Comments on reads 2/29

'19% of Israelis support non-US-backed Iran strike'

Poll finds vast majority of Israelis against unilateral military strike on Iran, Israeli Jews prefer Obama over all republican rivals.

FP: Sounds like check and mate for Israel and Jews.

 

KHALED ABU TOAMEH: Abbas condemns IDF raid of Ramallah TV stations

IDF says raid was prompted by the stations' use of unauthorized frequencies, which endanger flight routes over Ben Gurion Airport.

FP: When Israel released the hunger striking Hamas terrorist to avoid Palestinian violence I predicted more hunger strikes, which materialized like clockwork. Don’t be surprised if terrorists will use this method to cause trouble at the airport.

 

Bill Katz: NEW IRAN POLICY COMING?

It may be election-year politics, but there is talk, reported by the Wall Street Journal, that President Obama may revise his Iran policy, which clearly is not having the intended effect...stopping Tehran's nuclear program…

However, in this case I think [Netanyahu] has a point, and that listening to him would advance the American interest as well as the Israeli interest.  You don't get anywhere with a regime like Iran's by showing weakness, or undercutting the argument for a military strike against Iran's nuclear program.  You want Iran to fear us, not love us.  And yet, administration figures have, on virtually every available occasion, played down the possibility of a military strike.  They run constantly to Israel to beg the Israelis not to hit the Iranian program. 

Why do they do this?  Apparently, they think it makes Washington look even-tempered and rational, and they want to show a contrast with George W. Bush.

But it's getting us nowhere.   Instead of disparaging the idea of an Israeli strike, we should be dangling it out there, almost sending the message that, "Gee, we can't control these crazy Israelis.  You know, they may just have to do it."

There is a theory in strategic studies called "the rationality of irrationality."  It holds that if you act somewhat irrationally, you increase your perceived power over an enemy.  The enemy becomes frightened by your "irrational" behavior, and is more likely to come to terms.

During the Vietnam War, one of my mentors, the strategist Herman Kahn, suggested, only partially tongue-in-cheek, that we drop ping-pong balls on Hanoi.  He reasoned that the Communists would say, "These people are crazy.  Do we want to risk everything by fighting crazy, irrational people?"  The point he was making was that "irrationality," pursued rationally, is an effective tool.

A tougher, more Bushian policy, might just convince the Iranian leaders that they themselves may die if they continue on their current course.  If they get the bomb in the face of American efforts to stop them through sanctions alone, it will mark a terrible setback for American foreign policy.

FP: This is the “crazy state” theory that I have been advocating for Israel. It looks, though, that it’s the Iranians that are playing this game, deterring the US and the West. The problem is that once you signal weakness for an extended period in the face of provocations and disregard, it is very difficult is not impossible to shift gears and play crazy. It’s not that hard for the Iranians to know that if you want to avoid war at all costs you’re vulnerable. It’s the Blackmailer’s Paradox game that the Palestinians are playing with Israel quite effectively.

By the way, undermining the motivation of a voluntary military does not exactly help overcome weakness, nor does convince enemies you’re serious:

President Obama is trying to cut the health care for American troops and military retirees.  This is completely outrageous, and Congress must stop it…

The disparity in treatment between civilian and uniformed personnel is causing a backlash within the military that could undermine recruitment and retention.

Israel, US aim to present united front on Iran ahead of summit

Washington and Jerusalem work on joint statement to be issued after next week’s meeting between Netanyahu and Obama • Wall Street Journal reports the White House is considering “more forcefully outlining potential military actions” against Iran.

FP: Not an iota of credibility. And whatever Obama agrees to say for electoral purposes, Israel should not for a moment believe it either.

 

Israel Matzav: Knesset Law Committee Chairman calls for removal of 'Israeli Arab' judge who would not sing national anthem

Knesset Law Committee Chairman David Rotem has called for the removal of 'Israeli Arab' Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran after Joubran refused to participate in singing Israel's National Anthem at the conclusion of the installation ceremony for new Supreme Court Chief Justice Asher Grunis. Joubran's silence was shown on live television by Israel's Channel 2 (I have not found the video yet) according to Israel Radio.

FP: More evidence that the surveys that show Israeli Arabs’ preference for Israel to a Palestinian state obscure reality. The illusion that equality brings loyalty to the country should end.

 

Haim Shine: Menachem Begin’s legacy

During these times of deficient leadership, it is important to remember that another model exists – one of commitment to the public good that surpasses personal benefit, one guided by vision and not public opinion polls.

FP: Indeed, and Israel is in its current predicament not in small part due to its crisis of leadership. With Begin ended a generation of leaders that gave way to a generation of politicians. Crises without leadership are lethal and often fatal. I mean, just consider the West.

 

Ultra-Orthodox say they won’t be drafted into IDF

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be forced to choose between the religious and secular parties in his coalition as the former claim they will oppose any law forcing ultra-Orthodox youth to serve in the IDF.

FP: This problem should have been eliminated early, not allowed to develop into a potential for civil war at the least desirable time for Israel. Just another strategic blunder. Unfortunately, there is no leader with sufficient balls to take on the religious camp today.

 

PowerLine: Stimulating Lawyers’ Incomes

As a lawyer, I am generally happy to see my fellow lawyers make money. But do they really need help from the government to do it, in the form of “stimulus” payments? I didn’t think my opinion of Obama’s “stimulus” program could fall any lower until I saw this:

An international law firm, which gave substantial political donations to President Obama and fellow Democrats over the last three campaign cycles, received its own significant stimulus award to advise on a controversial Department of Energy loan transaction with a struggling electric vehicle manufacturer.

The firm, Debevoise & Plimpton LLC, received $1,842,180 in Recovery Act funds to provide legal advice, conduct due diligence, and review documents for two loans from DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program.

Did you have any idea that stimulus money was going to Wall Street law firms? I didn’t. This appears to be another example of the Obama administration’s corrupt cronyism in action:

According to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, employees of the law firm gave $199,944 to Sen. Barack Obama for his 2008 presidential campaign, compared to $9,650 for Republican nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Over the last three congressional election cycles (two cycles for the presidency, including this year), Debevoise staff members have donated $746,535 to Democrat candidates and political committees, including $284,420 to the Obama campaign. In contrast, Republican candidates and their support groups received $57,451 from employees of the law firm. Debevoise’s media relations manager, Suzanne Elio, is a former Democratic National Committee fundraiser, and top lawyer David Rivkin reportedly served on President Obama’s National Finance Committee, even hosting a fundraiser for presidential candidate Obama in his home in 2007.

As of 2010, the average Debevoise partner earned $2.06 million. I don’t begrudge them a penny of it, but in a sane world does the federal government pay them $1.8 million to facilitate an unbelievably stupid and corrupt waste of taxpayer money? And then call it a “stimulus?” I don’t think so.

FP: The kleptocracy of the corporate welfare state and crony capitalism at work. For an example of a source of funds to sustain the system, see next.

 

President Obama's Dangerous New Medical Board

The IPAB is to be composed of 15 appointed officials who will have the authority to make cuts in Medicare payments if per capita spending exceeds defined targeted rates. The U.S. Constitution gives the power of the purse to Congress so that elected representatives can be accountable to the voters for their decisions. The IPAB would turn this principle upside down.

In creating the IPAB, the president and Democrats in Congress wanted to take difficult decisions about cutting spending on Medicare out of the legislative process. In so doing, they gave unprecedented authority to unelected experts to make Medicare payment policy involving hundreds of billions of dollars and impacting tens of millions of seniors.

The power is unprecedented because there is to be no judicial, administrative, or realistically, congressional review over its decisions. IPAB is supposed to take decisions outside the political arena so they are made by people less likely to feel the tug of popular opinion.

 

Debbie Schlussel: Oy Frickin’ Vey: Israeli Prez Shimon Peres on Yenta Hag-Fest, “The View”

I’d like to know which teepshee [Hebrew for dummy] at Israel’s Ministry of Public Affairs agreed to book 89-year-old left-wing Israeli President Shimon Peres on ABC’s pro-Muslim yenta hag-fest, “The View,” this morning.

There’s another Hebrew word I have in mind that the Israelis apparently did not:  hasbarah.  It has several meanings, primarily public relations or public diplomacy.  But it can also mean propaganda.  Peres’ appearance on “The View,” this morning did neither.

