True reality in Gaza (and elsewhere) must be viewed by examining a transcript inside a transcript within the transcript. Purportedly leaked earlier this week by a top US military official, the published transcript of President Obama's telephone conference with Prime Minister Netanyahu which occurred this past Sunday, in part, reads as follows:
The President, BO: "I demand that Israel agrees to an immediate unilateral ceasefire and halt all offensive activities... " [Forget what I said about your right to existential self defense with more than 80% of your population having less than 90 seconds to reach a bomb shelter daily.]
The Prime Minister, BN: "And what will Israel receive in exchange for a ceasefire..." [Other than Hamas being given sanctuary to reload and kill more innocents.]
BO: "I believe Hamas will cease its rocket fire..." [As it did not in the short duration of the five previous ceasefires.]
Today, more excerpts from this hotly disputed leaked "transcript" are being published world-wide, including the following portions disclosed exclusively here for the first time:
BN: "Mr. President while your belief in Hamas' good will toward Israel (and Gaza's dwindling supply of innocent civilian human shields) is admirable from America's vantage point 7000 miles from Tel Aviv, allow me to refer you to an almost identical situation that confronted your country when subjected to merciless unprovoked attacks from the sky by [very] foreign militants. Under the steadfast leadership of President Thomas J. Whitmore, America prevailed by the sheer tenacity of its willingness to spare no military means to deny these attackers victory over the forces of human civilization."
BO: "Yes, Bibi that historical precedent might be of immense relevance to this current confrontation by Israel and Hamas in Gaza. But, as my recollection of the exact strategy employed by President Whitmore escapes me at the moment, can you text me the relevant excerpts from any transcribed record of his decision making to which now you so earnestly cite?"
BN: "Certainly, Barrack, let me read to you the salient portion right now - Whitmore: 'Can we negotiate a truce? Is there room for co-existence? Can there be peace between us?'
Foreign militant: 'Peace? No peace.' Whitmore: What do you want us to do?' Foreign militant: 'Die; we will kill you all.' Whitmore: 'He wanted me to understand ... so nuke em all."
BO: "I too now understand; so how long will it take for Israel to stop defending itself against this Terrorist Entity that has told you that your only means to end this war is 'TO DIE'?
Of course, fact is so much more scary than fiction, or as Lewis Carroll (not actor Bill Pullman) put it: "If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise ... it wouldn't be ... You see." That is the only plausible explanation for why this Administration, the most ardent defender of the Jewish national home EVER, has chosen to demand that Israel cease and desist, quite possibly from existence.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Why Theodore Roosevelt still matters; Woodrow Wilson as well
Periodically, I am asked - why not go beyond such negativity and instead pronounce positive solutions to the myriad of government scandals, incompetence and failed policies so artfully described in my Blog posts? Okay, that proposition has not been proffered to me as of today; nonetheless, it has occurred to me sua sponte from time to time.
Accordingly, we commence a new paradigm here and now together. My vision for the faithful execution of the responsibilities of the Leader of the Free World is to undertake such forceful actions under law as necessary to preserve, protect and defend freedom in America and in all nations where freedom is cherished, but threatened. More than a century ago, Teddy Roosevelt, of Rough Rider fame, knew all too well that leadership can only accomplished from the front, so he lead the charge up San Juan Hill. As President, Roosevelt, in having the US Navy circumnavigate the globe with our Great White Fleet, demonstrated to all future opponents of US interests that while we might speak softly, we weren't about to bring any knives to a gun fight.
While Woodrow Wilson was a laconic progressive of very marginal leadership skills - he had about as much "get it done" charisma as one would expect from a failed Davidson College drop out, having only made it through his frosh year before transferring to Princeton University, where he was graduated at the top of his class. Nonetheless, when revolutionary bandits from Mexico launched murderous raids into our southwest border states, Wilson fully appreciated that his constitutional duty to defend the sovereign integrity of America mandated military enforcement of the sanctity of the Mexico/United States border. Accordingly, President Woodrow Wilson unleashed a truly effective defense of our border state citizens by ordering an Army division of combat soldiers, lead by the toughest commanders available, General "Jack Boot" Pershing and Colonel George "Blood and Guts" Patton to restore law and order to the Nation's endangered southwest.
Today's southwest border scenario is indeed far more grave than the situation that confronted Woodrow Wilson. Boiled down to its essential components, America is under siege by tens of thousands of young illegal immigrants, many infirm with contagious diseases and no means of supporting themselves beyond the payments already made by relatives to murderous coyotties to dump them across the Rio Grand River. The sophistication and efficiency of these human traffic cabals would make Pancho Villa green with envy.
Even more horrendous, however, is the obvious full immunity from law enforcement interference granted to these criminal enterprises by the Government of Mexico. Indisputably, pay-offs have been made and accepted to look the other way when trains traverse the entire north south length of Mexico, over 1000 miles, with hundreds of illegals riding in plain site on the top of every single freight car, the caboose and even the diesel engines. As Mexico has become a co-conspirator in this "death train" of criminal misery, that nation must be held responsible for the humanitarian crisis unfolding daily in which these innocent boys and girls are brutalized by their coyotties and the lethal dangers of riding roof top rails, whereby an untold number die from dehydration and other deprivations (how does anyone safety sleep on a week long trip on top of an unsecured boxcar moving at over thirty miles per hour?) before ever reaching America. Recent estimates have projected that the number of deaths over the past several years from this Mexico government endorsed human trafficing operation far exceed the number of civilian deaths in Gaza from the ongoing Israeli missile/tunnel defensive battles.
