Displaying posts published in

December 2015

The Iran Deal’s Slow Death: Michael Ledeen

http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelledeen/2015/11/30/the-iran-deals-slow-death/

Back when the negotiations were still under way for The Deal between Iran and the P5+1, I accurately forecast the outcome would be a “No Deal Deal.” I described it this way:

Obama/Kerry/Rhodes won’t take “no” for a definitive answer, so we’re probably going to see a new form of creative appeasement. Short version: It will be a “no deal deal.” Iran promises to try really really hard to be nice and we pay for it. Everyone agrees to commit to a “real” agreement by the end of the year. Iran gets money–the continuation of the monthly payoff, and under-the-table arrangements like the gold shipment the South Africans delivered to Khamenei–and we get smiles.

There is no deal, per se–nobody signs anything–but we get the worst of it any how. If John Kerry thinks that’s enough for a Nobel Peace Prize, he’s got an even lower opinion of the judgment of the Oslo crowd than I do. And he may be right. Chamberlain was widely praised as a great peacemaker for a while, and Carter was greatly admired when he proclaimed we had given up our “inordinate fear of Communism.” And we’ll keep talking, won’t we? And Obama just reiterated–at the Pentagon no less–that guns don’t defeat ideologies, only good ideas do.

British PM releases anti-ISIS strategy while Obama combats bad weather: Jim Kouri

U.S. Lawmakers this week will be pushing the Pentagon and other administration officials to come up with a tougher policy against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) even though President Barack Obama refuses to make any adjustments or revision following the Paris Islamic terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, the head of Britain’s government, who always appeared to be decisive in contrast to Obama, promulgated the United Kingdom’s strategy for both ISIS and Syria’s oppressive regime.

The government of the United Kingdom on Thursday released a strategy detailing the arguments for why it would be “militarily, legally, and morally right for Britain to join the U.S.-led coalition in attacking Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) targets in (President Bashar al-Assad’s] Syria,” according to Friday’s Homeland Security News Wire.

The 38-page dossier was released just before Prime Minister David Cameron delivered a speech in front of the House of Commons in which he called on all House members to vote for authorization to conduct the proposed anti-ISIS campaign that includes the removal of Assad and his regime.

Progressive Jews and the Crusade Against Israel By Moshe Dann

Progressive Jews leverage their political power and funding outside of Israel in order to change Israeli policies, but they ignore the consequences.Cheers for US vice president Joe Biden’s criticism of settlements at the Reform movement’s recent convention reflect a long-standing position of the organization and a controversy that has divided Jewish communities and undermines support for Israel and Zionism: Are Jewish communities built beyond the 1949 Armistice Lines – the “settlements” – legal, legitimate, and part of the Zionist vision? Unfortunately, Israeli administrations and leaders have not addressed this question.

Recently, two American professors who claim to be Zionists wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post supporting campaigns to boycott Israel because of “Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory.”

Although criticism of Israel by Jews and Israelis is not unusual, few have crossed the red line of what is considered legitimate criticism.