Baba Wawa thankfully spared us her fellow co-airheads on the show and chose to question Peres–the architect of every failed, murderous “peace” deal Israel has ever had, including the disastrous Oslo Accords–by herself.  Peres, as he always does, spoke with a thick accent and wasn’t too sharp.  He’s no Binyamin Netanyahu in the speech department.  But Netanyahu (whose party is in power, NOT Peres’ Labor Party) is smart enough never to go on this show watched mostly by ditzes, welfare queens, and gay stay-at-home dads. He knows in advance that Wawa will be tougher on him than she is on terrorist host and human rights abuser Bashar Assad.  It’s truly a new low for Israel, and I thank G-d that HRHSBotU [Her Royal Highness Supreme Being of the Universe] Oprah’s daytime show is now off the air.

…

Attention, Israel:  stay away from moronic ABC personalities who brag about their Fourth of July vacations with the leader of Syria.  It might be a hint.

FP: A collapsed US media and an an Israel with a suicidal wish—a partnership made in heaven.

 

Travel warning: 'Obnoxious’ Israeli backpackers a hazard in Chile

According to Lonely Planet’s new Chile edition, Israelis are listed among the hazards visitors can expect to encounter in the South American country, alongside volcano eruptions, earthquakes, high crime rates in some cities and sandflies.

FP: Sons of apes and pigs, no doubt.

Comments on 2/27

Martin Kramer

Dersh: "What would Harvard do if right wing students and faculty decided to convene a conference on the topic, 'Are the Palestinians Really a People?' and invited as speakers only hard right academics who answered that question in the negative? Would the provost office help fund such a conference? Would the Kennedy School grant it legitimacy by hosting it? Would the Carr or Weatherhead Center support it?" Harvard's Anti-Israel Hate Fest Demands Scrutiny by Alan Dershowitz | Newsmax

FP: There is no chance such a conference would have even been allowed, let alone supported by the university. Here’s my comment at Martin’s FB page:

The timing is irrelevant, the topic itself and the identity of the organizers and the speakers should have made things clear. Knowing today's academia, part. at Harvard, I would be very surprised if any one was duped, except perhaps self-duping on the conflict, which is rampant. The promptness of the response—failure to withdraw support and funding--should prove whether they were enablers. The fact that a petition was necessary and even so the funding has not withdrawn yet gives you the answer.

Dersh also writes, however: “I hope the issue is never directly put to Harvard, because it would be obnoxious for there to be a conference here on the subject of whether the Palestinians are a real people. They are, and so are the Israelis. The quest for a Palestinian state is a legitimate one, as is the need to preserve Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people…The question regarding the Palestinians was raised by a candidate for President of the United States and has been the subject of debate and controversy in the media and in academic writings. Both subjects are essentially political in nature and both have similarly phony academic veneers.” This is a historical falsehood and the controversy about this is manufactured for political purposes. Academia used to be about truth, but no more.

This falsehood has major responsibility for the current proliferation of events of this sort. Indeed, it was only after Israel conceded the falsehood of a Palestinian people at Oslo that the trend culminating in today’s anti-Semitism and the Arabs’ long-desired Arab one-state solution was initiated. So with all due respect to Dersh, politically correct liberals like him and the Israeli left have, whether they like it or not, contributed to such events.

In fact, organizing the counter conference that Dersh refers to is exactly what he should doin an academia that has totally collapsed. If it’s all about politics, then that’s the response it requires.

 

Bill Katz: A WARNING TO US

Britain is going broke.  And we are making the same mistakes.  From London's Telegraph:

The Government 'has run out of money' and cannot afford debt-fuelled tax cuts or extra spending, George Osborne has admitted.

In a stark warning ahead of next month’s Budget, the Chancellor of the Exchequer said there was little the Coalition could do to stimulate the economy.

Mr Osborne made it clear that due to the parlous state of the public finances the best hope for economic growth was to encourage businesses to flourish and hire more workers.

“The British Government has run out of money because all the money was spent in the good years,” the Chancellor said. “The money and the investment and the jobs need to come from the private sector.”

Mr Osborne’s bleak assessment echoes that of Liam Byrne, the former chief secretary to the Treasury, who bluntly joked that Labour had left Britain broke when he exited the Government in 2010.

He left David Laws, his successor, a one-line note saying: “Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid to tell you there’s no money left."

COMMENT:  And we continue borrowing, and dumping one regulation after another on the very industries that need to grow to make the whole economy grow.  And around the president are those – they probably spent their junior year abroad – who think the European and British examples are just wonderful, far more civilized than our own way.  Why, in Britain they have national health care.  At least this week.

FP: I just happened to watch the following video about how the British rich, including cabinet ministers who speechify about “We’re all in this together”, have set up a tax avoidance system for themselves.

I’ve been arguing for a long time that the current decline of the West is fatal and not reversible. This has been the mostly self-induced fate—via corruption, incompetence, ignorance and inability to reason and decadence--of all the dominant civilizations/powers in history, bar none, and it’s now the West’s turn.

Katz, who was a producer for Johnny Carson, commented as follows on the Oscars:

So the Oscars are over.  I did get some glimpses between dozes.  It wasn't bad, but it was unhappy.  These aren't the Oscars that we used to now.  Oscar himself, I expect, will be redesigned, to reflect a more third-world perspective.  I thought the most important moment of last night's broadcast was the little bit they did bragging about all the countries represented by the nominees.  Now, that's fine.  Good artistry should be recognized.  But...isn't international awards what the Golden Globes are about?

Oscar used to be the quintessentially American awards ceremony.  We were celebrating the American film industry, Hollywood, and its often fine work.  Yes, of course there were always those from other countries, especially Britain.  But no one had any doubts about where Oscar lived.  Today we can still talk about a French film industry, a British film industry, and of course the film industry of India.  But no one wants to talk about an American film industry.  Maybe that's because Hollywood today is basically deal makers and Democratic Party fundraisers. 

Not to take anything away from the winners, but I think we've lost something, the American character of the great American movies and the industry that created them.  We called it the golden age, and it was buried last night, once and for all.  We were politely informed that Hollywood is now "international," or, to use the trendy term, multicultural.  An announcer openly speculated about people in foreign lands watching and hoping their citizen would win.

Again, nothing wrong with noting foreign contributions.  But the industry that gave us "Battleground" and "Wake Island" and "Sands of Iwo Jima" now gives us a steady diet of anti-American movies, and its executives refer to heartland Americans as "the flyover people." 

They've killed the very thing they inherited.

Which is true of the US as a whole (see also next).

 

Iran’s 'A Separation' gets a leg up on Israel’s 'Footnote' at Oscars

“A Separation” is the second Iranian film to be nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category, and the first to win • Iranian government gloats about victory over “Zionist regime."

FP: Why do I doubt this was an outcome based on artistic quality? Actually, it almost never is.

 

PowerLine: Afghanistan: Let’s Get Out

Nearly a year ago, I wrote that I thought it was time to get our troops out of Afghanistan. A remarkable 74% of our readers who voted in our poll agreed with me. Events since then have tended to confirm that we should pull the plug on our military effort.

The latest example is the fiasco over the burning of a few Korans by American troops. The facts surrounding the incident are somewhat murky; apparently a number of books were being used by Taliban prisoners to smuggle messages, and 60 or 70 books were confiscated and destroyed, some of which turned out to be Korans. The Korans’ burning is generally described as “accidental.” I assume that means, not that the destruction was unintended, but that the troops who carried it out did not realize that some of the volumes were Korans–not surprising, since they were not in English.

What we do know for sure is that the response of many Afghans was outrageous. Dozens of people have been killed or wounded, including a number of American servicemen. The ongoing violence illustrates the primitive level of culture in Afghanistan. The country, if it can properly be called such, is hundreds of years behind modern civilization. I don’t think nation-building is always a bad idea, but a certain amount and quality of raw material is required. In Afghanistan, the prerequisites for successful nation-building are absent.

Our initial overthrow of the Taliban at the end of 2001 was absolutely necessary. The Taliban had harbored al Qaeda and collaborated, in effect, in the September 11 attacks. Since then, we have killed large numbers of Taliban. That is a good thing, but the returns are diminishing. When we leave, the Taliban or similar Islamic extremists presumably will take control of portions, at least, of the country. That is a bad thing, obviously, but the same result seems more or less equally likely no matter when our troops depart.