In seeking to save these tens of thousands of innocent children, President Obama need look no further for guidance than his democratic forebear, Woodrow Wilson. Real and effective leadership would solve this humanitarian crisis in about four days' time. Day 1: Inform Mexico and the United Nations that Mexico's allowance of the free and unfettered passage of the Death Trains constitutes a Crime against Humanity, as defined by the International Criminal Court to be a government sponsored or tolerated criminally murderous program entailing attacks on human dignity or the degradation of innocent human beings. Day 2: Mexico is given 24 hours to sign a binding treaty with the US to utilize combined American/Federali police officers to terminate all future operations of these trains of death. Day 3: Should Mexico refuse to enter into this treaty of cooperative train safety enforcement, the President announces that drone strikes on all unoccupied death train railway bridges will commence in 24 hours. Day 4: When verified as remote in time to all traveling trains, America disables the operations of the death trains by destruction of all Mexican railway bridges over the entire 1000 mile length of this conveyance of violent death.
By execution of this Woodrow Wilson/Pershing-like defense of our Nation's border integrity, not one person would be injured and thousands of innocent children could be saved from death in the deserts of Mexico. Presidential leadership does require courageous vision and it most certainly does not include providing free airline trips from central America to the United States in order to stop these children from being loaded onto moving death trains - easier to safely stop the trains from running. Now that's a positive program we can all get behind, when the President chooses to lead from the front.
Accordingly, we commence a new paradigm here and now together. My vision for the faithful execution of the responsibilities of the Leader of the Free World is to undertake such forceful actions under law as necessary to preserve, protect and defend freedom in America and in all nations where freedom is cherished, but threatened. More than a century ago, Teddy Roosevelt, of Rough Rider fame, knew all too well that leadership can only accomplished from the front, so he lead the charge up San Juan Hill. As President, Roosevelt, in having the US Navy circumnavigate the globe with our Great White Fleet, demonstrated to all future opponents of US interests that while we might speak softly, we weren't about to bring any knives to a gun fight.
While Woodrow Wilson was a laconic progressive of very marginal leadership skills - he had about as much "get it done" charisma as one would expect from a failed Davidson College drop out, having only made it through his frosh year before transferring to Princeton University, where he was graduated at the top of his class. Nonetheless, when revolutionary bandits from Mexico launched murderous raids into our southwest border states, Wilson fully appreciated that his constitutional duty to defend the sovereign integrity of America mandated military enforcement of the sanctity of the Mexico/United States border. Accordingly, President Woodrow Wilson unleashed a truly effective defense of our border state citizens by ordering an Army division of combat soldiers, lead by the toughest commanders available, General "Jack Boot" Pershing and Colonel George "Blood and Guts" Patton to restore law and order to the Nation's endangered southwest.
Today's southwest border scenario is indeed far more grave than the situation that confronted Woodrow Wilson. Boiled down to its essential components, America is under siege by tens of thousands of young illegal immigrants, many infirm with contagious diseases and no means of supporting themselves beyond the payments already made by relatives to murderous coyotties to dump them across the Rio Grand River. The sophistication and efficiency of these human traffic cabals would make Pancho Villa green with envy.
Even more horrendous, however, is the obvious full immunity from law enforcement interference granted to these criminal enterprises by the Government of Mexico. Indisputably, pay-offs have been made and accepted to look the other way when trains traverse the entire north south length of Mexico, over 1000 miles, with hundreds of illegals riding in plain site on the top of every single freight car, the caboose and even the diesel engines. As Mexico has become a co-conspirator in this "death train" of criminal misery, that nation must be held responsible for the humanitarian crisis unfolding daily in which these innocent boys and girls are brutalized by their coyotties and the lethal dangers of riding roof top rails, whereby an untold number die from dehydration and other deprivations (how does anyone safety sleep on a week long trip on top of an unsecured boxcar moving at over thirty miles per hour?) before ever reaching America. Recent estimates have projected that the number of deaths over the past several years from this Mexico government endorsed human trafficing operation far exceed the number of civilian deaths in Gaza from the ongoing Israeli missile/tunnel defensive battles.
In seeking to save these tens of thousands of innocent children, President Obama need look no further for guidance than his democratic forebear, Woodrow Wilson. Real and effective leadership would solve this humanitarian crisis in about four days' time. Day 1: Inform Mexico and the United Nations that Mexico's allowance of the free and unfettered passage of the Death Trains constitutes a Crime against Humanity, as defined by the International Criminal Court to be a government sponsored or tolerated criminally murderous program entailing attacks on human dignity or the degradation of innocent human beings. Day 2: Mexico is given 24 hours to sign a binding treaty with the US to utilize combined American/Federali police officers to terminate all future operations of these trains of death. Day 3: Should Mexico refuse to enter into this treaty of cooperative train safety enforcement, the President announces that drone strikes on all unoccupied death train railway bridges will commence in 24 hours. Day 4: When verified as remote in time to all traveling trains, America disables the operations of the death trains by destruction of all Mexican railway bridges over the entire 1000 mile length of this conveyance of violent death.
