Israel alone with Obama Administration?

Will Israel be the last nation willing to confront terror in the mid east? Atlas Shrugs recounts some of the hour long exchange between former UN Ambassador John Bolton and the Jerusalem Post this week.

Operation Cast Lead was timed to end immediately before US President Barack Obama's inauguration. Since then, rockets have continued to be fired on Israel from Gaza, with limited retaliation, and preparations for a possible second round. Had Israel not pulled out, would that have put an automatic strain on Jerusalem-Washington relations?

I do think the Obama administration will be less friendly to Israel than the Bush administration. And I understand why the leadership in Israel might have wanted the operation finished by January 20. There may have been other reasons to stop, as well, although with the renewed launching of rockets, those reasons are less apparent.

Military operations like Cast Lead should be carried through to their own logical conclusions, and I think Israel has to calibrate its military actions based on its own self-interest. Trying to judge what it should do based on American politics is a perilous venture.

President Peres (Israel) on Gaza

Here is the transcript from Huffington Post

President Peres:
It is the first time in the history of Israel that we, the Israelis, cannot understand the motives or the purposes of the ones who are shooting at us. It is the most unreasonable war, done by the most unreasonable warriors.

The story is simple. Israel has left Gaza completely, out of our own free will, at a high cost. In Gaza there is no single Israeli civilian or soldier. They were evacuated from Gaza, our settlements, which called for a very expensive cost. We had to mobilize 45,000 policemen to take out our settlers from there. We spent $2.5 billion. The passages were open. Money was sent to Gaza. We suggested aid in many ways - economically, medically, and otherwise. We were very careful not to make the lives of the civilian people in Gaza difficult. Still I have not heard until now a single person who could explain to us reasonably: why are they firing rockets against Israel? What are the reasons? What is the purpose?

And I must say also that the phenomenon about Israel is the restraint of the army and the unity of the people. The army waited and waited; the Palestinians asked for a ceasefire, and we agreed. They themselves have violated the ceasefire. Again, we didn't know why, until it came to a point where we were left without a choice but to bring an end to it. The operation was planned carefully and the army was true to its principles: namely, to be precise in its targets and careful not to hit civilian life. There is a problem because many of the bombs were stored in private houses. We have contacted the owners of the houses, the people that dwell there, and told them leave it. You can't live with bombs. We have to bring an end to the source of the bombs.

Israel doesn't have any ambition in Gaza. We left out of our free choice. We have never gone back to the idea of returning to Gaza. It's over. But we cannot permit that Gaza will become a permanent base of threatening and even killing children and innocent people in Israel for God knows why. I feel that in our hearts, we don't have any hatred for the Gazan people. Their suffering doesn't carry any joy in our hearts. On the contrary, we feel that the better they will have it, better neighbors we shall have. Now that Hamas is turning to the Arab world for help, the truth is that the Arab world has to turn to Hamas for the help of Hamas. If Hamas will stop it, there is no need for any help. Everything can come again to normalcy. Passages: open; economic life: free; no Israeli intervention; no Israeli participation in any of the turnarounds in Gaza.

As a nation, we feel united. As a nation, there is wholehearted support for the army, the way they handled it, their restraint, their discrimination, and their responsibility. The great winner can be reason, and reason will lead to peace. We are very serious, in a serious mood. Many of our children are still in the shelters, and we would like them, like the children of Gaza, to breathe fresh air again. This is the story, and whoever asks us to stop shooting - they have to change the address. Let them turn to Hamas and ask them to stop shooting, and there won't be shooting. Thank you very much.

END OF TRANSCRIPT

A Muslim on Barack's hypocrisy

From Talk Straight - Obama's Jihad

"Jihad is an Arabic word that means struggle. Jihad can be a 2-mile-run, a degree, a diet, a mortgage, a job, etc. Here the word “Jihad” is not used to refer to anyone as a terrorist as we all struggle (go through Jihad) every single day.

Being a Muslim, my insight makes this easy to write. I would like to start by saying that I condemn the acts of Hamas, Hezbollah, Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, etc., and their views do not reflect mine and many other Muslim’s alike. I also believe that, through my own reading of history, Israel has the right to exist. I would also like to say that I am happy Saddam Hussein has been overthrown and I believe that Muslim governments like Saudi Arabia and Iran should be overthrown. I believe that a republic form of government is the best way to govern and that the government should not be able to tell you how to live your life, as is the the case in Iran and Saudi Arabia."

