The Tip of the Sword by Ira Schwartz

“If the Arabs put down their weapons today there would be no more violence.

If the Jews put down their weapons today there would be no more Israel.”

That is how I opened my October 4th article “Friends Forever”. It basically discussed the long and fruitful friendship Israel and the United States has enjoyed over the years. It’s still a good read and is listed in “The Hollywood Republicans” October ’09 archive.

In that article I went on to say..

“When the discussions with Iran fail, and they eventually will, it will be Israeli aircraft that take out the Iranian nuclear reactors not US fighters. Again we will publicly condemn them for this but privately applaud them for doing what we could not do without starting another war. Why would they do this? Because that’s what friends do.”

That statement is now even closer to the truth than when it was originally written. As I write this article Iranian “aid” ships are heading for Gaza determined to confront Israeli warships enforcing the Israeli blockade around Palestine. The Iranians say their ships carry medical aid, supplies and volunteers. The Israeli’s and most of the rest of the world are highly skeptical.

We all know what happened the last time ships tried to run the Israeli blockade. Despite at least a half dozen warning by the Israeli gun boats for the Turkish ships to turn around they continued. When the Israeli commandos boarded the ships they were immediately attacked with pipes and knives by those peace loving volunteers Turkey said were on board. Several YouTube videos of the incident clearly show the Israelis not to be the aggressors and were only defending themselves against this premeditated ambush. When the smoke cleared nine of the peace loving activists had been killed and six Israeli soldiers were injured, one severely.

To add insult to injury a Senior Hamas member, Ismail Raduan, responded to the IDF takeover on the vessels sailing to Gaza, saying that "this is state-sponsored organized terror. We are calling on the international community to do something. These are crimes against humanity and against our Palestinian people.”

Now this is the same Hamas that had no problem launching suicide bomber attacks against Israel from 1993 to 2005. In all 377 Israeli civilians and soldiers were killed and over 2,000 injured. But since they are now a legitimate government, so to speak, it’s okay for them to cry foul and expect the whole world to listen. Unfortunately those brain dead morons at the UN did. And in their infinite wisdom have decided to launch an investigation into the whole matter. Israel said, “Thanks but no thanks” we can investigate it ourselves. And they made it very clear that no Israeli will participate in any way with the UN probe. Surprisingly the United States actually backed Israel.

In late May Israel deployed three nuclear submarines to the Gulf region, well within striking distant of Iran. All three submarines are said to be carrying nuclear weapons. Those submarines join two Israeli missile cruisers that have been on station there since February.

But this is just the beginning. Earlier this week the Saudi Arabian government quietly gave Israel permission for her strike aircraft to use Saudi airspace on any bombing missions to Iran. It is not a secret that the Saudis, Egyptians and Jordanians, who are Sunnis, hate the Iranians, who are Shiite. The two groups have been killing each other for hundreds of years over which, Shiite or Sunni, is the rightful heir to Muhammad. The thought of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons has forced the three countries to put their differences aside with Israel and assist them anyway they can. I guess the old saying, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” is true if only for a short time.

And what is the United States doing while all of this is going on? The Obama administration is still trying the diplomatic approach with more sanctions that China and Russia keep watering down. Meanwhile Iran gets closer and closer to developing at least two nuclear devices. But we don’t have to worry this time because we are not the target. Iran’s target is and always has been Israel. And we can be sure the Israelis will do whatever they have to to insure the safety of their people. Something our present administration seems to have forgotten how to do.

But if the Middle East goes nuclear you can be sure it won’t stop there. And all the death that will be incurred will be the responsibility of every nation that is a member of the UN’s Security Council. Because all the warning signs are there and plain to see but Russia, China, England and the United States would rather play politics than take them seriously.

I could not end this article without commenting on the anti-Semitic remarks made by Helen Thomas, a member of the White House Press Corp for the last 57 years. For those of you who don’t know what she said a link has been provided to the video. The Hearst Corporation, her employer, forced her to retire after she said that all the Jews in Palestine should “get the hell out” and go home to Poland, Germany and America. Thomas, soon to turn 90, must have forgotten why the Jews left Poland and Germany in the first place. After all she was only in her mid twenties when it happened. (Thank you Jon Stewart). I won’t elaborate further and only say, “Bye, bye Helen. You departure is long overdue.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVlg01QMN3k&feature=player_embedded

© 2010 by Ira Schwartz. Used with Permission. All Rights Reserved

Saudi Arabia gives Israel clear skies to attack Iranian nuclear sites - Times Online

It's about time somebody sees the importance in this. Now, let Israel due it.


Saudi Arabia gives Israel clear skies to attack Iranian nuclear sites - Times Online

Marco Rubio Gets It

Here is an article by Jeniffer Rubin about the Obama Administration's position on Israel that shows the Republican Candidate for the Senate in Florida, Marco Rubio, gets it and understands why we have to support his candidacy and support Israel against Muslim Extremists.