It has never been clear why we can’t use drones, air power and troops stationed reasonably nearby to prevent the Taliban or other extremist groups from setting up extensive training centers that can be used for attacks on the U.S., such as those that existed before September 2001. If such measures are feasible, leaving Afghanistan should not damage our security. And, in any event, if our security depends on Afghanistan becoming a decent society within a lifetime or two, God help us.

Currently, as we noted last month, President Obama seems to be setting up a negotiated “peace” agreement of some sort with a Taliban front group. That, too, is a terrible idea. Let’s not negotiate anything or engage in any pretense; let’s just get out, while killing a few more terrorists on the way to the door.

FP: The Iraq and Afghanistan wars were two lethal strategic blunders that, combined with the economic self-destruction set the US on a decline path. Building nations there was a fool’s errand. In Afghanistan, the Taliban is the government the Afghans deserve, just as the Arabs deserve the Islamist regimes they elected.

 

Debbie Schlussel: HAMAS, Qaeda & Obama On Same Side of Syrian Conflic t, Backing Rebels

HAMAS is now joining Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain in backing the Syrian rebels against Bashar Assad.  We’ve seen this same scenario repeat itself in the Middle East several times before.  And each time, the HAMAS side prevails over the “winning” side, NOT America.  These American “leaders” are morons.  And they haven’t learned.  It’s like a giant echo chamber throughout theMiddle East .  First, all of these morons backed the Egyptian “democracy” protesters.  Then, they backed the Libyan rebels.  In each case, the result was predictable and the same.  In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood took over, and it’s more chaotic and repressive than ever under Western ally Mubarak.  In Libya, Al-Qaeda-tied extremists took over, and it’s more chaotic and repressive than ever under Qaddafi, with whom America had a no-nukes agreement and a detente.

FP: Exactly right, as I’ve been arguing.

Comments on reads 2/26 II

Martin Sherman: Comprehending the incomprehensible – Part I and Comprehending the incomprehensible – Part II

The first of a two-part analysis of why Israel is losing the international battle for hearts and   minds. And why a failed policy of appeasement prevails and why the Right keeps winning elections but never gets into power.

FP: A good summary of Israel’s strategic and tactical blunders that have been also advanced by this blog.


Elder of Ziyon: Hamas starts campaign for female students to wear veils

The Hamas Ministry of Education in cooperation with the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Islamic Bloc student arm of Hamas has launched a campaign to encourage young women to wear veils.

The campaign was launched at the Ramla Girls' School east of Gaza City.
The campaign "seeks to instill virtuous Islamic values in the hearts of students, to feed their minds and souls and spirit with Islamic morality and ideas."

The Ministry of Religious Affairs is sending preachers to hold a number of seminars and religious lectures for the success of the campaign, praising the efforts of the girls of the Islamic bloc.

FP: With Arab states Islamizing and the PA defunct, Hamas is feeling its oats.


Zalman Shoval: Iran’s latest ploy

We can assume that Iran’s offer to renew talks is merely a ruse. Will the international community, and the U.S. in particular, buy these damaged goods?

FP: Is he kidding? It already did. And will continue to.

 
JoshuaPundit: L.A's Mayor, Police Chief and County Sherrif Want Driver's Licenses For Illegal Aliens

Los Angeles Mayor and ex-MeCha member Antonio Villaraigosa,Police Chief Charlie Beck and County Sheriff Lee Baca have all come out recently with strong statements endorsing California Driver's licenses for illegal aliens.The statements were designed to coincide with California Assemblyman Gil Cedillo's latest attempt to get a bill passed in the state legislature and signed by Governor Brown. He has a fair chance of succeeding, because the legislature is Democrat controlled and Governor Brown is a long time open borders advocate who has already instituted a state mandated Dream Act to provide in state tuition for illegal aliens.
…
So....if this isn't about public safety or valid ID's, what's it about and why are Southern California's top law enforcement officials pushing it?
It's actually pretty simple. Chief Beck serves at the pleasure of the Mayor and the Democrat dominated Los Angeles City Council, and Sheriff Baca is up for election in 2013.

And one thing Baca, Beck, Mayor Villaraigosa and the other Democrats supporting this move know is that thanks to President Clinton's 1993 Motor Voter law, anyone getting a driver's license or registering a vehicle automatically receives paperwork and assistance in registering to vote.

FP: The US does not have enough electoral system problems and California’s collapse is not sufficient. Suicidal.

Collected links

Walter Russell Mead: ‘No Kill’ Zones Coming to Syria?

Richard L. Cravatts: Trying to give respectability to the one-state solution at Harvard

Chris Nashawaty: The Jerusalem Syndrome: Why Some Religious Tourists Believe They Are the Messiah

Elder of Ziyon: Fisking Leila Hilal in The Atlantic (David G)

Steven Plaut: Harvard’s Academic Pogrom

LT. COL. DANIEL L. DAVIS: Truth, lies and Afghanistan

Slavoj Žižek: The Revolt of the Salaried Bourgeoisie

Alexander Jung: The Danger Debt Poses to the Western World

Comments on reads 2/26

Richard L. Cravatts: Trying to give respectability to the one-state solution at Harvard

The one-state solution to the issue of what to do with the ever-suffering Palestinians is not so much an authentic, or even rational, plan for effecting statehood for Palestinian Arabs; instead, it proposes to do with votes and demography the same thing that hostile Arab armies and the PLO have themselves tried to do to Israel for the past 64 years; namely, extirpate the Jewish state — not by driving it into the sea with arms and military might, but by subsuming its Jewish identity in a sea of returning Palestinian refugees coming into to Israel to form a bi-national state.

…

Three quarters of Israelis and nearly that same percentage of Palestinians favor a two-state solution, precisely because it would result in what people of good faith have always said that they wanted: a new, autonomous state for the Palestinians, living peaceably beside, and not jeopardizing the safety of, Israel.

FP: I am not convinced that even the quasi-academics at the conference believe that the vast majority of Israeli Jews will survive to process of creating the bi-national state, nor are they interested in any safeguards to that effect. In essence they could not care less what will happen to the Jews in the process.

And 3/4 of the Palestinians do not “favor a two-state solution”. They are not people of good faith and their purpose is not just an autonomous state beside Israel, but one that replaces Israel.

People of good faith, like Cravatts, cannot bring themselves to accept the treacherous and murderous reality of the Arab culture in general and that of the Palestinian Arabs in particular, even when that reality is continuously being exposed by words and deeds.

 

Jonathan Kay: The return of the Israel Apartheid Week cult

In Syria, the Assad regime continues to rain artillery on rebel positions in the city of Homs, killing journalists and innocent civilians alike. Iran’s mullahs are set to execute a Canadian citizen for the crime of operating a web site they don’t like. The new Libyan regime is torturing Gaddafi loyalists. And Egypt’s rulers are prosecuting NGO leaders on trumped-up charges. And so next week, Canadian left-wing activists will congregate in Toronto to express their hatred of … you guessed it: Israel.

The events of March 5-9 will take place as part of the 8th annual Israel Apartheid Week (IAW), and will feature presentations such as “Cutting the Ties to Israeli Apartheid: Cultural and Academic Boycott,” and “Rhymes Of Resistance And The Sounds Of Existence — with poets Remi Kanazi, Red Slam and Chand-nee.” The IAW website is full of the usual rhetoric about Israel’s “criminal” actions. There is not a word of acknowledgement about how utterly ridiculous it is to run a week-long event vilifying Israel when right next door in Syria, the government has just exterminated more Arabs than were killed in both Intifidas, the 2008 Gaza conflict, and the 2006 Lebanon war combined.

FP: If that does not convince you of the re-emergence of anti-Semitism disguised as anti-Israel, I don’t know what will.

 

Bill Katz: FROM THOSE WONDERFULLY RATIONAL FOLKS IN TEHRAN

Recently the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army General Martin Dempsey, announced that the Obama administration considers the Iranian regime "a rational actor."  Here is the latest from those reasonable chaps:

A top Iranian military commander said Saturday that nothing but burning the White House and hanging US commanders could remedy the pain caused to Muslims by the burning of Korans at a US military base in Afghanistan, pan-Arab Al Arabiya news channel reported Sunday.

"The US has committed such an ugly act and burned Korans because of the heavy slap it has been given by Islam," Basij (volunteer forces) Commander Brig.-Gen. Muhammad Reza Naqdi told Iran's semi- official Fars new agency, according to the Al Arabiya report.