By execution of this Woodrow Wilson/Pershing-like defense of our Nation's border integrity, not one person would be injured and thousands of innocent children could be saved from death in the deserts of Mexico. Presidential leadership does require courageous vision and it most certainly does not include providing free airline trips from central America to the United States in order to stop these children from being loaded onto moving death trains - easier to safely stop the trains from running. Now that's a positive program we can all get behind, when the President chooses to lead from the front.
Sunday, July 27, 2014
It's a Hell of a Pin Point Operation, isn't it?
Well, Secretary Kerry: yes; yes it is. Prior to the President's toady flying to the Gaza war zone intending to stifle Israel's defensive efforts against the escalating Hamas invasion - thousands of missiles weekly launched at population centers and hundreds of miles of invasion tunnels fashioned by years of engineering mastery, so that many include electricity, sewage disposal and rail car tracks - I predicted that Obama's choice of sides would prove either his love of or hatred for Israel.
Well, now America and the entire world has a very clear confirmation - it's Hamas baby. Indisputable proof is found in the very terms of the cease fire proposal that Mr. Kerry announced in Tel Aviv on Thursday - all Israeli efforts to locate and dismantle the Hamas invasion tunnels must immediately cease, as identically, all efforts to locate and disarm the Hamas missiles must cease as well.
Fully anticipating that Israel would object to this cessation of the IDF's existential program to disable the Hamas invasion capabilities, Kerry acknowledged that as in the three prior Gaza conflicts - 2006, 2008 and 2012 - a temporary end to armed hostilities would accomplish little more than providing Hamas time and sanctuary "to live, resupply and fight better another day".
Accordingly, the Honorable Secretary proclaimed that a new post-Vietnam strategic paradigm was needed in Gaza to break this cycle of increasingly deadly violence. Kerry announced that only when he could go to Gaza City and see "happy faces" would these Palestinians turn away from their murderous attacks and live in harmony with their then friendly neighbor, Israel. Kerry explained that in order to turn these Arab frowns into joyous smiles, Israel needed to fairly address the "legitimate grievances" of the Palestinians. He is correct of course, a contented populous is rarely hell bent of war making, thereby upsetting the peaceful equilibrium of daily life devoted to building a better life for it's citizens. Building things like schools, hospitals and youth recreational centers takes a lot of concrete and master engineers not otherwise occupied full time in construction of millions of dollars of invasion infrastructure.
So, what are the grievance(s) Israel must satisfy to make Kerry's ardent wish for peace in our time come true? Indisputably, Hamas has but one grievance - a single stated reason for its existence as memorialized in this terror organization's Founding Charter - Israel as a nation must die. Granted, some Jews might be allowed to live in the new nation of triumphal, conquering Palestine - as slaves upon conversion to Islam. Kerry should know that appeasement of pure evil is useless, that is unless his policy preferences coincide more closely with this terror entity than with our one true ally.
Again, I am speechless.
Well, now America and the entire world has a very clear confirmation - it's Hamas baby. Indisputable proof is found in the very terms of the cease fire proposal that Mr. Kerry announced in Tel Aviv on Thursday - all Israeli efforts to locate and dismantle the Hamas invasion tunnels must immediately cease, as identically, all efforts to locate and disarm the Hamas missiles must cease as well.
Fully anticipating that Israel would object to this cessation of the IDF's existential program to disable the Hamas invasion capabilities, Kerry acknowledged that as in the three prior Gaza conflicts - 2006, 2008 and 2012 - a temporary end to armed hostilities would accomplish little more than providing Hamas time and sanctuary "to live, resupply and fight better another day".
Accordingly, the Honorable Secretary proclaimed that a new post-Vietnam strategic paradigm was needed in Gaza to break this cycle of increasingly deadly violence. Kerry announced that only when he could go to Gaza City and see "happy faces" would these Palestinians turn away from their murderous attacks and live in harmony with their then friendly neighbor, Israel. Kerry explained that in order to turn these Arab frowns into joyous smiles, Israel needed to fairly address the "legitimate grievances" of the Palestinians. He is correct of course, a contented populous is rarely hell bent of war making, thereby upsetting the peaceful equilibrium of daily life devoted to building a better life for it's citizens. Building things like schools, hospitals and youth recreational centers takes a lot of concrete and master engineers not otherwise occupied full time in construction of millions of dollars of invasion infrastructure.
So, what are the grievance(s) Israel must satisfy to make Kerry's ardent wish for peace in our time come true? Indisputably, Hamas has but one grievance - a single stated reason for its existence as memorialized in this terror organization's Founding Charter - Israel as a nation must die. Granted, some Jews might be allowed to live in the new nation of triumphal, conquering Palestine - as slaves upon conversion to Islam. Kerry should know that appeasement of pure evil is useless, that is unless his policy preferences coincide more closely with this terror entity than with our one true ally.