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/rubin/311631

Nothing Noble about the Nobel Peace Prize Anymore by Ira Schwartz

Here is an article written by Ira about the Nobel Peace Prize as I promised yesterday. Hopefully, this will be the last we hear of this debacle. I hope you enjoy. Tomorrow, I will have another article by a guest writer, Michael Cochrane dealing with Global Warming. I'm still trying to have an article written myself by Friday. Sorry for the delay. Been really busy.

Nothing Nobel about the Nobel Peace Prize Anymore

Well the decision by the Nobel Foundation to award President Barack Obama the 2009 prize for Peace certainly shocked everyone in the world except the Nobel Foundation. The stunned look on the Presidents face when told he had won the prestigious award pretty much summed up how the rest of us felt.

In its statement, the Committee said President Obama "created a new climate in international politics. ... Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future." It continued, "His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population."

So they are basically saying that they have given our president the award because he has created a gentler, kinder United States. I can buy that one, for better or worse he has.

He has been in office barely a year and has already made inroads with several of his international overtures, though none have yet born fruit. Israel and the Palestinians are still struggling to find common ground but are trying; North Korea is still launching missiles and has yet to agree to the “six party” talks proposed by the United States and China; Iran has agreed to let inspectors in to their nuclear facilities, though the “when” part is still unclear and have also agreed to talks with the United States, when they will start is also unclear. The President has proposed total global nuclear disarmament which no one has taken seriously and we have finally joined with the rest of the world to find a way we can all live with global warming. We’re still fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the US installed government in Iraq is so corrupt it makes Chicago politicians look like saints. I thought the Nobel Prize was given for positive results in the area of peace not for just trying to get those results. If just trying was the criteria to be nominated then the Nobel Foundation’s list must be longer than Mr. Clauses on Christmas Eve.

The rumor of the day floating around the international community is the Nobel Foundation is really giving the award to the American people for their progressive thinking for not only electing a black man to the Whitehouse but a Muslim too. Well if that is the case then give the award to the American People. We could use that 1.2 million dollars to extend the “cash for clunkers” program for another five minutes.

Whatever their reasons in the end we have to ask ourselves this question, at this time in history do we feel President Barack Obama deserves to be in the illustrious ranks of such notable people as Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Albert Schweitzer, Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt? If not then the reasons given by the Nobel commission must be suspect and any future awards must appear a little less noble.

For those of you wondering who some of the other nominees were this year a partial list follows:

1. Chinese Human Rights Activist Hu Jia - imprisoned for campaigning for human rights in the PRC;

2. Wei Jingsheng, who spent 17 years in Chinese prisons for urging reforms of China's communist system;

3. Greg Mortenson, founder of the Central Asia Institute has built nearly 80 schools, especially for girls, in remote areas of northern Pakistan and Afghanistan over the past 15 years;

4. Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, a philosophy professor in Jordan who risks his life by advocating interfaith dialogue between Jews and Muslims; and,

5. Afghan human rights activist Sima Samar. She currently leads the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and serves as the U.N. special envoy to Darfur.

I guess those listed above just didn’t try hard enough.

Friends Forever? by Ira Schwartz

If the Arabs put down their weapons today there would be no more violence.

If the Jews put down their weapons today there would be no more Israel.

If the Jews all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.--Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah

We are not fighting so that you will offer us something. We are fighting to eliminate you.--Hussein Massawi, former head of the Hezbollah, about the Western world

The Jews are the cancer spreading all over the world...the Jews are a virus like AIDS hitting humankind...Jews are responsible for all wars and conflicts....Do not ask what Germany did to the Jews but what the Jews did to Germany. True, the Germans killed and burned Jews but the Jews exaggerate the numbers to gain propaganda advantages and sympathy….--Sheikh Ibrahim Mudairis, May 13, 2005, Gaza

The simple fact of the matter is that there is no such thing on the planet as sympathy for and identification with Palestinians. There is no such thing as pro-Palestinianism. Period. When Palestinians, or when Arabs in general, are mistreated, repressed and tormented by any Arab regime, no one cares. When Palestinians were mass murdered by Syria and Jordan, no one cared. When more than 100,000 Arab civilians are massacred in Algeria, it does not even make the evening news. When Asad or Saddam Hussein carried out mass murders of Arabs, the Human Rights lobby never looked up from its cinnamon latte.--Steven E. Plaut, PhD, professor of business administration, Graduate School of Business, University of Haifa

We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children. We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children. We will only have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us.--Golda Meir in 1977

How can you think about building a better future... if you indoctrinate your children to a culture of death?--Hillary Clinton

That is just a little look into the emotions that drive the conflicts in the Middle East. It’s not a pretty picture, hatred never is. Since Israel’s birth in 1948 this small country has fought seven wars against vastly superior enemies. They have won them all. They had no choice because each war fought was a war against an enemy that was seeking Israel’s total destruction. With the help of the United States the Israeli government has built the finest standing army in the Middle East. This is one of the reasons the fragile peace has lasted as long as it has. The other is far more sinister; Israel has nukes their surrounding Arab neighbors as yet do not.