“Their apology can be accepted only by hanging their commanders; hanging their commanders means an apology,” he was quoted as saying.

COMMENT:   Would you want your family's, and your country's, future to depend on the rationality of people like that?  Apparently, Mr. Obama has no problem with their rationality.  I think most Americans do. 

The ugly rioting in Afghanistan, the murder of four Americans there, and now this mindless statement from Iran, should remind us of the nature of the enemy.  But we have an administration that doesn't seriously regard radical Islam as the enemy.  Indeed, the Justice Department, under leftist Obama ally Eric Holder, is currently rewriting anti-terrorism manuals to remove any mention of radical Islam.

Four more years for Obama? What will be left of our country?

FP: I tend to think that it’s precisely Iranian irrationality that deter Obama in particular and the West in general and, therefore, in a paradoxical sense, the Iranians are rational in their irrationality, as a means to their objective to deter the West. That explains the

That’s precisely why I consider Israel’s appeasement strategy a first class blunder. A similar “crazy state” strategy would have been much, much more effective.

 

Hamas break with Syria marks seismic change in region

So the fact that Haniyeh was able to give this speech from one of Egypt's most prominent and influential mosques is remarkable in itself. It suggests the Hamas leader was given guarantees of assistance and perhaps promises of a diplomatic future in Egypt if he turned against his benefactors.

Syria, one of Israel's regional foes, offered refuge away from potential assassination attempts by Israeli security forces. Iran, also an enemy of Israel, provided cash and weapons to the Islamist fighters.

In recent days, following a week-long fuel shortage that shut Gaza's power plant, Haniyeh met with Egyptian officials to clinch a new energy deal that would supply Gaza with more electricity and connect the besieged enclave to the regional power grid.

Egypt maintains shaky relations with Iran, and recently recalled its ambassador to Syria. The Syrian embassy in Cairo is no longer functioning. It remains unclear whether Hamas will open a new office in Cairo following its flight from Damascus.

Regardless, the changes to the old Middle East order are seismic.

FP: The alliance with Assad was one of convenience for Hamas when the old regimes in the Arab world wouldn’t have much to do with them. But with the  Islamization of the regimes, Hamas has no longer need for Alawite Assad, not even Shiite Iran. And anyway, the Syrian opposition is mainly Muslim Brotherhood too, so by dissing Assad Hamas is actually improving its situation in Syria.

 

Bill Katz: Hooray, but not quite, for Hollywood

When you realize that the most exciting thing about this year’s Oscars is the return of the semi-retired Billy Crystal, who hasn’t hosted the ceremony in almost a decade, you wonder what’s going on. When you realize that Billy is replacing Eddie Murphy, a falling star who hasn’t made a splash in years, and who pulled out of the Oscar ceremony in some dispute, you wonder where Hollywood is heading.

And then you hear Billy’s explanation for coming back – that he wants the girl at the pharmacy who gives him his prescriptions to know who he is. Well, that may actually be true. As Johnny Carson used to say, “How quickly they forget.”

And how quickly we forget how Hollywood has declined.

…

Another reason for the decline in content in Hollywood is the catastrophic change in the structure of the industry. Say what you will about the moguls who founded the business – some could be vulgar, even snakes. They knifed each other. But, dammit, they were movie makers. Movies were their business. The “deal” was a means to get a movie made. It wasn’t an end in itself. The most powerful institutions in Hollywood were the movie studios. They had writers, directors, actors, musicians, under contract. They made movies. That was the business they were in.

The most powerful institutions in Hollywood today? Talent agencies. The people who make the deals. I don’t mean to ridicule what they do. They can do important work. But they don’t make movies. And the deal is not the show.

I recently met someone who wants to go into the movie business…who’s never heard of Alfred Hitchcock.

I recently met a young woman who dreams of being a dancer… who’s never heard of Gene Kelly.

FP: You know that America is in decline when Hollywood is in decline. That entertainers of today know nothing of Hitchcock or Kelly is not different than, say, today’s information technology practitioners being ignorant of the foundation of their own professional field (something I happen to know, because it’s been my field); or today’s academics who know nothing and could not care less about the scientific method (a major reason I gave up being one); or today’s students who learn practically no history, classics,  or critical thinking. That’s what societal decline is.

Comments on reads 2/25

Israel Matzav: Netanyahu suspends Jerusalem construction

In a bid to avoid problems with President Obama while he is in Washington, Prime Minister Netanyahu has ordered all Jewish housing construction in 'east' Jerusalem and all approvals for Jewish construction in 'east' Jerusalem to be suspended until his return to Israel.

FP: Like clockwork. He’ll never learn the lesson of appeasement--that it only invites further pressure and betrayal. Failure to learn from experience is lethal.

 

Andrew C. McCarthy: Why Apologize to Afghanistan?

We have officially lost our minds.

The New York Times reports that President Obama has sent a formal letter of apology to Afghanistan’s ingrate president, Hamid Karzai, for the burning of Korans at a U.S. military base. The only upside of the apology is that it appears (based on the Times account) to be couched as coming personally from our blindly Islamophilic president — “I wish to express my deep regret for the reported incident. . . . I extend to you and the Afghani people my sincere apologies.” It is not couched as an apology from the American people, whose frame of mind will be outrage, not contrition, as the facts become more widely known.

The facts are that the Korans were seized at a jail because jihadists imprisoned there were using them not for prayer but to communicate incendiary messages. The soldiers dispatched to burn refuse from the jail were not the officials who had seized the books, had no idea they were burning Korans, and tried desperately to retrieve the books when the situation was brought to their attention.

Of course, these facts may not become widely known, because no one is supposed to mention the main significance of what has happened here. First, as usual, Muslims — not al-Qaeda terrorists, but ordinary, mainstream Muslims — are rioting and murdering over the burning (indeed, the inadvertent burning) of a book. Yes, it’s the Koran, but it’s a book all the same — and one that, moderate Muslims never tire of telling us, doesn’t really mean everything it says anyhow.

FP: It’s called cowardice. And I wonder why should US soldiers die there for a cowardly leadership at home.

 

Ran Baratz: BDS Secrets

Let us begin with Finkelstein's accusation about the self-inflated one-man NGOs.  Why their proliferation?  The reason is money, lots of it.  

Here's how it works.  Many Palestinians have poor, hard lives—high birth rates, low job qualifications, few income sources.  Politically, they are caught between hammer and anvil: They are subject to both a traditionally Arabic "hamoola" system of lawless tribal power and the Palestinian Authority, which Finkelstein has called, not without reason, a "gang of corrupt, wretched collaborators."  Industries that bring in work and foreign money will thrive.

One such industry is international charity.  Large, mostly Western donations flow through a web of international organizations to fund the fight against Palestinian suffering, distress, and brutalization under Israeli occupation.  The more suffering, distress, and brutalization, the more money.  The army of one-man NGOs is the fruit of this incentive system.  If you're the first to report injustice by Jews to Palestinians, you attract the cash.  

So, low-level NGOs gather, report, and pay for these stories, true and false.   The stories are picked up by larger human rights NGOs, like Amnesty International, B'tselem, Gush Shalom, and Human Rights Watch, whose staffers are not too picky about including uncorroborated testimony in their reports.  The reports then go to UN agencies.  They become the "facts" of media coverage, public debate, further UN actions.  A story unearthed by a one-man NGO in Ramallah may reverberate throughout the international system.

FP: The cash-for-“suffering” industry.

 

PowerLine: Sharia Law In Pennsylvania

Andy McCarthy’s post on a criminal prosecution in Pennsylvania that was dismissed based on an application of sharia law and a recognition of the special, privileged status of Islam is the most chilling thing I have read in quite a while. This is Andy’s account of the events that led to the prosecution:

The victim, [atheist activist] Ernest Perce, wore a “Zombie Mohammed” costume and pretended to walk among the dead (in the company of an associate who was the “Zombie Pope” — and who, you’ll be shocked to learn, was not assaulted). The assailant, Talag Elbayomy, a Muslim immigrant, physically attacked Perce, attempted to pull his sign off, and, according to police, admitted what he had done right after the incident. The defense argued that Elbayomy believed it was a crime to insult the prophet Mohammed (it is, under sharia law), and that because he was in the company of his children, he had to act to end this provocation and set an example about defending Islam.

As you will see, Judge Martin did not lecture the defendant about free speech or how disputes are resolved in a civilized country. He instead dressed the victim down for failing to appreciate how sensitive Muslims — including the judge himself — are about Islam.

