last summer represent about 7% of the Lebanese Christian population. If the current rate of emigration continues, Lebanon will be almost emptied of Christians in about a decade. The situation of the Christians in Lebanon mirrors the tenuous circumstances of the Christians in the West Bank whose population has continued to dwindle since the Islamist Hamas government was voted into power.
from:
http://blog.camera.org/
According to the article, "Rise in radical Islam last straw for Lebanon's Christians" by Michael Hirst, 60,000 Christians have already left Lebanon in the last several months. Even more alarming, Hirst reports that half of the Maronite community, Lebanon's main Christian denomination, are considering leaving.
Those who have left just since last summer represent about 7% of the Lebanese Christian population. If the current rate of emigration continues, Lebanon will be almost emptied of Christians in about a decade. The situation of the Christians in Lebanon mirrors the tenuous circumstances of the Christians in the West Bank whose population has continued to dwindle since the Islamist Hamas government was voted into power.
from:
http://blog.camera.org/
Ready to Meet with Anyone except....
After the smashing success of their Syrian jaunt, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Tom Lantos are considering another trip--"to open a dialogue with Iran," the San Francisco Chronicle reports:
"Speaking just for myself, I would be ready to get on a plane tomorrow morning, because however objectionable, unfair and inaccurate many of (Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's) statements are, it is important that we have a dialogue with him,'' Lantos said. "Speaking for myself, I'm ready to go--and knowing the speaker, I think that she might be.''
Still, the Democrats have their limits. The Chronicle reports that there is one world leader with whom congressional Democrats are unwilling to hold an unconditional dialogue:
President Bush, raising the political stakes in his fight with Congress over the war in Iraq, made Democratic leaders an offer they could and did refuse--come to the White House to accept his demand for continued, unfettered funding of the war.
"We can discuss the way forward on a bill that is a clean bill: a bill that funds our troops without artificial timetables for withdrawal, and without handcuffing our generals on the ground," the president said of the fight over the emergency war spending legislation.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, speaking Tuesday at a news conference in San Francisco, forcefully rejected Bush's invitation--as had Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada several hours earlier at a Capitol appearance.
for the rest of the story:
http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110009927
"Speaking just for myself, I would be ready to get on a plane tomorrow morning, because however objectionable, unfair and inaccurate many of (Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's) statements are, it is important that we have a dialogue with him,'' Lantos said. "Speaking for myself, I'm ready to go--and knowing the speaker, I think that she might be.''
Still, the Democrats have their limits. The Chronicle reports that there is one world leader with whom congressional Democrats are unwilling to hold an unconditional dialogue:
President Bush, raising the political stakes in his fight with Congress over the war in Iraq, made Democratic leaders an offer they could and did refuse--come to the White House to accept his demand for continued, unfettered funding of the war.
"We can discuss the way forward on a bill that is a clean bill: a bill that funds our troops without artificial timetables for withdrawal, and without handcuffing our generals on the ground," the president said of the fight over the emergency war spending legislation.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, speaking Tuesday at a news conference in San Francisco, forcefully rejected Bush's invitation--as had Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada several hours earlier at a Capitol appearance.
for the rest of the story:
http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110009927
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
It’s all Angelina Jolie’s fault!
The wisdom of Ralph Peters
The Dems on Capitol Hill pretend that setting a deadline for a troop withdrawal won’t even have serious consequences in Iraq. Yet the reverberations are already ringing through the entire region. Not only do Iran’s worst fanatics feel emboldened, but the Saudis whom President Bush has been trying to hug anew treat us like beggars.
Speaking to the assembled leaders of the Arab world this week, King Abdullah declared that the U.S. troop presence in Iraq is “illegitimate.” Abdullah also dragged out the Palestinian issue again, damning Israel. Of course, the Saudis have always been willing to fight to the last Palestinian, while keeping the people of the West Bank and Gaza on starvation rations.
Saudi money’s always available to spread hatred, but not to build world-class universities, hospitals or industries for the Palestinians.
For good measure, our pal Abdullah deplored the violence in Darfur - for which he blamed “foreign interests,” suggesting that the aid agencies and international observers, not the Khartoum government, are to blame for the ongoing genocide. (It’s all Angelina Jolie’s fault!) Meanwhile, the Egyptian regime is reinforcing its despotism, while Syria’s looking at Lebanon and salivating again.
Back in Iraq, the Dems’ “Contract With al Qaeda” undercuts the progress our troops have been making since the arrival of Gen. David Petraeus (the Dems tossed him the keys to the car, but won’t give him money for gas). For all too many politicians, our 2008 elections are more important than the fate of our soldiers or the Iraqi people.
They’re doing all they can to guarantee failure. After a year of tragic setbacks, our new tactics in Iraq have brought real signs of progress. Ultimately, of course, that progress may come to nothing. Sunni assassins may succeed in reinvigorating the religious war with the Shia - who’ve behaved with restraint for the past few months.
Success is never guaranteed in any war.
But that’s no reason to guarantee failure. Threatening to cut off funding for our troops is simply despicable.
for the rest of the story...
http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/print.php?url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/03302007/postopinion/opedcolumnists/inviting_attack_opedcolumnists_ralph_peters.htm
The Dems on Capitol Hill pretend that setting a deadline for a troop withdrawal won’t even have serious consequences in Iraq. Yet the reverberations are already ringing through the entire region. Not only do Iran’s worst fanatics feel emboldened, but the Saudis whom President Bush has been trying to hug anew treat us like beggars.