When Israel declared its independence in 1948, US President Harry Truman was the first world leader to recognize the new country. It took just eleven minutes. 51 years later Israel is still one of our closest allies. Let’s look into a few of the reasons for this close friendship.

In an area where political assassinations, military coups and constant tribal feuding is the norm Israel is the sole democracy. As a democracy Israel is committed to the same standards as the United States in regards to its peoples; freedom, equality and tolerance for all regardless of religion, race or gender. Even though Israel was established as a homeland for the Jewish people, it like the United States is a melting pot of many, including Arabs and Muslims. All Israeli citizens enjoy full and equal rights. 24% of the Israeli population is Muslim. 20% is Arab; of this 24% are Palestinian. On the opposite side of the fence, and this is only a guesstimate by the UN since all the Arab nations refuse to release any figures, there are only 5,000 Jews living as citizens in all of the surrounding Arab countries. Of the 5,000 few have any rights and must pray in secret in fear for their lives.

During “Desert Storm” Israel was being pummeled by Iraqi Scud missiles. The U.S. asked Israel not to retaliate for fear of damaging the fragile coalition. They did what we asked and suffered millions of dollars in damage, several killed and hundreds injured. That’s what friends do for one another. How many of our “other” allies would have done that? You could count them on one hand with a couple of fingers left over.

When the discussions with Iran fail, and they eventually will, it will be Israeli aircraft that take out the Iranian nuclear reactors not US fighters. Again we will publicly condemn them for this but privately applaud them for doing what we could not do without starting another war. Why would they do this? Because that’s what friends do.

But sometimes being a friend involves tough love. During a 1938 speech, the father of Israel, David Ben Gurion spoke,

"Let us not ignore the truth among ourselves ... politically we are the aggressors and they defend themselves... The country is theirs, because they inhabit it, whereas we want to come here and settle down, and in their view we want to take away from them their country."

Our present administration requested Israel, for the sake of restarting the peace negotiations with the Palestinians, to cease all settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The Israeli’s countered that this new construction is needed for the natural growth of its population. If this doesn’t sound familiar it should. Our government used the same excuse as it expanded west and displaced all the Native American’s that lived there. Right or wrong it is to this day an ugly scare in the history of the United States. But growing countries need to expand and Israel is growing.

“We regret the reports of Israel’s plans to approve additional settlement construction,” Robert Gibbs, the White House spokesman, said. “As the President has said before, the United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued settlement expansion and we urge it to stop.”

Another US official said: “In the end America will be forced to do what is necessary to bring the Israelis and the Palestinians back to the negotiation table. But the Netanyahu Government has proven difficult to work with.”

New settlement growth has been one of the main sticking points to the peace talks. The Israeli settlements, built on land marked for a future Palestinian state, are strongly supported by most of the Israelis that elected Mr. Netanyahu. Politics again stands in the way of peace. Another factor Israel has in common with the United States.

Even though we don’t always see eye to eye, it is good to have such a strong friend in a region where you constantly need someone to watch your back. And Israel has proven time and time again they’ve got our back and much, much more. The only question left is will we continue to watch theirs?

Say "No" To Obama by Yari Shamir

Here is the correct web site for the article I tried to post yesterday. I accidentally posted an article from the New York Times about the unemployment rate in California. It is from YNet News.

http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3778526,00.html

Why Everyone is Saying No to Obama

This is an interesting article that should be read from a foreign affairs perspective.


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/19/us/19calif.html?hpw

The Ideology of a Liberal

Since the health care debate has wound down a little as a result of President Obama’s speech on Wednesday which, by the way, was pure rhetoric and seen by the General Public and pundits as a failure because of its lack of new ideas and detail, I have decided to tackle a subject other than health care reform in this article. What makes a liberal tick? Why are there such major differences between the two parties in this country?

The other day I was playing on Facebook and saw a number of posts from my liberal friends regarding health care. The comments posted were all similar. No one should go without health care in this country and no one should go broke because they got sick. Why only liberals would post this amazes me, because there are not too many people in the world that disagree. However, it is just not that simple.

In response, I posted a few comments. The majority of them were along the line of “Yes, I agree too, but who is going to pay for it and how is it going to work?” Almost universally, the liberal responses were either “The Rich,” or “Bring the Troops Back from Iraq and Afghanistan.” I then realized that most thinking from Liberals is not based upon logic. In fact, from these responses, it appears liberal thinking is idealist and based upon emotion. This has been argued in the past by both Ann Coulter and Dennis Prager among others. I now agree.