The most remarkable thing about this story is the judge’s soliloquy in which he explains why he dismissed the case. It was recorded by the complainant. You can read the whole thing at the link; here are some excerpts:

Well, having had the benefit of having spent over two-and-a-half years in a predominantly Muslim country, I think I know a little bit about the faith of Islam. In fact, I have a copy of the Koran here, and I would challenge you, sir, to show me where it says in the Koran that Mohammed arose and walked among the dead.

[Unintelligible.] You misinterpreted things. Before you start mocking someone else’s religion you may want to find out a little bit more about it. That makes you look like a doofus.

And Mr. Thomas [Elbayomi's defense lawyer] is correct. In many other Muslim speaking countries – excuse me, in many Arabic speaking countries – call it “Muslim” – something like this is definitely against the law there. In their society, in fact, it could be punishable by death, and it frequently is, in their society.

So apparently Perce should consider himself lucky.

Here in our society, we have a constitution that gives us many rights, specifically, First Amendment rights. It’s unfortunate that some people use the First Amendment to deliberately provoke others. I don’t think that’s what our forefathers really intended. I think our forefathers intended that we use the First Amendment so that we can speak our mind, not to piss off other people and other cultures, which is what you did.

I don’t think you’re aware, sir, there’s a big difference between how Americans practice Christianity – uh, I understand you’re an atheist. But, see, Islam is not just a religion, it’s their culture, their culture. It’s their very essence, their very being.

It is true that Islam is not just a religion, but the significance of this observation escapes the judge.

Then what you have done is you’ve completely trashed their essence, their being. They find it very, very, very offensive. I’m a Muslim, I find it offensive. [Unintelligble] aside was very offensive.

But you have that right, but you’re way outside your bounds on First Amendment rights. …

But another part of the element [of the offense charged] is, as Mr. Thomas [the defense lawyer] said, was — “Was the defendant’s intent to harass, annoy or alarm — or was it his intent to try to have the offensive situation negated?”

If his intent was to harass, annoy or alarm, I think there would have been a little bit more of an altercation. Something more substantial as far as testimony going on that there was a conflict. Because there is not, it is not proven to me beyond a reasonable doubt that this defendant is guilty of harassment. Therefore I am going to dismiss the charge.

In Oklahoma, a ballot initiative barring courts from implementing sharia law passed with 70% of the vote, but was ruled unconstitutional by a federal appeals court. Liberals ridiculed the statute, arguing that there is no risk of American courts drawing on sharia law. When the Oklahoma law was struck down, a local Muslim activist said:

This is an important reminder that the Constitution is the last line of defense against a rising tide of anti-Muslim bigotry in our society, and we are pleased that the appeals court recognized that fact.

One might have thought that the Constitution is the last line of defense protecting those who exercise their God-given right of free speech. Apparently not, at least in Pennsylvania.

FP: I commented on this earlier, relative to a post by Debbie Schlussel. This is how it begins. Let’s appoint more Muslim judges.

 

Anna Mahjar-Barducci: The Egyptian Bearded Police

"I Am a Bearded Police Officer" is the name of the new coalition established by the group of Egyptian police officers who asked the Ministry of Interior to grow beards to follow in the footsteps of the Prophet Muhammad.

The Saudi-owned media outlet Al-Arabiya reported that in Egypt the request immediately stirred much controversy over "the right to a religious appearance in the workplace." The Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim immediately refused the request, fearing that beards could become a symbol of support for the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists, as well as a symbol of opposition to ruling Egyptian Army. The Minister ordered the policemen to shave their beards while on duty. "Police officers are required to maintain a presentable appearance like all those working in sectors related to security," the Minister stated.

The group of officers, however, decided to disobey, and ignored the Minister's order. Egypt Independent mentions that the "free the beards campaign" became a public opinion issue and will hence soon "blow up in the Interior Minister's face." As reported by the media outlet BikyaMasr, during a recent Minister's trip to Assiut, he was confronted by "controversial calls for officers to be free to let their beards grow following the Islamic tradition." The Islamist movement, Gama'a Islamiya in Assiut, issued a statement condemning the minister and stating that the beard is at the core of the Islamic tradition.

To find more support, the "Bearded Policemen" group opened a public page on the social networking website, Facebook.

…

The Interior Minister now wants to put an end to the controversy of the "bearded policemen." For him, it is not a matter a resetting priorities. He is just concerned that if the bearded policemen win this battle, other policemen might start disobeying orders from the Army, which still keeps Egypt under a tight dictatorship.

If the bearded policemen will win, however, the beard will become a symbol of protest and of support for the Islamists. The plan is to occupy visually with beards the Parliament, the streets, public institution -- but first the police corps.

FP: As predicted by me on this blog, more than once. Top military brass are also in for a shock: the low to mid ranks of the army are probably Islamist too.

 

Israel Matzav: Two Israeli soldiers nearly lynched in... Haifa

Two Israeli soldiers were assaulted at 2:00 am Saturday morning outside Rambam Hospital in Haifa. The assailants were 'Israeli Arabs.'

Two IDF soldiers in civilian clothing were viciously attacked by a group of Arab-Israeli men early Saturday near Haifa's Rambam Hospital, with guards deployed in the area narrowly averting a lynching.

Police forces detained four suspects on suspicion of taking part in the assault and expect to make more arrests.

The uncle of one of the soldiers said the assailants asked the victims whether they were Jewish before attacking them.

They beat the hell out of them, using bats and stones, and resorting to kicks," the uncle said.

The soldiers attempted to escape in different directions, at which point some 20 attackers assaulted one of them, the uncle added.

"One of the attackers pounded my nephew's head against the ground and engraved his head with a knife," he said. "Security guards in the area arrived at the site, put him in a wheel chair, and evacuated him for treatment at the emergency room."

Read the whole thing.

I would bet on these thugs being part of the next 'prisoner exchange.'

FP: This is a reality check for all those who take surveys of Israeli Arabs as preferring Israel to a Palestinian state at face value. They do, but with Jews as dhimmis.

MARTIN SHERMAN on Israel’s strategic blunders and leadership crisis

FP: Sherman advances the claim I have been arguing ever since Oslo: Israel has committed a series of strategic blunders whose number and scope have accelerated since Oslo. As anti-Semitism reemerged in the West due to its self-induced decline, as the Middle East, starting with Iran, then Turkey and now the rest of it, Islamized, the chickens from all those blunders have been coming home to roost, making it difficult for a deteriorating Israeli elite and a political system with a faulty structure to cope with them, it increasingly caused them to operate based on wishful thinking rather than on a hard reality. That, of course, triggered even more strategic blunders and tactical errors.

Sherman blames it on the lack of foresight by Israeli elite. But not much foresight was required to avoid committing the blunders. Wishful thinking simply overwhelmed it. In a certain sense it is not much different than the Western delusion of “democratic Islamists” and the notion that if the West brings them to power, they will appreciate it and become liberals and Western allies.

(Incidentally, it is not coincidental that signs of corruption in the Israeli military establishment appeared in parallel with rising incompetence).

 

Into the Fray: Something to worry about

All the assumptions on which Israeli policies were founded have proved groundless; all the concessions, worse than useless.

Syria is not lost. Assad is Western educated and is not a religious man. He can still join a moderate grouping – Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, Haaretz, November 13, 2009

I fear that the appalling brutality we are witnessing in Homs, with heavy weapons firing into civilian neighborhoods, is a grim harbinger of things to come – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, February 9, 2012

Seen against the backdrop of the carnage being perpetrated across Syria by the Assad regime, the magnitude of the misjudgment made by Gabi Ashkenazi, then the IDF’s chief of staff, is enough to make any self-respecting Israeli cringe with embarrassment.

None so blind

Askhenazi is not the only senior Israeli leader to articulate an appallingly inaccurate assessment of Israel’s adversaries, but in many ways his is a particularly interesting and instructive example. After all, before his appointment as chief of staff, much of his 40-year military career was spent in the IDF’s Northern Command, including as its commander. One must, therefore, presume that a large portion of his time was devoted to evaluating the Syrian threat, and to familiarizing himself with nature of the Syrian military dictatorship.