Again, I am speechless.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Why Thomas Paine still Matters; Beethoven too
Periodically, I am asked why I blog. Okay, I was asked this question once; but still, it got me thinking about my incurable obsession. And inasmuch as most, if not all, Elite members have pondered, if not voiced, this same imponderable, here is my most succinct explanation.
Why did Beethoven compose music even when he could not hear his own works performed? The creation of great sounds requires no justification other than the love of just the right number of notes, or in a blog, just the right words set well to paper in their original craftsmanship. Any plagiarism would be unacceptable Mr. Benny Avni. (A little inside baseball there).
The second, more enduring, if not more endearing, reason is that I see myself as a true citizen - not of the world, but of a gravely endangered Constitutional Republic. One in which even one shrill voice should help man the barricades to keep out the barbarians. A blog is, after all, just a modern day Thomas Paine pamphlet.
So, preamble in place, now on to blog content. President Obama: The resolution of the Malaysian Airliner shoot-down requires Russia to allow into the crash site our National Transportation Safety Board investigators. (Paraphrased). Say what? Does he mean only those NTSB employees who are also Navy Seal Team six members? You don't bring a knife to a gun fight and you don't send accident reconstructors to a live fire war zone. To determine who is responsible for this horrific act of barbaric terrorism all is needed is the American Intelligence community - as with Benghazi, Ukraine ain't no group of Arabs out for a walk who decided to kill Dutch citizens due to their having watched a anti-muslim video.
Secretary John Kerry: "The resolution of the current Gaza conflict requires nothing more than for Hamas to be reasonable." (Almost direct quote). Say what? Does he mean that Hamas should fire its thousands of lethal missiles at Israeli military installations only, and only during normal business hours? Does he mean that Hamas should refrain from launching its lethal rockets from Gaza schools, hospitals and mosques, and instead fire them from specially designated military installations?
Such Orwellian double speak would be humorous were it not uttered by the truly most powerful leaders of this Constitutional Republic, who apparently are seeking its fundamental transformation.
I am left speechless.
Why did Beethoven compose music even when he could not hear his own works performed? The creation of great sounds requires no justification other than the love of just the right number of notes, or in a blog, just the right words set well to paper in their original craftsmanship. Any plagiarism would be unacceptable Mr. Benny Avni. (A little inside baseball there).
The second, more enduring, if not more endearing, reason is that I see myself as a true citizen - not of the world, but of a gravely endangered Constitutional Republic. One in which even one shrill voice should help man the barricades to keep out the barbarians. A blog is, after all, just a modern day Thomas Paine pamphlet.
So, preamble in place, now on to blog content. President Obama: The resolution of the Malaysian Airliner shoot-down requires Russia to allow into the crash site our National Transportation Safety Board investigators. (Paraphrased). Say what? Does he mean only those NTSB employees who are also Navy Seal Team six members? You don't bring a knife to a gun fight and you don't send accident reconstructors to a live fire war zone. To determine who is responsible for this horrific act of barbaric terrorism all is needed is the American Intelligence community - as with Benghazi, Ukraine ain't no group of Arabs out for a walk who decided to kill Dutch citizens due to their having watched a anti-muslim video.
Secretary John Kerry: "The resolution of the current Gaza conflict requires nothing more than for Hamas to be reasonable." (Almost direct quote). Say what? Does he mean that Hamas should fire its thousands of lethal missiles at Israeli military installations only, and only during normal business hours? Does he mean that Hamas should refrain from launching its lethal rockets from Gaza schools, hospitals and mosques, and instead fire them from specially designated military installations?
Such Orwellian double speak would be humorous were it not uttered by the truly most powerful leaders of this Constitutional Republic, who apparently are seeking its fundamental transformation.
I am left speechless.
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Why Obama hates Israel
Two immediate caveats - (1) this President is not in my judgment an anti-semite, although he definitely does intensely dislike Benjamin Netanyahu; (2) also, this President does not hate the United States, as shown by his desire to play every worthwhile golf course in the entire nation before his term in office expires.
That said, it is quite extraordinary that Mr. Obama has such a visceral disdain for our one true friend in the middle east, the fully democratic nation of Israel. A brief recitation of relevant facts about Israel's fundamental decency and steadfast commitment to the same values as we hold dear should convince any objective observer that Israel should be and is America's most steadfast ally in a region of the world where the very future of western civilization is under a growing existential threat by the forces of Islamist jihad. Israel is a pluralistic society which grants full citizenship rights to qualified Arab residents. (The Palestinians want to create an apartheid state in which every non-muslim is expelled.)
Israel conducts all of its governmental activities pursuant to the Rule of Law, equally applied to rich and poor, Arab and Jew alike. (The Palestinians are governed by the Rule of the Gun, any dissent from the ruling party line exposes the dissenter to a violent rebuttal.)
Israel has a human rights record that protects all minority residents and citizens from abuses. Israel has given woman full rights of participation in the political processes of the nation, ergo the election and governance of Prime Minister Golda Meir. (The Palestinians name schools, public squares and other government edifices after mass murderers of Jews, many times children slaughtered in Day Care facilities.) Clearly, my point is made here - when three Israeli teens were abducted and murdered, the majority of Palestinians rejoiced and they effected the escape of their killers; when a Arab teen was murdered, the majority of Jews mourned with the boy's parents and promptly arrested those Jewish criminals deemed culpable.