Whether you agree with the War on Terror is not the issue. The troops are committed. You cannot simply bring them back. To think bringing them back can be accomplished overnight is not to think realistically. You must leave them there as long as necessary to accomplish your goals or to train the local military to do it themselves. In Iraq because of the surge, this is quickly happening. In Afghanistan, it is a different story.

The Afghanistan situation is beginning to look like Vietnam. Either we make the commitment to beat the Taliban or we will be involved in a war of attrition which cannot be won. President Obama must take the steps necessary to accomplish the goal. Anything short of that will give the Taliban and Al Qaeda the foothold they need to take over the Afghanistan government again and to possibly move on Pakistan to get control of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. This is unacceptable.

The second response “The Rich” is also idealistic. How much more taxation do you think the rich are going to take before they completely revolt? The middle class and blue collar workers at the Tea Parties on Saturday show that they are fed up. And, they are not paying nearly as much of their income as the rich. If you add another 5% to the marginal tax rate as proposed in HR 3200, most of The Rich will be paying almost 50% of their income in taxes before state income taxes are even considered. In California and New York, that is more than 10%. (This analysis includes sales taxes, property taxes, luxury taxes, etc., as well as income taxes and other income withholding). And, you wonder why people are leaving California for Nevada, Arizona, Washington and other low tax states by the thousands. People; rich, middle class or poor, will just not tolerate more.

As shown by the previous examples, both responses given me last week by the liberals are just not realistic. They are based upon emotion. There is no logic behind them. Hence we have the major difference. Conservatives think logically and based upon the reality seen in facts and figures. Liberals think emotionally and from idealistic goals and ambitions. The two do not mix.

Let us examine a few other examples:

What about the current Administration’s outlook on foreign affairs? President Obama, during his campaign, said that he would talk and negotiate with the radicals in Iran, Venezuela and North Korea. Since he has become President, what has this policy gotten him; nothing. Iran continues its nuclear ambitions unabated. Venezuela continues poking its nose at the United States and its President. And, North Korea does whatever it wants and will soon, not only have nuclear weapons, but will also have missiles capable of delivering them.

Most recently, the tape from Osama Bin Laden is just another example of the failure of President’s Obama’s policy. After his speech in Egypt, everyone on the left believed the Radical Moslems would change their attitude towards the United States. All one has to do is listen to Bin Laden’s tape released in the last two days to realize that the emotional based thinking of the left is a far cry from the realism of the situation.

In the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, the President says that Israel should cease building settlements. The Prime Minister of Israel agrees in principle provided that the Palestinians agree to recognize Israel’s right to exist. The Palestinians say ‘no’ and Israel continues its expansion into the West Bank. Another failure of idealism on the Administration’s part

Those that truly understand foreign affairs could have predicted these outcomes. Learning from the past and the use of logic as done by conservatives, works. The emotion and idealism of the left does not. The Left’s desire for everything to be right and for everything to be fair controls their policy. Unfortunately, this is not reality. And, hopefully, President Obama is beginning to get it now too. All evidence however is to the contrary.

The same is true with “Cap and Trade” and Health Care Reform. Both liberal positions are based upon idealism and emotion. Everyone would like to lower carbon emissions and make the environment a better place. Everyone would love universal health care. But, the fact of the matter is that “Cap and Trade” will cause many businesses in this country to fail and for those that do not fail, there will be many lost jobs. The realism behind Health Care Reform or any of the plans under consideration by Congress now would bankrupt the country. There is no plan that is revenue neutral at this point.

In all of these situations, the liberal agenda is fueled by idealism and emotion. Maybe, if liberals started thinking logically and based upon the realities of the world, there would be less partisanship in Congress and more could be accomplished. Emotion is no way to govern this or any other country.

© 2009 by Frank T. DeMartini. Permission to be copied will be freely granted upon request.

The Palestinian Conflict and Iran Both At a Crossroads?

I am on vacation in South East Asia visiting friends and touring some areas that I am quite familiar with and some not so much. I have not had much access to news or the internet until the last two days. However, from what I have heard recently, there are definitely a few things that need to be addressed.

A few days ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, made a speech in we he agreed for the first time to the possibility of a two state solution. To many countries in the world, this is considered a major breakthrough in the Palestinian conflict. For the first time in recent memory, Israel is ready to consider giving the Palestinians a homeland. The entire western world applauded the concessions. Of course, the Palestinians did not: they condemned them.

Why? Part of Netanyahu’s concessions consisted of two demands upon the Palestinians. Unfortunately, for the rest of the world, the Palestinian leaders refuse to accept them. For one, Palestine must accept that the capital of Israel is Jerusalem. And two, the Arab World and particularly the Palestinians must recognize Israel’s right to exist.