Speaking to the assembled leaders of the Arab world this week, King Abdullah declared that the U.S. troop presence in Iraq is “illegitimate.” Abdullah also dragged out the Palestinian issue again, damning Israel. Of course, the Saudis have always been willing to fight to the last Palestinian, while keeping the people of the West Bank and Gaza on starvation rations.
Saudi money’s always available to spread hatred, but not to build world-class universities, hospitals or industries for the Palestinians.
For good measure, our pal Abdullah deplored the violence in Darfur - for which he blamed “foreign interests,” suggesting that the aid agencies and international observers, not the Khartoum government, are to blame for the ongoing genocide. (It’s all Angelina Jolie’s fault!) Meanwhile, the Egyptian regime is reinforcing its despotism, while Syria’s looking at Lebanon and salivating again.
Back in Iraq, the Dems’ “Contract With al Qaeda” undercuts the progress our troops have been making since the arrival of Gen. David Petraeus (the Dems tossed him the keys to the car, but won’t give him money for gas). For all too many politicians, our 2008 elections are more important than the fate of our soldiers or the Iraqi people.
They’re doing all they can to guarantee failure. After a year of tragic setbacks, our new tactics in Iraq have brought real signs of progress. Ultimately, of course, that progress may come to nothing. Sunni assassins may succeed in reinvigorating the religious war with the Shia - who’ve behaved with restraint for the past few months.
Success is never guaranteed in any war.
But that’s no reason to guarantee failure. Threatening to cut off funding for our troops is simply despicable.
for the rest of the story...
http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/print.php?url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/03302007/postopinion/opedcolumnists/inviting_attack_opedcolumnists_ralph_peters.htm
Who's afraid of Marwan Barghouti?
By demanding the release of jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti in return for IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, Hamas has succeeded in creating turmoil among the Fatah top brass in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Some Fatah leaders are not only concerned that such a move would boost Hamas's popularity on the street and even among Fatah cadres, but that Barghouti, once free, would pose a threat to their position.
Barghouti, a prominent representative of the Fatah's "young guard," was once regarded by Yasser Arafat and his veteran colleagues as a troublemaker.
Some of Barghouti's associates are convinced that his arrest by the IDF was part of a plot by Arafat's closest allies. They argue that Arafat wanted to get rid of Barghouti because of his rising popularity and his recurring criticism of corruption and mismanagement.
for the rest of the story
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1176152766662&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
Some Fatah leaders are not only concerned that such a move would boost Hamas's popularity on the street and even among Fatah cadres, but that Barghouti, once free, would pose a threat to their position.
Barghouti, a prominent representative of the Fatah's "young guard," was once regarded by Yasser Arafat and his veteran colleagues as a troublemaker.
Some of Barghouti's associates are convinced that his arrest by the IDF was part of a plot by Arafat's closest allies. They argue that Arafat wanted to get rid of Barghouti because of his rising popularity and his recurring criticism of corruption and mismanagement.
for the rest of the story
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1176152766662&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Will the Democrats Pull Out from Iraq?
The posturing about a date specific pullout is a bone thrown to the anti war fringe. The Democratic leaders know it would be vetoed, and they also know it is not practical. When faced with the practicalities and the likely outcome they will most probably do what the sitting president is doing.
We have two experiences to draw from. We withdrew from Viet Nam because the moral supremecists thought the war could not get any worse. Against the warnings of Gerald Ford of the likely cost of such a power vacuum, we left- dangling from the helicopters. Pol Pot was left unapposed and our legacy was the killing fields of Cambodia, a genocide with over two million dead. I can not recall any of the moral supremecists demanding our abandonment take any responsibility for the slaughter.
Before Viet Nam we had Korea. A quick victory, an intelligence failure (the Chinese DID enter the war), bogged down, a new General - Matthew Ridgeway, replacing the failed and insolent McArthur, and a President deemed ignorant and incapable with record low poll numbers. Sound familiar?
But we fought to an agreement even if it was not total victory, and fifty years later we still have troops on the ground. Was that a victory? Many would say no, but the free factory worker making Kias in Seoul may disagree, and so would the millions who were not left to a slaughter as we did in Southeast Asia.
Which model would you pick for Iraq? A date specific pullout would make Pol Pot's antics look like a weekend boating accident. A troop presence for some time is the likely scenario and the Democrats know it. Victory in our conflicts in the future may not be clean and absolute, but will likely be the most desirable from a menu of undesirable options.
Henry Oliner 4/10/07
We have two experiences to draw from. We withdrew from Viet Nam because the moral supremecists thought the war could not get any worse. Against the warnings of Gerald Ford of the likely cost of such a power vacuum, we left- dangling from the helicopters. Pol Pot was left unapposed and our legacy was the killing fields of Cambodia, a genocide with over two million dead. I can not recall any of the moral supremecists demanding our abandonment take any responsibility for the slaughter.
Before Viet Nam we had Korea. A quick victory, an intelligence failure (the Chinese DID enter the war), bogged down, a new General - Matthew Ridgeway, replacing the failed and insolent McArthur, and a President deemed ignorant and incapable with record low poll numbers. Sound familiar?
But we fought to an agreement even if it was not total victory, and fifty years later we still have troops on the ground. Was that a victory? Many would say no, but the free factory worker making Kias in Seoul may disagree, and so would the millions who were not left to a slaughter as we did in Southeast Asia.
Which model would you pick for Iraq? A date specific pullout would make Pol Pot's antics look like a weekend boating accident. A troop presence for some time is the likely scenario and the Democrats know it. Victory in our conflicts in the future may not be clean and absolute, but will likely be the most desirable from a menu of undesirable options.
Henry Oliner 4/10/07
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