In this context of a clear delineation between American values being sought to be destroyed by Islamist fascists, the President does not even call Prime Minister Netanyahu, but he finds it appropriate to call the American World Cup soccer goalie to congratulate him on being a hero. Then, with hundreds of deadly rockets being launched from Gaza into Israel's civilian population centers (and with the Hamas stockpile of such rockets reliably estimated to exceed 10,000), the President calls for an immediate ceasefire at a point in time which will preserve Hamas' strategic advantage.
Let be honest here - since its capture of the Gaza strip in 2006, Hamas, not Israel, has been winning its war of total destruction against the Jewish nation. Major month long battles in this war of planned extinction have been fought by Hamas and Israel over the period of late 2006, 2008 and again in 2012. In each resumption of air and ground combat, the Israelis have responded in defense of their millions of citizens, both Arab and Jew, who have been subjected to ever more geographically expansive rocket attacks. In 2006, the Hamas arsenal was of a limited range, capable of striking only about 25 miles into southern Israel; after a US brokered ceasefire, in 2008, the Gaza terrorists were restocked by Iran with rockets having a range of more than fifty miles into Israel proper. After the 2008 coerced cessation of Israel's defensive efforts, the Iranian resupply of the Gaza arsenal extended these terror rocket's reach up to seventy five miles during the indiscriminate rocket attacks oncivilian centers in the Fall of 2012.
In the current battle for the survival of Israel, the Hamas rockets have expanded their range to upwards of one hundred and seventy-five miles, now striking daily the nation's two critical population centers - Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Even a community organizer can see this untenable pattern from 2006 until now - shadow boxing with Hamas, leaving this terrorist group disabled for a short period of time - indisputably allows them to come back a few years later both emboldened, empowered and more lethal.
Now, the Israelis have decided upon a new paradigm, one that will alter the Arc of History away from the incremental destruction of the Nation and provide for a Gaza battle outcome which will re-establish IDF control of this land area, such that the southern boundary of Gaza will no longer be unsecured to allow the unfettered smuggling to Hamas of ever more powerful long range rockets. Any more Korea-like stalemate via imposed truce declarations is now clearly seen to be slowly bleeding Israel to its death.
According, the President has an existential choice here - assist Israel in its battle for national survival or impose another (temporary only) cessation of hostilities that allows Hamas to live to fight and win another day. His choice here might not explain why he hates Israel, but if made in favor of Hamas, it will end forever the debate as to this characterization being accurate.
That said, it is quite extraordinary that Mr. Obama has such a visceral disdain for our one true friend in the middle east, the fully democratic nation of Israel. A brief recitation of relevant facts about Israel's fundamental decency and steadfast commitment to the same values as we hold dear should convince any objective observer that Israel should be and is America's most steadfast ally in a region of the world where the very future of western civilization is under a growing existential threat by the forces of Islamist jihad. Israel is a pluralistic society which grants full citizenship rights to qualified Arab residents. (The Palestinians want to create an apartheid state in which every non-muslim is expelled.)
Israel conducts all of its governmental activities pursuant to the Rule of Law, equally applied to rich and poor, Arab and Jew alike. (The Palestinians are governed by the Rule of the Gun, any dissent from the ruling party line exposes the dissenter to a violent rebuttal.)
Israel has a human rights record that protects all minority residents and citizens from abuses. Israel has given woman full rights of participation in the political processes of the nation, ergo the election and governance of Prime Minister Golda Meir. (The Palestinians name schools, public squares and other government edifices after mass murderers of Jews, many times children slaughtered in Day Care facilities.) Clearly, my point is made here - when three Israeli teens were abducted and murdered, the majority of Palestinians rejoiced and they effected the escape of their killers; when a Arab teen was murdered, the majority of Jews mourned with the boy's parents and promptly arrested those Jewish criminals deemed culpable.
In this context of a clear delineation between American values being sought to be destroyed by Islamist fascists, the President does not even call Prime Minister Netanyahu, but he finds it appropriate to call the American World Cup soccer goalie to congratulate him on being a hero. Then, with hundreds of deadly rockets being launched from Gaza into Israel's civilian population centers (and with the Hamas stockpile of such rockets reliably estimated to exceed 10,000), the President calls for an immediate ceasefire at a point in time which will preserve Hamas' strategic advantage.
Let be honest here - since its capture of the Gaza strip in 2006, Hamas, not Israel, has been winning its war of total destruction against the Jewish nation. Major month long battles in this war of planned extinction have been fought by Hamas and Israel over the period of late 2006, 2008 and again in 2012. In each resumption of air and ground combat, the Israelis have responded in defense of their millions of citizens, both Arab and Jew, who have been subjected to ever more geographically expansive rocket attacks. In 2006, the Hamas arsenal was of a limited range, capable of striking only about 25 miles into southern Israel; after a US brokered ceasefire, in 2008, the Gaza terrorists were restocked by Iran with rockets having a range of more than fifty miles into Israel proper. After the 2008 coerced cessation of Israel's defensive efforts, the Iranian resupply of the Gaza arsenal extended these terror rocket's reach up to seventy five miles during the indiscriminate rocket attacks oncivilian centers in the Fall of 2012.