First, we will discuss the Jerusalem situation as this is the most complicated. Jerusalem is the natural homeland to all three of the major western religions. Christians, Moslems and Jews all consider it sacred. It has always been the natural center of Israel and the home of the original Jewish Temple built by David.

When Israel was created in 1948, all of Jerusalem was not within its borders. The city was completely taken by Israel in one of its many wars about forty years ago. The Moslem world has always felt that it should not remain part of Israel because of this and because it is the city in which one of the most sacred and important Mosques stands. Since the conflict in which Israel took Jerusalem, this has always been one of the major stumbling blocks in any peace accord.

In my opinion Israel will never concede any of Jerusalem and it should not. As this is the home of Judaism, Israel must retain it within its borders. The Palestinians must concede on this issue. Jerusalem was never part of Palestine as Palestine would be a newly created state. This was not a stumbling block to peace with Egypt and it should not be a stumbling block to a resolution to the Palestinian situation.

As for the second issue, I simple cannot understand why the Palestinians would not recognize Israel’s right to exist. After all this time and after the majority of the entire world have accepted Israel, why would the Palestinians not concede on this point? The reason is very simple and gets to the heart of the whole conflict. The Palestinians and the rest of the Arab world care more about the existence of a Jewish homeland than they care about the existence of a Palestinian homeland.

A quick review of the history of the region shows that every time the Palestinians were offered a homeland, they have always turned it down. This has been done at least four times since the creation of Israel. The Palestinians always say no because they do not really want a homeland, they want Israel to cease to exist, plain and simple. Until the Palestinians change their position on this, there will never be peace in the region.

President Obama should immediately put as much pressure on the Palestinians as he has put on Israel to change its position. He cannot continue to favor Palestine in this debate over Israel. He must change his viewpoint and take a firm stand. Netanyahu has made a major concession. Now, Obama must force the Palestinian leaders to do the same. If he does not, he is proving that he is not a true friend of Israel, which is still the only true democracy in the region.

Or, might that be changing?

Since the obviously fixed Iranian election last week, the people of Iran have been protesting by the thousands. In fact, the protests which started peacefully last week have now turned violent since the Supreme Commander of Iran has decided that they should be quashed in the same manner as the Chinese quashed the protests in Tiananmen Square. In fact, the bloodshed of the last few days actually is beginning to look exactly like the Chinese bloodshed 20 years ago.

It all started when the current President was declared the victor in the nationwide election in less than two days after the election took place. Considering that all of the ballots in Iran are handwritten, I simply do not understand how the current government of Iran would actually believe that the world would accept these results as being anything other than fixed. How is it possible to count 39 million ballots in a 48 hour period?

The opposition leader immediately declared the election a sham and told his supporters to take to the streets. And, they have! By the thousands! The protests which started in Tehran have spread to all sections of the country and most importantly, include women which in the Arab world is a major surprise.

At first the current regime allowed the protests. But, as they have become larger with each passing day, the dictators realized that their regime was in danger of collapsing. On Friday, the Supreme Leader, the current Ayatollah stated that any continued protests would be done at the peril of the demonstrators. Since this statement, the government has completely eliminated the press from the country and the bloodshed began. The only source of information from Iran is now coming from internet networking sites and Twitter of all places. Imagine Twitter is a proponent of a populist revolution.

And, what has our Supreme Leader Mr. Obama done while this was going on; absolutely nothing except to comment that the “The World is Watching You,” to the Iranian leaders. Of course, this plays well with dictators. Hitler listened very carefully when Mr. Chamberlain sold off Czechoslovakia in 1938 and came back to the UK and said “Peace in our time.”

President Obama must immediately put the same level of pressure on the Iranian government that he has put on the Israeli government. The Iranian election which was obviously a sham should be thrown out and a new election under the watch of the United Nations should be had.

Yet, President Obama does nothing except say our watchful eye is upon you. As of this writing, he has not, even so much as condemned the election results. The Iranians protest and lose their lives and President Obama just watches. In fact, a poll was recently released which shows only single digits of Americans approve of the President’s handling of this situation. Even approval among Democrats is in the single digits.

I guess Mr. Obama is just living up to his campaign promise of being a pragmatist in this situation. I just wish he would finally do something before something happens that he will woefully regret. Remember, Iran either has or is very close to having nuclear weapons. I’m quite sure the current dictator and the Supreme Leader will have no problem using them if necessary either against Israel or his own people to quell the uprising!

© 2009 by Frank T. DeMartini. Permission to copy will be given freely upon request.

Is Obama Going to Abandon Israel?

President Obama has left the United States for a foreign trip that includes Saudi Arabia, Egypt, France and Germany. Unfortunately, a stop in Israel is not included. Why? With increasing rhetoric, Mr. Obama and his administration seem to be leaving Israel in the cold and partnering up with Israel’s Arab enemies at the same time that he is not taking the threats of North Korea seriously.