Just how close is Israel to striking Iran?

"The Economist reports that Israel is not bluffing in its recent intimations of possible military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities" (article Israel's not bluffing on Iran nuclear strikes)

When I was quite young I tended to follow Israeli issues closely, I think my mom kept putting it there and forcing me to think about it. Israel matters, a bunch. When I reached young adult though I started to go like many "progressives" and started to really favor the popular "can't Israel just learn to get along" theory. They are somewhat socialized and haven't been nearly as free with civil rights.

Finally I have grown in mid-life to a point of realizing that Israel is the only functioning democracy in the Middle East. They are a very important ally, and they are under constant attack from the terror that we've really only seen a couple times in the last four decades.

If Israel has strong indications that Iran has nukes, then I would agree they will probably strike Iran preemptively. The Economist seems to be against preemption, but that's no surprise since they tend to be a little more "progressive."

Hamas has ruined Gaza

Hamastan’s 1st anniversary

from M E N O R A H by Menorah Menorah

Life in Gaza is hell, but Hamas rule in the Strip stronger than ever.
Gaza 2008 is a reality bordering on the impossible: 70% of the 1.3 million residents are welfare recipients whose lives depend on various aid organizations. About 60% make less than $2 a day and live below the poverty line. (click link above for whole article)

Why do the people in Gaza put up with this terror group running them into the ground? Why did they vote for a terror group when they had a choice of a group that was making progress?

When people vote terrorists into office, do we have the same responsibilities to support them from a humanitarian standpoint?

International Run Down for Sunday January 21

At Least 24 Americans Died in Iraq Sat.
Today, January 21, 2007, 1 hour ago
At Least 24 Americans Died in Iraq Saturday - 3rd Deadliest Day for U.S. Troops Since 2003


Exclusive: Richardson Enters 2008 Presidential Race
Today, January 21, 2007, 42 minutes ago
New Mexico Governor Would Be Nation's First Hispanic President
Note: As an aside, I think Richardson would make a fine President, and if McCain stumbles I'm sure not voting for a boring governor just because they are Republican. McCain v. Richardson would be a match-up worthy of our nation.


Al-Sadr ends parliamentary boycott
Today, January 21, 2007, 1 hour ago
Talk of "new beginning" as Shia leader's move signals easing of factional tensions.
Note: Just posturing or a real change that signals a beginning to crack down on tensions?

Serbs voting for new parliament
Today, January 21, 2007, 8 minutes ago
Serbia is holding its first general election since becoming an independent state last year.


China Ups Ante in Space
Friday, January 19, 2007, 2:34:18 PM Council on Foreign Relations
January 19, 2007
The successful test of a Chinese anti-satellite weapon brought cries of foul from Washington and others.

Supreme Court to Revisit McCain-Feingold
Yesterday, January 20, 2007, 4:06:31 PM Andrew Roth
This will be interesting to watch.
Note: I for one would like to see it struck down entirely. It is an infringement on free speech. The fact that politics is mean, and requires cash to get out a message, doesn't give the government the right to abridge our freedoms. By the way, right now my endorsement for President is for McCain. See a blog featuring McCain news. His official site. And Explore McCain site.

by Benny Morris for the Jerusalem Post (picked up on www.pajamasmedia.com )
[At PJM the editors review thousands of articles per month. In recent memory we cannot think of a more alarming, prescient essay that this one published today by Benny Morris.
Morris is one of the most respected intellectuals in Israel and his conversion dove to hawk was widely heralded and criticized at the time. Morris, one of the "New Historians," wrote about this 'transformation' for the Guardian in 2002, saying, "I imagine that I feel a bit like one of those western fellow travelers rudely awakened by the trundle of Russian tanks crashing through Budapest in 1956." Today Morris goes even deeper into the darkening future of the Middle East as he looks at what is coming there, and to the rest of the world.]

THE SECOND HOLOCAUST will not be like the first. The Nazis, of course, industrialized mass murder. But still, the perpetrators had one-on-one contact with the victims. They may have dehumanized them over months and years of appalling debasement and in their minds, before the actual killing. But, still, they were in eye and ear contact, sometimes in tactile contact, with their victims.

The Germans, along with their non-German helpers, had to round up the men, women and children from their houses and drag and beat them through the streets and mow them down in nearby woods or push and pack them into cattle cars and transport them to the camps, where "Work makes free," separate the able-bodied from the completely useless and lure them into "shower" halls and pour in the gas and then take out, or oversee the extraction of, the bodies and prepare the "showers" for the next batch.