In the current battle for the survival of Israel, the Hamas rockets have expanded their range to upwards of one hundred and seventy-five miles, now striking daily the nation's two critical population centers - Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Even a community organizer can see this untenable pattern from 2006 until now - shadow boxing with Hamas, leaving this terrorist group disabled for a short period of time - indisputably allows them to come back a few years later both emboldened, empowered and more lethal.
Now, the Israelis have decided upon a new paradigm, one that will alter the Arc of History away from the incremental destruction of the Nation and provide for a Gaza battle outcome which will re-establish IDF control of this land area, such that the southern boundary of Gaza will no longer be unsecured to allow the unfettered smuggling to Hamas of ever more powerful long range rockets. Any more Korea-like stalemate via imposed truce declarations is now clearly seen to be slowly bleeding Israel to its death.
According, the President has an existential choice here - assist Israel in its battle for national survival or impose another (temporary only) cessation of hostilities that allows Hamas to live to fight and win another day. His choice here might not explain why he hates Israel, but if made in favor of Hamas, it will end forever the debate as to this characterization being accurate.
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Why Benghazi is really a "Phony Scandal"
As a famous Prime Minister of Israel (or was it a long ago forgotten Foreign Minister? oh well, at this point, what difference does it make) once said about the Palestinians - the Republicans never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. This Fall the House Select Committee on the Benghazi massacre will hold long drawn out hearings on an isolated event that occurred over eight or so hours the night of September 11th into the early morning hours of September 12, 2012.
Four American heroes were left undefended to die in the two separate attacks at two separate U.S. compounds at the hands of Islamic jihadists, or possibly by some unfriendly Arabs out for a walk who decided to kill Americans. Whatever description as to identities of the culprits in this murderous rampage you choose to believe, the fact that our National Security/Military forces were caught unawares as to the utter vulnerabilities of our diplomats in this hot bed of waring militias, armed to the teeth, constitutes a monumental failure of national policy execution more so than a major Washington political scandal. In my opinion, the Benghazi debacle is, in its governmental dis-functioning, most closely analogous to the intelligence and defense failures (indisputably on a far different scale) of another lightening military raid on a single day - Pearl Harbor/December 7, 1941. Certainly, both events are worthy of Congressional oversight to address and remedy the policy failures, and Benghazi has been made the subject of extensive House and Senate reviews.
That said, the public electorate, in this MTV world of short attention spans, will follow, and more importantly care about, only so much of the ongoing messes in Washington, DC before throwing up their hands in disgust, saying a pox on both houses. Thus, Republicans needed to be selective and focus its limited hold on public support on a true political/Constitutional scandal that resonates with everyone - the weaponization of the IRS to harass, intimidate and punish political opponents of the party in power.
Let's face facts here - as one former mouthpiece for the Administration proclaimed so tellingly - "Dude, Benghazi happened so long ago, who can even remember it now." Indeed, it did occur years ago in a strange, foreign country which few Americans will ever journey to, much less ever visit the City of Benhazi itself. Accordingly, it is understandable that most Americans can not envision themselves threatened even remotely by a terrorist attack in Benghazi that started a building fire and ended with mortar fire in one-half of a single day.
The Lois Lerner scandal is much more personal to every American who rightfully fears the awesome powers of the IRS, should that federal agency chose to put you or your family into its enforcement/regulatory targeting priorities, particularly for the First Amendment protected "offense" of supporting small(er) government. Let's face facts here - Lois Lerner has that lean and hungry look of a vicious predator - and she lives among us all, just not in Cincinnati. Nothing remote in either time or geography with the IRS' un-Constitutional targeting of conservative groups in stonewalling their valid non-profit 501(c)(4) applications. Indisputably, the American Electorate understands the core definition of tyranny - corruption of the organs of government through the willful abandonment of the Rule of Law by the political party in power to harass, intimidate and punish those out of power.
Indisputably, the American Electorate understands that this scandal in the weaponization of the IRS threatens the very foundation of our Constitutional Republic, in which everyone is an at-risk, jeopardized stakeholder. The Select House Investigating Committee that will grab hold of the American consciousness as being vital to the very survival of our form of government has yet to be created. It is not too late for the Congressional Republicans to right the Ship of State, and agree with Hillary just this once.
Four American heroes were left undefended to die in the two separate attacks at two separate U.S. compounds at the hands of Islamic jihadists, or possibly by some unfriendly Arabs out for a walk who decided to kill Americans. Whatever description as to identities of the culprits in this murderous rampage you choose to believe, the fact that our National Security/Military forces were caught unawares as to the utter vulnerabilities of our diplomats in this hot bed of waring militias, armed to the teeth, constitutes a monumental failure of national policy execution more so than a major Washington political scandal. In my opinion, the Benghazi debacle is, in its governmental dis-functioning, most closely analogous to the intelligence and defense failures (indisputably on a far different scale) of another lightening military raid on a single day - Pearl Harbor/December 7, 1941. Certainly, both events are worthy of Congressional oversight to address and remedy the policy failures, and Benghazi has been made the subject of extensive House and Senate reviews.