In the past few weeks, President Obama has told Israel that it must now accept a two state solution to the Palestinian problem, and just yesterday, he told Ehud Barak that Israel must stop all growth in the west bank settlements. Further, the President has taken the position that Iran may continue its nuclear programs provided that it intends only to pursue nuclear energy and not nuclear weapons, in contravention of Israeli wishes.

What is going on here? Does the President believe that by kissing up to our enemies; i.e. Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Radical Islam, that he is going to make all of the problems of the world go away? Does he believe that by allowing Israeli/US relations to go by the way side, he is going to make Al Qaeda disappear? I think not.

In fact, yesterday another tape of Osama Bin Laden appeared condemning the United States for backing the Pakistani military in taking on the Taliban. The tape made it clear that President Obama was no different from President Bush in Bin Laden’s eyes and that the blood of Muslims and retribution for their deaths would be on Obama’s hands. The War on Terror is not over regardless of what President Obama wants to call it, and based upon the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan, it is about to escalate.

And, the Israel/Arab situation will not get any better as a result.

The situation with the Palestinians is multi-faceted. To begin with, the Palestinians believe they were wronged when their land was given by the UK at the end of WWII to create the Jewish homeland. They will not have full peace with Israel unless they are given land by Israel for the creation of Palestine. President Obama has taken the position that this so called Two-State Solution is the best solution for the problem. And, there are many Israelis that agree with him.

However, the far right wing in Israel is vehemently opposed to the Two State Solution. These right wing radicals will do everything in their power to oppose it. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on your point of view, they have much power in the current Netanyahu Coalition Government. In fact, the first time Netanyahu was Prime Minister, he lost power because he angered the far right.

This is Netanyahu’s problem again. The far right wants continued growth of the settlements in land that would become part of Palestine. And, if Netanyahu takes on the far right again, he will be ousted a second time as a result of his coalition collapsing. So, by forcing the issue on the settlements and the Two State solution, Obama is causing a thaw in Israeli relations. He is putting Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of the only democratic country in the region, into a no win situation.

And, to make matters worse this week, the Obama Administration declared that any negotiations over the Palestinian situation would have to include Hamas at the negotiating table. Hamas has been and always will be a terrorist organization. What is happening to our country’s declaration that we will never negotiate with terrorists? This has been our policy for well over twenty years. And, a damn good policy it is. Has President Obama decided that talking to a terrorist organization that advocates the dissolution of Israel is the best way to solve this problem or is he just further exhibiting his abandonment of Israel? I wonder how President Obama’s supporters in Hollywood feel about this turn of events.

Obama’s speech this morning in Egypt was very conciliatory to the Muslim World and, so it should be. However, the President must still remember, that we are at war with radical Muslin. The Taliban and Al Qaeda will do whatever they can to destroy the United States of America. The Hamas and to a lesser extent Hezbollah will do the same. And, all of these organizations have one thing in common. They all hate Israel and do not recognize its right to exist. If you add the extremist leader of Iran to this group, you have a very powerful group of radical Muslims that want to end the Israeli State.

Obama must keep this in mind when he is forming his foreign policy for the Middle East. These groups will not tolerate any existence of Israel and will become enemies of anyone that does. By kissing up to Iran and now accepting the Hamas as a legitimate organization without either one of them recognizing Israel, he is snubbing his nose at one of our strongest allies. And, he is making the possibility of peace a further impossibility.

You may disagree with President Bush’s foreign policy, but you cannot disagree with its results. After 9/11, there was not one additional act of terrorism on US soil or against US assets abroad. Strength comes with fear. The Muslim dictators know this. It is the way of the Arab world. Do you think the Saudi leaders would be parading around the body of an executed be-headed man in the past week for any other reason? This is the way that Obama must build his foreign policy with the Arab world. The only way true peace can be achieved in the Middle East is through strength.

Unfortunately, this also seems to be the case in North Korea. Kim Jong-Il is showing, almost on a daily basis, that the Obama doctrine of conciliation is not working. Each day, North Korea is boldly acting to make the world a more dangerous place and the President does nothing. Is he waiting for an all out war to break out in Asia or will he do something before that happens? Keep in mind, that this week North Korea started bragging about an ICBM that could reach Alaska.

I know my ranting on this topic will upset many on the left that believe in the Obama doctrine. I can only wish that I am wrong. In fact, there is nothing that I would like more than to say in this column that Obama was right and that the acts of conciliation and kindness towards our enemies have solved the problems of the world. But, what if I am correct? Would you want to be the one who has to tell the people of the United States that our safety had been compromised because you did not take the actions of a few rogue states seriously? Do you want to be the one to tell the electorate that you did not adequately protect American interests in the Middle East? I think not.