It is alarming to learn that despite the opportunity he had to gauge the true characteristics of the Syrian leader, his appraisal was so erroneous. The fact that Bashar Assad has a “Western education” – two years of medical specialization in the UK — and “is not a religious man” was somehow taken to indicate that he “can still join a moderate grouping” is at best disturbingly shallow.

As mentioned, Ashkenazi is not alone is espousing this sort of unsubstantiated nonsense.

Ever since Assad Jr. inherited the reins of power from his tyrannical father in 2000, every Israeli government has, in one form or another, explored the possibility of surrendering the Golan to the “Western educated” despot in Damascus — studiously ignoring the abundance of evidence attesting to the ruthless brutality of the regime, readily available to anyone willing to see it.

Typical of the moronic myopia displayed by many in the Israeli leadership was a pronouncement, made barely a year before revolt erupted across Syria, by Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, who held the position of minister of defense in the Sharon government.

While serving as minister of trade and industry in the current Netanyahu government, Ben-Eliezer declared: “Syria is the key to regional change for us. If I was prime minister, I would put all my hopes on Syria.”

No kidding! This from the former defense minister who, one would have hoped, would have had a more informed and sober view of reality.

There but for the grace of God

Fortunately for the nation, the Israeli leadership has not been able to act on any misplaced optimism – as it did on other fronts – regarding the possibility of reaching a settlement with the Syrian regime in exchange of the total evacuation of the Golan Heights – the sine qua non for any such agreement.

One can only imagine what consternation would reign today, had such a deal been struck. For even under the highly implausible assumption that adequate security arrangements and demilitarization deep into Syrian territory had been agreed upon with Damascus, the events raging today would have clearly imperiled any such understandings. After all, in the likely event that, sooner or later, the Assad regime is toppled, it is more than plausible that any successor would not see itself bound by such an agreement.

Indeed, it is difficult to keep a straight face while reading some of the suggestions put forward by prominent Israelis regarding the nature of the relations between the countries.

Take, for example, the proposal by the Israel-Syria Peace Society, founded and chaired by the former director-general of the Foreign Ministry, Dr. Alon Liel, and whose website claims that its board includes “senior academicians, ex-diplomats, former security officials and prominent Israeli business people.” (Try as I might, I couldn’t access the list by clicking on the “Members” button.) In its “Nirvana-Now” formula for an Israeli-Syrian peace, the “star-studded” organization envisions that “the two countries will sign a peace agreement [and] a Peace Park will be established on the Golan Heights for the use of both sides. Israelis will be able to enter the park, for tourism or work purposes, without visas.”

Wow! Imagine! A Peace Park! How could any tyrannical butcher possibly resist that? Isn’t it comforting to know that those who have been charged with the design of the nation’s diplomacy have such a firm grasp on reality and can come up with such innovative ideas to ensure lasting peace?

An ongoing malaise

In many respects, the savagery in Syria should serve as a much needed wake-up call for the Israeli establishment that will dispel any delusions about setting up “normal” relations with Damascus. Given the merciless manner in which Assad has broken the social contract with his own citizens, one can only imagine how little compunction he would have in violating any other contract he might have concluded with the hated Zionists.

With the true “nature of the beast” so dramatically exposed, it is becoming painfully obvious how preposterous any idea of establishing “normal” relations with the Assad regime was.

However, given the precedents, there is scant hope that this timely warning will be heeded by Israeli decision-makers.

Time and time again they have led the nation down perilous paths, despite clear signs that the chances of success were slim and the cost of failure great. Time and time again they have fallen prey to the illusion that that they could bend the nature of our enemies to fit the chummy make-believe image conjured up by the fertile imaginations of influential intellectuals – if only Israel would acquiesce to our enemies’ demands.

One of the best examples of how detached from reality such assessments have been was provided by celebrated author Amos Oz, the guru of the bon-ton Left.

His pronouncements on matters political are eagerly received by the mainstream media, which always gives them great prominence, and invariably portrays his prescriptions of how Israel should conduct itself in dealing with its Arab foes as the epitome of “sagacious sanity.”

The wise wizard Oz?

Several months before the unilateral retreat from Lebanon in 2000, Haaretz’s Ari Shavit conducted an interview with Oz on the importance of “emotional sensitivity in politics.”

In the interview, bizarrely entitled “Try a little tenderness,” Oz was introduced by Shavit as “a concerned Israeli author who worries that he may be seeing something that others, blinded by office, do not see; that he may be hearing things on a frequency that others, deafened by the noise of government, do not hear. For that reason he cannot remain silent, and seeks to make his voice heard on the eve of fateful decisions. He asks for the right to speak.”

And what did Oz’s finely tuned ear discern that others could not? The message conveyed on the rare frequencies to which Oz allegedly had exclusive access was reassuringly unequivocal. He informed Haaretz readers with total confidence that “The minute we leave South Lebanon we will have to erase the word Hezbollah from our vocabulary, because the whole idea of the State of Israel versus Hezbollah was sheer folly from the outset. It most certainly no longer will be relevant when Israel returns to its internationally recognized northern border.”

It is difficult to conceive of a prognosis that proved much more fallacious than this, as events – including the Second Lebanon War of 2006 – later proved.

However, this massive error in judgment has done nothing to undermine the status of the man or to diminish the influence of the kind of message he conveys.

The failure of foresight

Ever since the late 1970s – but particularly since the 1990s – Israeli strategic decision-making has been disastrously misguided.

Spectacular tactical and technological successes cannot mask huge strategic failures.

It makes no difference whether one looks at the 1993 “peace process” with the Palestinians, the 2000 retreat from Lebanon, the 2005 “disengagement” from Gaza or even the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt that now appears to be hanging by a thread, with its abrogation – in one form or another – appearing more likely than not.

All of the assumptions on which Israeli policies were founded have proved groundless.

All the concessions and withdrawal have proved useless – worse, detrimental.

Hezbollah effectively controls Lebanon.

Hamas rules Gaza and now, united with Fatah in the “West Bank,” is well poised to take power there as well. Sinai is descending into a pit of anarchy and unspeakable cruelty and has become a cauldron of crime and terrorism that cannot but spill over into southern Israel.

The noble dreams of regional peace and prosperity, of mutual understanding and good neighborliness lie in ruins.

All of this represents an immense lack of foresight on the part of the Israeli establishment.

There is not a single mainstream institution or major think-tank across the nation that can say in good faith, “We told you so.

We foretold the debacle. We warned not to concede, to withdraw, to retreat.”

To varying degrees, they were all complicit, either fully endorsing government policy or voicing only faint-hearted, partial reservations.

But none – not one – voiced full-blooded and persistent opposition. None dared to challenge the basic tenet that by relinquishing land Israel could buy lasting peace. None warned that concessions would not satiate Arab appetites but merely whet them.

Something to worry about

There were, of course, more sober dissenting voices, but they were dismissed and disregarded.

They were excluded from the mainstream discourse, from the universities, from major conferences. They were passed over for appointments and deprived of resources.

No matter how accurate their assessment proved, no matter how unequivocally they were vindicated, their counsel was not sought, their advice not heeded, their warnings sidelined.

It is difficult to overstate the damage that this has wrought. The reasons are clear. By adopting unrealistic assessments of the enemies ranged against the country, policy-makers have precluded any possibility of convincingly conveying to the world Israel’s security concerns and of gaining any understanding for measures needed to address them.

After all, it matter hugely if you are facing “a Western educated” ruler capable of “joining a moderate grouping,” or a homicidal despot who has no qualms about butchering his own citizens.

It matters hugely if once Israel withdraws to some internationally agreed upon line, its enemies will be placated; or whether they will merely use any withdrawal as a platform to continue to relentlessly harass it when the opportunity arises.

Every Israeli must ask: Can our leaders really be so out of touch with reality regarding the nature of our enemies? Or are they merely hobbled by the dictates of political correctness that prohibit them from articulating, and acting on, an accurate assessment of Israel’s Arab adversaries? And in the final analysis, are they more concerned about incurring international disapproval than about adopting measures that endanger the lives and limbs of Israeli citizens? That is something to worry about.

Comments on reads 2/24

JoshuaPundit: Israel And Iran - Dancing With Armageddon

The Israelis are livid over what they see as President Obama's betrayal in starting - again- to engage with Iran in back channel diplomacy in exchange for the U.S. and the EU postponing sanctions until July, with the likelihood of further postponements in exchange for more talks. The Israelis had already agreed to hold off to give sanctions time to work, only to find out later that President Obama was using the waiver Congress gave him in the sanctions legislation to postpone any meaningful action.