That said, the public electorate, in this MTV world of short attention spans, will follow, and more importantly care about, only so much of the ongoing messes in Washington, DC before throwing up their hands in disgust, saying a pox on both houses. Thus, Republicans needed to be selective and focus its limited hold on public support on a true political/Constitutional scandal that resonates with everyone - the weaponization of the IRS to harass, intimidate and punish political opponents of the party in power.
Let's face facts here - as one former mouthpiece for the Administration proclaimed so tellingly - "Dude, Benghazi happened so long ago, who can even remember it now." Indeed, it did occur years ago in a strange, foreign country which few Americans will ever journey to, much less ever visit the City of Benhazi itself. Accordingly, it is understandable that most Americans can not envision themselves threatened even remotely by a terrorist attack in Benghazi that started a building fire and ended with mortar fire in one-half of a single day.
The Lois Lerner scandal is much more personal to every American who rightfully fears the awesome powers of the IRS, should that federal agency chose to put you or your family into its enforcement/regulatory targeting priorities, particularly for the First Amendment protected "offense" of supporting small(er) government. Let's face facts here - Lois Lerner has that lean and hungry look of a vicious predator - and she lives among us all, just not in Cincinnati. Nothing remote in either time or geography with the IRS' un-Constitutional targeting of conservative groups in stonewalling their valid non-profit 501(c)(4) applications. Indisputably, the American Electorate understands the core definition of tyranny - corruption of the organs of government through the willful abandonment of the Rule of Law by the political party in power to harass, intimidate and punish those out of power.
Indisputably, the American Electorate understands that this scandal in the weaponization of the IRS threatens the very foundation of our Constitutional Republic, in which everyone is an at-risk, jeopardized stakeholder. The Select House Investigating Committee that will grab hold of the American consciousness as being vital to the very survival of our form of government has yet to be created. It is not too late for the Congressional Republicans to right the Ship of State, and agree with Hillary just this once.
Friday, July 4, 2014
A Tale of Two Sargeants - Andrew and Bowe
It was the best of times - today one military man savoring all that is good and decent about America: free to visit with his parents and free to chose to not meet with them; free to watch the glorious fireworks displays almost every community in the Nation will hold to-nite; free to attend patriotic parades and picnics and free to enjoy the National Symphony entertain the country from the steps of the US Capitol.
Yes, we can all be grateful that Sgt. Bowe Bergdaghl has been released from his long, most probably harsh, custody by the Taliban in the wilds of Afghanistan. The political debate over the terms of his exchange for five commanding Taliban terrorists and the legal consequences of his walking away from his Army post after being in Afghanistan for less than sixty days must be pursued, but these appropriate inquiries to establish personal accountability for the then private, first class, Bergdahl and political accountability for the Obama Administration should not diminish our compassion and relief for the Bergdahl family - they have been joyfully delivered from an agonizing five year long family nightmare.
It was the worst of times - today one military man is enduring all that is evil and indecent about Mexico: he is imprisoned for making a wrong turn and mistakenly driving his pick-up into the "Nothing to Declare" Customs entry lane at the Mexican border, where the green light signal was given allowing him to proceed into this foreign country without stopping for a vehicle inspection. Realizing his error, Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, a decorated veteran of not one, but two, year long combat tours in Afghanistan, stopped his pick-up and requested Custom's officials help in immediately making a u-turn, as he had not intended to enter Mexico then. Even after Andrew Tahmooressi told these Custom's officers of the presence of three legal guns in his truck, they were willing to allow his return to America, but were overruled by the arrival of Mexican Army officers.
I have read a number of different MSM news accounts, seeking to discredit Andrew's story, even avowedly supportive of the Mexican government's harsh handling of this error in missing the turn around exit, as being appropriate and just in view of the seriousness of the criminal offense of being in possession of deadly weapons inside Mexico. I find this logic to be sadly flawed and the judgment of "right on/go get him Mexico" to be troubling in the extreme. First, as a factual matter, Andrew had not moved beyond the Custom controlled inspection station, which he had the full freedom of movement to do. Thus, his declaration of the intention NOT to enter Mexico is more than adequate to exonerate him from any criminal motive, thereby eviscerating an essential element of the crime at issue. With his green light to proceed into the country w/o. a vehicle inspection, had Andrew possessed these rifles/pistols for any nefarious purpose in Mexico, he had the unabated opportunity to do so and he did NOT.
Irrespective of our government leader's evaluation of the present bona fides of Andrew Tahmooressi, his honorable, even heroic, service in the US Marine Corp. for more than two years in Afghanistan surely qualifies him for inclusion in the resolute national policy of leaving no man behind. Let's put this "transgression" by Andrew into its historical context to evaluate factually how this Administration deals with its law enforcement personnel and our military service man here. President Obama's DOJ, through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, secretly shipped thousands of untracked deadly weapons, including military style assault rifles, into the possession of the Mexican Drug Cartels. These thousands of illegal weapons have been used by the vicious criminals (to whom they were willingly given by US government officials) to murder hundreds of Mexican citizens, and will be fully available to continue this murderous carnage unabated for decades to come.