©2009 by Frank T. DeMartini. Permission to use excerpts will be freely given upon request.

Current Affairs and Remembering Memorial Day

My original plan was to make this a non-political column and to address what Memorial Day should mean to this country in the current worldwide political climate. However, there have been so many developments politically in the past week that politics must have its fair say and Memorial Day will be addressed later.

Nancy Pelosi’s political standing has taken a turn for the worse in the past few days. The press conference she gave last week was one of the most awkward things I have witnessed by a politician. She seemed flustered and completely out of her element. And during it, she attacked the CIA, which is run by a confirmed Democrat, Leon Panetta. Why she would be attacking the CIA makes absolutely no sense? The only thing she accomplished by this ridiculous behavior is to go to war with the CIA and Mr. Panetta.

Members of both parties are now openly declaring she has been politically damaged by the whole situation. It is quite clear she is lying about something. She was so flustered she couldn’t even remember what she said a few minutes earlier during the press conference. My personal feeling is that she is now attempting to cover up what she new about the Enhanced Interrogation Techniques as early as 2002, but no later than 2003. It’s like 1973 all over again. She does not want anyone to know what she knew because she and her party want Republican blood on this issue.

It is pretty clear that a high ranking member of a House Intelligence committee would know everything that was going on and receive regular briefings from the intelligence community. For her to claim that she did not know about the water boarding is beyond belief. She obviously knew what was going on and did not object back in 2002-2003 because they majority of the country was in fear as a result of 9/11. Now, the times have changed, public opinion has changed and she can do whatever she wants to further the goals of her party.

Did she expect everyone to let her slide on this? I think not. If she did, she is even dumber than I initially thought. Bottom line is she has got to come clean and admit she knew what was going on and that she either expressly or impliedly acquiesced to it. If that brings her down, so be it. It could not happen to a nicer person.

This brings me to another issue that is directly related. Apparently, Senate Democrats, keeling over to public pressure, are beginning to change their mind on Gitmo. Just today, they denied 80 million dollars in funding needed to close the facility. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats not only oppose the release of detainees into the United States but also oppose the transfer of detainees to U.S. prisons. Maybe, Mr. Bush and the Republicans had it right all along? Wouldn’t it be wild to have the Democrats finally admit that President Bush was acting correctly on certain controversial national security issues?

Of course, this would make President Obama look really bad to the majority of his supporters. How does he explain the necessity of leaving Gitmo open when closing it was, not only one of his main campaign promises, but also one of his first executive orders when taking office? Either way, the Democrats are going to end up with egg on their faces on this issue and the Republicans will have been proven correct.

Another interesting development in the last few days is US/Israeli relations. Does President Obama really support Israel? In the past few months it is beginning to seem less clear. Obama wants a two state solution. Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel made it clear to President Obama at the White House on Monday that Israel wanted peace. However, he did not acquiesce to a two state solution and he did not agree to stop the settlements in the disputed areas.

Instead Netanyahu stated that the peace process must be a two way street. He further stated that Iran was the biggest danger to the entire peace process. The other Middle Eastern countries, including, but not limited to Iran and the Palestinians, must recognize Israel’s right to exist. Until that happens, no peace is possible.

President Obama must side with Netanyahu on these issues. Israel must remain America’s strongest ally in the Middle East. Every President in the past thirty years has realized this. I think President Obama should stop applying pressure on Israel and instead apply it to Iran. Until Iran’s nuclear threat is neutralized, there will be no peace in the Middle East.

I wonder where Rahm Emmanuel is right now?

My position on the Middle Eastern situation is not because of my standing in the entertainment community as some of my critics have suggested. It is simple and basic foreign relations. Israel is the only true democracy in the region. It is one of our most important trading partners in the region. We cannot turn our backs on them and we must support them. After all, we are war with radical Islam no matter what President Obama chooses to call it.

Finally, I would like to speak about Memorial Day which was my original intent in this column. It was originally called Decoration Day and began after the Civil Way in 1868 as a way to pay tribute to those who had died defending the country. The original tradition, begun in Waterloo, NY, was to decorate the graves of the fallen military. Hence, the name Decoration Day.

It has evolved beyond that into much more. It is on this day we remember everything the military has done for us. We remember those that died storming the beaches in Normandy. We remember those that lost their lives in the Tet Offensive. We remember our fallen brethren in Iraq and Afghanistan. And, we should remember those that have long been forgotten with time.

These are our sons and daughters and ancestors that have given all so that our way of life could survive. We should not protest against them. We should honor them. So, on Monday, when you are attending a Memorial Day BBQ or parade, try to remember why you are there. Remember, all of the good we have in this country and those that gave all for that good. And, remember those who died keeping this country together approximately 150 years ago during the Civil War. There would be no “United” States without them.