This movie has played out many times before in the over 7 years or so the West has known about Iran's nuclear program, with 'talks' spinning into months while the regime simply buys time. The Iranians have no intention of seriously being diverted from making nuclear weapons, because they know that's where the regime's ultimate security lies. They've taken note of how differently President Obama has reacted to Kim Il Sung North Korea and Moamar Khaddaffi in Libya.

The new proposal the Iranians are now taking their time to study allows them to continue enriching uranium to 5% in any quantity, provided they promise not to build an Iranian nuclear weapon.

While they're studying the matter, the mullahs are upgrading and greatly expanding the number of centrifuges at Iran's Fordo underground facility near the city of Qom to allow them to to convert their 5% uranium to weapons grade uranium in a matter of days.

…

According to what I'm hearing from several sources, the discussions with Donilon were fairly strained. The Israelis see this new back channel proposal to Iran from the Obama Administration as a clear violation of guarantees made to Israel regarding Iran and sanctions, especially since it allows Iran to continue nuclear enrichment as well as the hardening and dispersal of its nuclear facilities. Once the talks are underway, the Israelis understand that they can again be spun out for months, and that there would be no way of stopping Iran's progress towards weaponization during the negotiations until it was too late for Israel to do anything about what they correctly regard as an existential threat.

FP: JP, my friend, that’s exactly what I predicted would be the result of Israel’s strategy of appeasing the West. What is more, Netanyahu won’t terminate this strategy and will not attack Iran. Obama will be re-elected (with the help of American Jews, of course) and then beware!

 

Debbie Schlussel: Tired of Obama’s Koran-Burning Apologies Yet?

Over the last few days, I think I’ve counted at least 15 separate apologies from various divisions of Barack Obama’s federal government to the Muslim world (including apologist-in-chief Hussein Obama,  himself) over some accidentally burned Korans.  It’s embarrassing.  And I’m tired of it.  Aren’t you?

Where were the Islamic world’s apologies for 9/11, for Fort Hood, for the attempted Times Square massacre, for the 1993 WTC bombing, for the U.S.S. Cole, for TWA Flight 847 and Robert Dean Stethem, for William Buckley and Rich Higgins, for Cleo Noel and George Curtis Moore, for the Marines in the Beirut Barracks, for the Marines in the German disco, for Pan Am Flight 103, for Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, for the Khobar Towers, for Nick Berg, for Paul Johnson, for Daniel Pearl, for U.S. contractors burnt to a crisp and hung from a bridge in Fallujah, for the Navy SEALs who died in the shot-down helicopter?  Crickets chirping . . . .  But a ton of apologies out of us for what?  For the burning of a book that has inspired 1.8 billion to hate us and quite a few of that number to try–and succeed–in killing us?  Ridiculous.  I don’t apologize.  And they don’t speak for me.  We saw the same thing with Bush when there was the story about the Korans flushed down the toilet . . . which, frankly, is an insult to the toilet.

The Islamic world would actually respect us–and fear us–more, if we deliberately burned Korans.  Instead, we did it by accident–because Islamic terrorists defaced them in order to communicate jihadist plans on their pages.  And we’re apologizing like there’s no tomorrow.  Heck, the U.S. government hasn’t even apologized for slavery as much as it’s apologized to Muslims for Koran-burnings.  (And there have been plenty of those slavery apologies.)  Muslims, themeselves, burn and destroy Korans.  Saudi Sunnis even took Shi’ite Koran covers and cut them into sandals in a deliberate major insult to Shi’ites.  Shi’ites do the same to Sunnis.  And while we are supposed to be and should be at war with this religion that mass murdered 3,000 Americans 10.5 years ago and keeps killing more, we are apologizin’ and apologizin’.  It’s disgusting.  And they laugh at us.  If we gave them a giant one finger salute and said, “TOUGH!” we’d actually get something done. Read the rest of this entry »

FP: Nausea inducing and weakness signaling. Pathetic. And you ain’t seen nothing yet: Obama Immigration Policy Allowed Saudi Muslim Qaeda Fan on Flight After Drunk Driving, Attempted Murder. Also, consider this:

OUTRAGE: Navy SEALs Movie’s Terrorist is . . . JEWISH (Tortures, Murders CIA Agents, Smuggles Jihadists into U.S.)

It’s official:  “Act of Valor” is anti-Semitic tripe wrapped in the American flag with a Navy SEAL cherry on top.  The movie, which debuts in theaters today, goes to great pains to tell you that the largest terrorist plot in America is perpetrated by  a Jew.  In case there’s any doubt, “But you’re Jewish!” is shouted by a real-life Navy SEAL interrogator who heads SEAL Team Seven featured in the movie and goes by the nickname, “Senior.”  Apparently “Senior” forgot this, but the last time I checked, the guys behind 9/11 were not named Osama Bin Cohen and Khalid Sheikh Horowitz.  Ditto for the guys behind every major terrorist attack against Americans, whether on U.S. soil or abroad.  The Beirut bombing and murder of over 300 U.S. Marines and civilians?  Here’s a tip, Navy SEALS:  It wasn’t perpetrated by HezboLox&Bagels.

When anti-Semitism is creeping into Hollywood movies in the form of putting ongoing Islamic terrorism under Jewish command, you should know, from history, what follows. And what about this:

Muslim Judge Protects Muslim Who Choked Atheist

For years, I’ve warned about the dangers of Muslim judges in America.  They are not loyal to U.S. law and they use it to protect Muslims and their interests against the rest of us.  I’ve cited, for example, the Hezbollah Judge in Dearbornistan Heights, Michigan (and there are many others like him).  For the past couple of days, a number of readers have sent me an excellent piece of news coverage by Al Stefanelli of American Atheists, about how a Muslim judge in Pennsylvania dismissed with no basis a case against a Muslim who choked an atheist, and then he lectured the victim about the greatness of Islam, agreeing with the choker and taking a position against the victim’s First Amendment free speech rights. Using a position of authority to promote and side with Muslims over non-Muslims is a form of sharia, Islamic law.

 

 

The US feels increasingly like Europe, whichever way you look at it. So much for American exceptionalism.

 

PowerLine: Weirdest Correction of the Day

I enjoy reading the Corrections section of the New York Times. The paper’s corrections are revealing in several ways. Often, they reveal a remarkable ignorance of subjects like arithmetic, science, history and literature on the part of the paper’s reporters and editors. They also allow us to deduce the law that governs the Times’s willingness to correct its mistakes: the Times corrects errors with an alacrity that is inversely proportional to the significance of the error. Thus, if the error weakens a liberal case the paper was trying to make, getting the paper to correct it is like pulling teeth. We have succeeded in forcing the Times to correct on a couple of occasions, but in other instances they have refused even when it is obvious that what they reported was false.

On the other hand, if the Times’s mistake was utterly trivial–for example, if the society section makes a mistake on where the best man went to high school–corrections are easy to obtain. Yesterday’s Corrections section included a correction that may approach the record for both triviality and weirdness. It related to a photograph in an article on cat wrangling:

Because of an editing error, a caption on Saturday with an article about the service Catch Your Cat, Etc., a for-hire pet-cat catcher, described incorrectly a picture of the cat Vivian Grant hiding behind a sofa. It was taken after she had been corralled and released, not before.

Whew! Glad they cleared that up.

When the Times makes corrections of such triviality, the unspoken implication is that everything else in the paper that day was right. The howlers in columns by Paul Krugman and Tom Friedman and in the paper’s editorials, and the errors and biases that infect the paper’s news stories, are all swept away: the only thing we got wrong, the Times tells us, was the timing of the photo of Vivian, the wrangled cat. Imagine how much better a paper the Times would be if only that were true.

FP: There’s a reason that this blog’s URL is fallofknowledgeandreason. The behavior of the media is one of the best validations of my claim that the West is producing a society that neither appreciates, nor acquires knowledge and capacity of critical and independent reasoning. An economy increasingly founded on Facebook, Twitter and Google, entertainment and games and financial gambling that rewards shalowness and  ignorance, is the consequence. The decline continues.

Comments on reads 2/23

JoshuaPundit: Netanyahu Refuses UN Call For Renewed Building Freeze; Hundreds Of Homes In Shiloh Approved

In a refreshing change, Israeli PM Benyamin Netanyahu told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon flatly on Wednesday that there will be no new freeze on Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria.