The second holocaust will be quite different. One bright morning, in five or 10 years, perhaps during a regional crisis, perhaps out of the blue, a day or a year or five years after Iran's acquisition of the Bomb, the mullahs in Qom will convene in secret session, under a portrait of the steely-eyed Ayatollah Khomeini, and give President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, by then in his second or third term, the go-ahead.

What happening today - Global

ABC News Feed Today, I don't normally just pull the RSS, but other blogs took a bunch of my time today and there were so many international issues that this was quickest.

Somalis, Ethiopians Battle Islamic Foes
Today, January 04, 2007, 1 hour ago
Somali Troops, Ethiopian Soldiers Fight 600 Islamic Militiamen in South; Kenya Closes Border
(Isn't it interesting that so few Muslim countries are rising up to defend the Islamics in this country? Why is that?)

Scientists Say 2007 May Be Warmest Yet
Today, January 04, 2007, 2 hours ago
2007 Could Be World's Warmest Year on Record, British Climate Scientists Predict


U.S. Sailor Spotted Off Chilean Coast
Today, January 04, 2007, 2 hours ago
Chilean Navy Search Plane Spots American Sailor Adrift Off Coast, Trawler Headed for Rescue

Chilean Navy Seeks Solo American Sailor
Today, January 04, 2007, 5 hours ago
Chilean Navy Searching for American Solo Sailor Adrift on Disabled Yacht

220 Pounds of Explosives Found in Spain
Today, January 04, 2007, 5 hours ago
Police Find Nearly 220 Pounds of Explosives Near Abandoned Car in Spain
(Sure seems like all the anti-terror police are doing a much better job)

3,500 Islamists Said Hiding in Mogadishu
Today, January 04, 2007, 7 hours ago
About 3,500 Islamists Hiding in Somali Capital, Interior Minister Says; Kenya's Border Closes

Kenya Said to Close Border With Somalia
Today, January 04, 2007, 8 hours ago
Kenya Closes Border With Somalia, Says Minister; Extra Troops Sent to Northern Frontier

Taiwan High-Speed Rail System to Debut
Today, January 04, 2007, 9 hours ago
New Taiwanese High-Speed Rail System Set to Debut After Long Delay
(Long Delay? We haven't even started ours yet)

Gunmen Target Three Hamas Officials
Today, January 04, 2007, 9 hours ago
Gunmen Target Three Hamas Officials in Apparent Revenge Attacks Blamed on Fatah

Saddam Execution Video Leads to Arrests
Today, January 04, 2007, 10 hours ago
Arrests Reported in Saddam Execution Video, U.S. Says Former Leader Dignified to the End
(Good, it's time to teach the "rule of law" the real basis of democracy)

Jerusalem Mourners Pay Tribute to Kollek
Today, January 04, 2007, 10 hours ago
Mourners Pay Tribute to Former Jerusalem Mayor Theodor "Teddy" Kollek

Somalis Not Ready to Turn Over Weapons
Yesterday, January 03, 2007, 10:23:57 PM
Everyone in Somalia's Violent Capital Has a Gun, Everyone, That Is, but the Police

Austrian Held Captive Describes Ordeal
Yesterday, January 03, 2007, 4:31:10 PM
Young Austrian Woman Held Captive Describes Life Since Escape in TV Documentary

North Korea Foreign Minister Dies at 78
Yesterday, January 03, 2007, 3:35:26 PM
North Korea Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun Dies After Reportedly Suffering From Kidney Disease

Olmert, Mubarak Seek Restart Peace Talks
Yesterday, January 03, 2007, 3:32:17 PM
Ehud Olmert, Hosni Mubarak to Look for Ways to Restart Mideast Peace Talks at Upcoming Meeting

Bethlehem 2007

Do you really know Bethlehem? Where is it? Who controls it?

ABC News feed suggests that we've been duped and should do some more research.

Another feed from last January gives quotes from Christian leaders around the world, but also allows that the Israel's have another perspective. Still searching for a link to their responses last January. I'll try to find and edit this post by Christmas morning.

I'll give me initial impression, without full research albeit, I feel like the Palestinians want their cake and eat it too. They want to let the crazies bomb the Jews, and they want access to the economy that Israel's democracy allows. How about a New Year's Resolution - Shut down the crazies and "Bring down the wall" in 2007.