We are one proud nation. The whole world looks up to us and wants to emulate us. This is still the country where most of the world wants to live. Regardless of which party is in power, no one leaves here for greener pastures. These are the greener pastures and on Memorial Day, we must remember those who have given their lives to keep them that way.

©2009 by Frank T. DeMartini. Permission to use excerpts will be freely given upon request.

A Few Thoughts from Abroad About Gaza and Economics

Well, I am now settled in Bangkok which will be my home for the next two months. I’m here prepping a film for the ABC Family Channel, entitled, “The Prince and Me 4.” It’s a cute little romantic comedy about the King and Queen of Denmark attending a royal wedding in the fictional Asian country of Sangyoon.

But, promoting my film career is not why I write these columns. I write them to discuss politics. And, I must state that being outside of the United States tends to cause one to hear things differently. People here and in other parts of the world, have vastly different opinions and viewpoints.

To begin with, Israel’s move into Gaza has very little support outside of the western world. The majority of the news I read and hear is anti-Israeli. This is a fact that I simply cannot understand. Hamas are terrorists. If San Diego was being constantly subjected to rocket attacks from Tijuana, would anybody complain, except some people whose thoughts are far to the left, if the United States invaded Tijuana to stop the attacks? Of course not.

So, then why must Israel be criticized for doing the same thing? The rocket attacks from Hamas into Israeli territory were almost constant and had gone on for months. It doesn’t matter if the rockets are crude or weak. They are still being launched into Israeli territory and may injure or kill Israeli civilians.

Now, Israel is facing the possibility of sanctions from the inept United Nations for defending itself. Doesn’t Article 50 of the UN Charter give a country the absolute right to defend its borders from enemy attack? Why must Israel be condemned for this defense strategy?

The critics are saying that Israel is killing civilians. I am sure these civilians are not the targets in this battle. There is no excuse for killing civilians, but during times of military conflict, the bombs do not always drop where they are supposed to drop. Hamas does not care where the rockets they launch land whether it be in an old folk’s home or an elementary school. Israel is not intentionally harming civilians and I am sure the Israeli armed forces feel pain every time it happens. Does Hamas hurt when they kill innocent bystanders? No! In fact, they are terrorists and thrive on harming bystanders. Al Qaeda and Hamas have much in common.

I applaud President Bush for standing up for Israel in these difficult times. He has proven his backing for Israel is absolute. I can only hope that the incoming president will also be true to our strongest ally in the Middle East. Although, I am not too sure since Obama continually hides behind, “There can only be one president at a time,” whenever questioned about anything. At some point, Obama will have to take a stand. I hope it starts on January 20.

Hopefully, the situation in Gaza will resolve itself in the next few days and all of this anti-Israeli propaganda will end. At the same time, I am sure that Israel will not back down until it has achieved its objectives. It does not cave into pressure from within or without. Israel stands it course. This is something we should learn.

On the domestic front in the United States, I am disturbed that the remaining 350 billion dollars in TARP money is going to be released. I guess I was hoping beyond reason that this bailout fever had finally come to an end. However, I am more disturbed when I see that Obama wants to give the money to aid in stalling foreclosures. Again, why are we bailing out people who bought houses they couldn’t afford? Where are the accolades to people who are actually making their mortgage payments? They are getting nothing for living up to their contractual obligations. Meanwhile, people who are not are getting gifts from the government. This is blatantly unfair.

Obama’s new stimulus package is expected to cost at least 850 billion dollars. Where is this money coming from? And, most importantly, who is going to pay for it? Are we going to burden our children with piles and piles of debt? Last week, the incoming president stated that we should expect one trillion dollar deficits for years to come. Is this “change we can believe in?” No, it’s more of the same old failed democratic policies that have gone on since the days of FDR. Do the words tax and spend come to mind?

Many economists feel that FDR’s New Deal did not end the depression, but instead extended and deepened it. Keynesian economics has not been proven to work at any time. It is a theory. You cannot just continue to throw good money after bad. The recession must run its course. Things will turn around, but we cannot continue to feed the bad news. The monetarists will probably succeed if they are only given the time.

One thing that was good about the incoming president was that he brought hope to the people. Now, he is dampening that hope by telling people that the recession is going to last long and that we are going to have large deficits for years to come. Maybe what he’s really doing is dampening expectations. I’m sure this makes the 7.2% of the American population that is unemployed quite happy. By the way, when was the last time that the unemployment rated jumped four tenths of a percentage point in one month? I can’t remember, can you?

This recession will end when the cycle has ended. Housing prices will stabilize when the bubble has fully burst. Unemployment will go down when confidence in the economy returns. Whether this happens next year or five years from now is anybodies guess. However, one thing is for sure, throwing another one trillion dollars into the toilet is not the answer. In fact, it could make this recession last much longer and actually turn into a depression. If it isn’t already that is.