In a press conference after his meeting Tuesday in Jordan with King Abdullah II and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, Ban had forcefully urged Netanyahu to reinstate an Israeli unilateral construction freeze in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria as a “goodwill gesture” to the Hamas-allied 'Palestinian' Authority, saying that such construction was “not helpful”. Ban did not specify for whom building hom,es was unhelpful, and needless to say, Ban had nothing to say about 'Palestinian' construction in the area.

FP: Against all those who relied on the West and the UN to terminate their support of the unity government just because Hamas is defined a terror organization by same, I predicted that, on the contrary, not only will the funding of the Palestinians not stop, but that there will be increased pressure on Israel for further concessions to a government including Hamas. The UN has now initiated such pressure and a collapsing EU will follow suit. And if Obama is reelected, watch out. He has already revealed his intentions by asking Congress to refrain from a funding ban on UNESCO that’s required by law and I predict that in the absence of military or other developments, Obama will probably go for trading Israel’s nukes for Iran’s.

Don’t rely on the support of Israel in Congress and by the American people to prevent that, nor on Netanyahu to hold fast to the pressure.

US reiterates settlement building 'not conducive to peace'

After Israel gives initial approval for nearly 600 housing units in Shiloh, Washington repeats policy on settlement activity • U.N. Middle East envoy Robert Serry calls new housing plan “deplorable."

See what I mean?

John Bolton on Israel's criticism of Obama handling Iran (via Israel Matzav)

 

 

FP: Had Israel wanted to strike Iran, it would have done it, instead of whining to the Obama administration, which (a) is useless and (b) provides ammunition to the anti-Semitic left that accuses Israel of driving the US to war against its own interests.

 

University told to stop accepting doctoral candidates without BAs

Council for Higher Education rules Bar Ilan University must immediately cease accepting students without bachelor’s degrees to master’s, Ph.D. programs • Ruling comes after Yair Lapid's entry into doctoral program despite never completing B.A. degree.

FP: In Israel education is being corrupted and destroyed as much as it is everywhere else in the West.

 

Yaakov Ahimeir: Journalistic courage

The death of Marie Colvin should remind us that reporters are risking their lives to get the word out.

FP: About the main thing that we’re reminded of when journalists get hurt is how rare such events are relative to the safe ignorance, laziness and lack of objectivity of most of the mainstream media.

 

Uri Heitner: A Tal tale

A country fighting for its very existence cannot afford the luxury of the Tal Law.

FP: Indeed, but …

Army can handle mass haredi induction, Gantz says

Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz praises annulment of Tal Law, which exempted ultra-Orthodox men from mandatory military service • Political system examining alternatives to defunct law • Eli Yishai: Not one single young man will have to stop studying Torah.

… Aw, c’mon, let’s be serious. I don’t expect anything significant to be done about it and even if something is done, ultra-Orthodox men will prove hugely more damaging than useful to the army, or for anything else for that matter.

Yehuda Shlezinger: The big bluff

Frameworks to integrate haredim are fiction as ultra-Orthodox ideology leaves no room for compromise.

FP: Exactly. Yshay is telling us that’s exactly what Ultra-Orthodoxy means.

Comments on reads 2/22 II

Jordan’s king blames Israel for deadlocked peace talks

In a meeting with U.S. Jewish leaders, King Abdullah II says he is concerned by Israel’s “unilateral policies” • Jordan last month hosted latest rounds of peace talks between Israel and Palestinians.

FP: Sorry, but it serves Israel right. It will continue to pay the price for failure to learn from experience and insist on appeasing those who cannot be sated.

 

PowerLine: Footnote to failure

Well, times have changed. In the Age of Obama, the United States has become something of a patsy in the service of the higher wisdom. Despite the ostensible opposition of the United States, “Palestine” was admitted to UNESCO late last year, triggering the 1990 law requiring the termination of United States funding of any international organization that recognizes Palestinian statehood in the absence of a peace agreement with Israel; United States funding of UNESCO makes up some 22 percent of the total UNESCO budget.

But that’s not the end of the story. JTA reports: “The Obama administration formally announced its intention to ask Congress to waive a ban on funding UNESCO over its recognition of Palestinian statehood.”

And that’s not all! The Obama administration courageously buried announcement of its intention in a footnote to the budget that the White House submitted to Congress this month.

Will Congress restore funding? That’s not entirely clear, but not if Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has anything to do with it. “Any effort to walk back this funding cutoff will pave the way for the Palestinian leadership’s unilateral statehood scheme to drive on, and sends a disastrous message that the U.S. will fund UN bodies no matter what irresponsible decisions they make,” she said in a statement. The Bolton spirit lives on, if not in the Obama administration.

FP: Let’s re-elect him. As to those who claim that the Palestinians have failed, I say: it’s America that’s failing.

 

Debbie Schlussel: WTF?! Israel Frees Islamic Jihad Terrorist to Avoid Palestinian Anger

If you need any further evidence that Israel is now officially a wimpy nation without the resolve to fight terrorists–much like the U.S.–Khader Adnan a/k/a Khader Adnan Mohammad Musa is Exhibit A.  Adnan is a top official of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, who served as the group’s spokesman and urged Palestinians to put on suicide belts and kill Israelis by blowing up body parts.  He’s also reportedly involved in the planning of PIJ terrorist activities.  PIJ is responsible for numerous homicide bombings and attacks on innocent civilians in Israel.  A PIJ bus-bombing murdered New Jersey college student Alisa Flatow.  But Israel announced it will release the Islamic Jihad terrorist “out of concern about unrest in the West Bank if he should die” because he’s Adnan is now on a hunger strike.

Can you imagine if America released Gitmo terrorists out of concern for Al-Qaeda and Muslim world outrage if they do while on hunger strikes?  Well, I guess we can all imagine it, since America has released hardened murderer Guantanamo detainees to the free world for a lot less.  See, I told you America and Israel were a lot alike (and, now, in many ways that aren’t so great).

Oh, and Israel also wanted to avoid allowing its far-left Supreme Court from ruling on its emergency provision permitting administrative detention of Islamic terrorists without trial or formal indictment. Hey, just like America, again! Remember how the Bush Administration wimped out on the same issue, when it dropped having courts review the identical American provision in the case of Jose Padilla a/k/a Abdullah Al-Muhajer?

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HUH? What dilemma? The world hates Israel no matter what the country does. You cannot maintain adequate national security if you run it at the whim of the international community of Jew-haters, Third-World despots, and leftists. (I guess I could’ve just use “Jew-haters,” since the rest is redundant.) If America ran itself according to protesters, the Occupy Wall Street Crowd would be living in the mansions (though some of ‘em, like Kanye West, Susan Sarandon, Russell Simmons, Barack Obama, and Alec Baldwin already are). It’s absurd.

…

Well, for once, I agree with a Palestinian a-hole. This guy is dangerous. He’s a terrorist. Now, you release him into the general population because you’re worried about what the Judenrein neo-Nazi Palestinians think?!

Disgusting. Israel has lost its moral imperative. Lost its will. Once again, tough-talking Nothingyahu speaks loudly and carries a toothpick.

FP: Welcome to the club, Debbie, but it took you too long to realize Israel’s obvious strategy ever since Oslo: appeasement. There is a straight line from Oslo, to the Shalit deal, to the release of Adnan, that more than likely leads to dealing with a unity government that includes Hamas. I wonder what Netanyahu will do if and when Palestinian terrorists realize that it’s more effective for them to hunger strike en masse, er, no, I actually don’t wonder.

I am approaching the point where I conclude that Israel, as part of the West, is collapsing too. Is this the kind of country that will take on Iran? I doubt it.

 

Haim Shine: The Jewish people's insurance policy

Israeli men and women who are willing to live a life of poverty and material want for the sake of Torah study have been not lauded, but rather showered with contempt.

FP: Oh, please, spare me this “poverty” crap. If Torah study is so important to them, let them work and fund it for themselves, not ask others and the public to work and fund it for them; and let them defend with their life their ability to do it, rather than have others defend them.

 

Religious politicians reel at annulment of Tal Law

Shas party leader Eli Yishai scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to discuss the ramifications of the failed Tal Law, which exempts ultra-Orthodox from military service.

FP: Why do I suspect that Netanyahu will somehow cave again? I very much doubt that the secularists have it in them to take the religious on and they’ll have only themselves to blame for the consequences.