Now, this criminal enterprise, called "Operation Fast & Furious" by its DOJ/ATF sponsors indisputably violated the same Mexican gun possession laws misapplied to Andrew Tahmooressi, but with this huge difference - the DOJ gun runners in F&F intended to flood Mexico with thousands of illegal, deadly weapons and their successful delivery has caused hundreds of innocents to be murdered. Mexico initially demanded the ATF culprits' extradiction to face criminal charges for these henious actions, but President Obama personally intervened with his counterpart in the Mexican Presidency to curtail completely any criminal proceedings against his own lawless subordinates. Andrew Tahmooressi's care and protection by this Administration - not so much.
On this sacred day of celebration for America's freedoms, in which it is not far fetched to envision Andrew Tahmooressi tied four points to the metal frame of a Mexican prison bed, I ask for your fulfillment of only one obligation of our mutual citizenship in the greatest country in the world - help return our nation to its proper role of true exceptionalism. We must all make the immediate safe return of Andrew Tahmooressi an urgent, top priority for President Obama, as it was with his boundless commitment to Bowe Bergdahl.
Yes, we can all be grateful that Sgt. Bowe Bergdaghl has been released from his long, most probably harsh, custody by the Taliban in the wilds of Afghanistan. The political debate over the terms of his exchange for five commanding Taliban terrorists and the legal consequences of his walking away from his Army post after being in Afghanistan for less than sixty days must be pursued, but these appropriate inquiries to establish personal accountability for the then private, first class, Bergdahl and political accountability for the Obama Administration should not diminish our compassion and relief for the Bergdahl family - they have been joyfully delivered from an agonizing five year long family nightmare.
It was the worst of times - today one military man is enduring all that is evil and indecent about Mexico: he is imprisoned for making a wrong turn and mistakenly driving his pick-up into the "Nothing to Declare" Customs entry lane at the Mexican border, where the green light signal was given allowing him to proceed into this foreign country without stopping for a vehicle inspection. Realizing his error, Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, a decorated veteran of not one, but two, year long combat tours in Afghanistan, stopped his pick-up and requested Custom's officials help in immediately making a u-turn, as he had not intended to enter Mexico then. Even after Andrew Tahmooressi told these Custom's officers of the presence of three legal guns in his truck, they were willing to allow his return to America, but were overruled by the arrival of Mexican Army officers.
I have read a number of different MSM news accounts, seeking to discredit Andrew's story, even avowedly supportive of the Mexican government's harsh handling of this error in missing the turn around exit, as being appropriate and just in view of the seriousness of the criminal offense of being in possession of deadly weapons inside Mexico. I find this logic to be sadly flawed and the judgment of "right on/go get him Mexico" to be troubling in the extreme. First, as a factual matter, Andrew had not moved beyond the Custom controlled inspection station, which he had the full freedom of movement to do. Thus, his declaration of the intention NOT to enter Mexico is more than adequate to exonerate him from any criminal motive, thereby eviscerating an essential element of the crime at issue. With his green light to proceed into the country w/o. a vehicle inspection, had Andrew possessed these rifles/pistols for any nefarious purpose in Mexico, he had the unabated opportunity to do so and he did NOT.
Irrespective of our government leader's evaluation of the present bona fides of Andrew Tahmooressi, his honorable, even heroic, service in the US Marine Corp. for more than two years in Afghanistan surely qualifies him for inclusion in the resolute national policy of leaving no man behind. Let's put this "transgression" by Andrew into its historical context to evaluate factually how this Administration deals with its law enforcement personnel and our military service man here. President Obama's DOJ, through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, secretly shipped thousands of untracked deadly weapons, including military style assault rifles, into the possession of the Mexican Drug Cartels. These thousands of illegal weapons have been used by the vicious criminals (to whom they were willingly given by US government officials) to murder hundreds of Mexican citizens, and will be fully available to continue this murderous carnage unabated for decades to come.
Now, this criminal enterprise, called "Operation Fast & Furious" by its DOJ/ATF sponsors indisputably violated the same Mexican gun possession laws misapplied to Andrew Tahmooressi, but with this huge difference - the DOJ gun runners in F&F intended to flood Mexico with thousands of illegal, deadly weapons and their successful delivery has caused hundreds of innocents to be murdered. Mexico initially demanded the ATF culprits' extradiction to face criminal charges for these henious actions, but President Obama personally intervened with his counterpart in the Mexican Presidency to curtail completely any criminal proceedings against his own lawless subordinates. Andrew Tahmooressi's care and protection by this Administration - not so much.
On this sacred day of celebration for America's freedoms, in which it is not far fetched to envision Andrew Tahmooressi tied four points to the metal frame of a Mexican prison bed, I ask for your fulfillment of only one obligation of our mutual citizenship in the greatest country in the world - help return our nation to its proper role of true exceptionalism. We must all make the immediate safe return of Andrew Tahmooressi an urgent, top priority for President Obama, as it was with his boundless commitment to Bowe Bergdahl.